Caithness has a wild and wind-swept splendour. It is generally flat with few trees, large expanses of peat lands and some of the oldest surface rocks in the world. Caithness flagstones have been quarried and exported worldwide since the 19th Century.

Waves and weather erode the sandstone cliffs to form spectacular sea arches and stacks, such as at Duncansby Head near John O’Groats, the north-eastern tip of mainland Scotland.

In summer, these cliffs become “seabird city”, when thousands of seabirds such as fulmar, and kittiwake, vie for nest space on tiny ledges. Puffins nest in burrows on the slopes.

Man has inhabited Caithness for thousands of years. Their fascinating remains including standing stones, brochs, forts and chambered cairns. Follow the Yarrows Trail to explore one of the most important archaeological sites in the North.

Vikings arrived in the 9th Century and Caithness and Sutherland were under Norse rule until the 13th Century. There are few visible remains, but Viking place names, such as Wick, show the extent of settlements here.

Around the coast, ancient castles and strongholds are well worth a closer look, if only from the outside. Castle Sinclair Girnigoe near Wick is a World Heritage Site.

The Highland Clearances displaced many families to the coast to make way for sheep. At Badbea, there is a monument to the crofting families who had to eke out a living on poor, cliff-top land.

During the herring boom in the 19th Century, Wick was one of the most important fishing ports in Europe, and fish was processed all along the coast. Harbours were built in seemingly inaccessible places, such as at Auckengill, Lybster, Latheronwheel and Dunbeath, birthplace of novelist Neil Gunn. At Whaligoe, locals carved 365 steps from the teep cliff face, to carry fish up from the shore.