How to explore the Moray Firth coast

Things to do on the Moray Firth

Whether you have a few days or a week to spend exploring the Moray coastal villages, here is what to get up to. I’ve listed these roughly east to west – so it’s easy to plan.

Visting the Moray Firth – at a glance

• Best time to visit: May–September for calmer weather / Winter for dramatic skies
• Best for: coastal walks, villages, wildlife spotting, food
• Don’t miss: Portsoy, Bow Fiddle Rock, dolphin spotting, Cullen Skink
• How long you need: 2–5 days
• Good to know: windproof jacket essential year-round

Visit the most famous red telephone box in the world: Pennan

With a row of cottages built end-on to face the wind, Pennan is a classic Scottish fishing village.

But visitors come here for one thing: a cult Scottish film about an oil company trying to buy an Aberdeenshire village.

Pennan was used as the filming location for Local Hero, and it’s easy to see why.

The famous red phone box was actually a prop for the movie and was removed after filming. An outcry led to it being returned, although it now sits in a slightly different location.

If you’re looking for places to visit on the Moray Firth, Pennan is definitely one of the most memorable.

Explore Gamrie: Gardenstown and Crovie

The Banffshire villages of Gardenstown and Crovie, which together make up Gamrie, are probably the most picturesque of all the Moray Firth villages and they’re an absolute favourite for photos.

Gardenstown has a lovely 19th-century harbour, while Crovie has no road at all: the cottages can only be accessed on foot.

If you want the classic photo of Crovie, there’s a car park at the top of the village with a great viewpoint down over the little string of cottages hugging the sea.

Tip: don’t drive out along the sea wall at Gardenstown – it’s a rather precarious proposition. There’s a car park to your right at the bottom of the hill.

Small boats and pirates at Portsoy

Boasting the oldest harbour on the Moray coast (much of what was built in 1692 remains), Portsoy harbour is possibly my favourite of all the Moray coastal villages.

Portsoy is thought to mean Saithe (fish) Harbour, and even though we visited on a windswept autumn day, you could easily imagine the harbour in its heyday, bustling with people and boats.

While the salmon and herring industry moved on to Aberdeen and Peterhead, Portsoy’s fishing heritage is still celebrated every June at the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival.

And the festival isn’t Portsoy’s only claim to fame, the harbour represented the main village of Todday in the 2006 remake of Whisky Galore!

Stroll from Portknockie to Bow Fiddle Rock

The star of many an Instagram shot, Bow Fiddle Rock is a humongous arch rock formation just north of the seaside town of Portknockie.

Does it look like an elephant or a whale to you?

One of my favourite walks is the coastal route from Cullen to Bow Fiddle Rock, it’s one of the best Scotland coastal walks, and the views are spectacular no matter the season – and the rock itself is even more impressive in real life.

Try Cullen Skink, in Cullen

What must be Scotland’s most famous soup, Cullen Skink, comes from the tiny village of Cullen.

The recipe might be simple – potato, onion, smoked haddock, bay leaves, chicken stock, cream and black pepper – but the title of Queen of Cullen Skink is still hotly contested every year in Cullen.

My favourite place to try it is Rockpool Cafe

Did you know that “skink” originally meant a soup made from beef knuckle? The story goes that back at the turn of the century, times were hard in northern Scotland and beef scrapings were difficult to come by along the Moray coast.

What Cullen did have was loads of fish, smoked haddock to be precise – and Cullen’s own version of skink was born.

Spot dolphins at Spey Bay

The Moray Firth is famous for its dolphin population, it’s estimated that around 130 Bottlenose Dolphins live in the waters off Inverness and Moray.

The best place to see them is Chanonry Point on the Black Isle north of Inverness, but they can be spotted all along the coast — including at Spey Bay, which is also home to the Scottish Dolphin Centre.

The best time to see dolphins is on an incoming/rising tide, when the water brings in food and the dolphins follow.

You can either try and spot them from land (don’t forget your binoculars!) or head out on the water with North 58, who run dolphin watching trips on the Moray Firth.

And if you’re really lucky, you might even spot Orcas too!