Friendly harbour town in Scotland's far north (Wick in General)

Member Name: jamesontheroad

Product:	Wick in General
Date:	11/12/08 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Convenient stopping off point for touring, breathtaking journey there still possible by train

Disadvantages: Poor selection of eating and drinking options, less to do off season

Being an infrequent but loyal patron of ScotRail's Caledonian Sleeper between Glasgow and London, I often receive invitations from ScotRail to take advantage of special offers for frequent travellers. In late 2008 one such promotion offered two return tickets anywhere in Scotland for £25. With a weekend to kill and an over-active imagination, I discovered Wick was the furthest possible destination from our home in Glasgow which we could visit.

Not a bad reason for a weekend away, I hope you'll agree? Because two off-peak return tickets would have come to £131.40 :)

Other reviewers here have noted Wick's remoteness. You will certainly notice this if you drive or take the train to Wick, the latter took five hours to make the winding journey from Inverness, where trains meet others to major Scottish destinations. But that journey is scenic beyond belief, with the comfortable little Sprinter train taking the uncertainty out of a mid-winter journey. The remote moorlands of the northern highlands and Caithness are breathtakingly beautiful, and the eagle eyed passenger can often spot stag, deer or eagles near the tracks.

Wick itself is, like so many coastal Scottish towns, a fundamentally functional town that has lost its one proud function. The harbour was built to support a herring fishing industry which has now disappeared. The compact town centre still proudly boasts the fine stone architecture of this era, and our chance weekend trip coincided with the festive celebrations that accompanied the switch-on of the Christmas lights.

Most disappointingly, Wick lacks any real bars or restaurants of appeal to the weekender. Wetherspoons have conquered the largest bar in the old town square with their mediocre beer offering and microwaved meals, and we searched in vain for a cosy pub with a fireplace where we meet sink into a corner and enjoy a dram of the locally produced Old Pulteney.

Obviously summer season visitors may disagree, but my word of caution is that for an off-season visit you may find Wick more useful as a stopping off point on a grand tour of the far north than as a destination. That said, the railway journey there is quite awesome and the town has some beautiful corners. Pulteney Town is the settlement south of the river built to accommodate the burgeoning herring industry, and the tightly packed grid of industrial and residential buildings beside the harbour is architecturally notable. Wick's heritage centre and museum has received rave reviews, but was closed when we visited. Climb the hill on the south side of the harbour for a good view from the hilltop, and if you have time continue walking along the cliffs to the south to the castle (which, regrettably, we did not make it to).

Oh, and be sure to taste that Old Pulteney - the 12 year old is quite sufficient to arouse imaginative thoughts about what Wick was once lick during its industrial heyday :)

Summary: Not necessarily a destination, but a once-in-a-lifetime trip nonetheless