Bonar Bridge
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-> East coast
-> Dornoch Firth and around
-> Bonar Bridge
Before the causeway was built across the Dornoch Firth, traffic heading along the coast used to skirt west around the estuary, crossing the Kyle of Sutherland at the village of BONAR BRIDGE. The place has struggled since it was bypassed: there's little of note here other than the bridge itself, which has had three incarnations up to the present steel construction of 1973.
Towering high above the River Shin, three miles northwest of Bonar Bridge, the daunting neo-Gothic profile of Carbisdale Castle overlooks the Kyle of Sutherland. The castle was erected between 1906 and 1917 for the dowager Duchess of Sutherland, following a protracted family feud. After the death of her husband, the late Duke of Sutherland, the will leaving her the lion's share of the vast estate was contested by his stepchildren from his first marriage. In the course of the ensuing legal battle, the Duchess was found in contempt of court for destroying important documents pertinent to the case, and locked up in London's Holloway prison for six weeks. However, the Sutherlands eventually recanted (although there was no personal reconciliation) and, by way of compensation, built their stepmother a castle worthy of her rank. Designed in three distinct styles (to give the impression it was added to over a long period of time), Carbisdale was eventually acquired by a Norwegian shipping magnate in 1933, and finally gifted, along with its entire contents and estate, to the Scottish Youth Hostels Association, which has turned it into what must be one of the most opulent hostels in the world, full of white Italian marble sculptures, huge gilt-framed portraits, sweeping staircases and magnificent drawing rooms alongside standard facilities such as self-catering kitchens, games rooms, TV rooms and thirty dorms, including some recently upgraded four-bed family rooms (tel 01549/421232; March-Oct; £13.50), often booked out by groups. The best way to get here by public transport is to take a train to nearby Culrain station, which lies within easy walking distance of the castle. Buses from Inverness (3 daily; 1hr 30min) and Tain (4 daily; 25min) only stop at Ardgay, three miles south.
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