Nairn, your favorite activities and/or restaurants, please

We loved Sunny Brae. The owners were fantastic. As an FYI, if you need laundry done, they did it for us for £15. We spent two nights there last September.

That being said, we had a rental car. One night we ate at the Bandstand restaurant in the hotel beside Sunny Brae. When we were there we went to Ft. George, Clava Cairns, Culloden, and walked around Inverness. We also walked along the beach by the B&B. There isn’t very much to the town and we didn’t walk around it as one in our party had mobility issues.

I stopped there one day in May and had a wonderful time just walking along the beach. Afterwards, I stopped for a soft serve ice cream cone at Strathnairn beach café, which seemed to be popular among the beachgoers. I really enjoyed my quick trip here and would love to come back for a longer visit sometime.

I was very disappointed when we visited Cawdor Castle, although the gardens were nice. It isn't one of the better castles - it feels very 'lived in' and the rooms felt as if they had seen better times. Brodie Castle may be a better bet. Have a look at pictures and ddescription here.

Other possibilities are Culloden Battlefield and Clava Cairns (which are easily walkable from the Battlefield.) There is also Fort George which was built after the Battle of Culloden to control the Highlands and crush any further Jacobite rebellions. You may be lucky and see thebottle nose dolphins that live in the Firth.

The Undiscovered Scotland website is a wonderful source of ideas. Have a look at the map page covering the area around Nairn .

We visited Scotland in June and we spent 3 nights at the Sunny Brae. We loved the Sunny Brae. There were 4 of us, and we all agreed the Sunny Brae is our favorite accommodation, and we liked all of our accommodations. As jaimeelsabio says, the owners are fantastic!

Restaurants we dined at in Nairn:
The Bandstand - one of our best meals in Scotland
The Sun Dancer - another favorite restaurant located on the beach
Aurora Restaurant - an Italian restaurant; we were disappointed in the food; I would not recommend.
All 3 restaurants are within walking distance of Sunny Brae
The Sunny Brae owners had also recommended One One Two on the Brae and The Classroom; I wish we had gone to one of these instead of Aurora. I recommend making advance reservations for all the restaurants.

Sightseeing:
Cawdor Castle - We visited the Castle and the gardens. Loved the interior of the castle. We did not think the rooms looked worn at all. In fact, we thought they were very elegant with beautiful furniture, tapestries, and paintings. There are several gardens, as well, and they are all beautiful.
Culloden Battlefield - Very interesting to walk through the battlefield; filled with heather and yellow witches broom. I recommend taking a guided tour from the Visitors Center and visiting the museum. We didn't do this because our friends weren't interested but I do regret it. I think we would have understood more if we took one of their tours.
Elgin Cathedral ruins - one of the highlights of our trip. It's about 30 minutes from Nairn
Biblical gardens across the street from Elgin Cathedral.
Whisky tasting at Glen Moray Distillery - tours were sold out so if you want a tour, you need to book in advance.
Also walked along the beach across the street from Sunny Brae.

Thank you for all of the wonderful suggestions!

I am putting together a list of possibilities for activities. I like to have options because life, weather, etc., happens, and therefore one needs to be ready to change direction.

I also am taking along the list of restaurants. It can make the end of the day more relaxing if there is a plan for the evening meal.

I agree with wasleys about Cawdor Castle. I was very disappointed in the interior. I did love the gardens, though - in hindsight, I would have opted for admission to just the gardens and not the castle.

I would also second the recs for Clava Cairns (really interesting!), Culloden Battlefield and Elgin Cathedral (loved this!).