03 Sep 2026 Catgeory1
Nairn is an unusual little town. It has a long sandy beach on one side, two championship golf links on the other, and it is one of the driest and sunniest places in Scotland. For a certain kind of trip, where half the party wants to play golf and the other half wants the beach and a decent walk, it is close to ideal.
Nairn has two links courses, Nairn Golf Club and Nairn Dunbar Golf Club, sitting either side of the town. Between them they are the reason a lot of visitors come, and they make Nairn a natural stop on a Highland golfing trip rather than somewhere you pass through on the way to somewhere else.
Both are within easy reach of our cottages, which means an early tee time does not have to start with a drive.
Nairn Beach is a long stretch of sand backed by dunes, and it is genuinely the centre of the town's summer. West along the coast, Culbin Forest gives you pine woods running down to the shore, and the Nairn River Walk is an easy hour from the middle of town. For anyone who wants to be on the water rather than beside it, there is the Nairn Kayak Centre and Phoenix Sea Adventures.
We have two self catering cottages in Nairn. Mabels Cottage is a two bedroom cottage a stone's throw from the beach, with a log burning fire and a bright open plan living area, sleeping four. Keel Cottage is a three bedroom cottage nearby, sleeping six. Both of them are dog friendly.
A cottage suits this kind of trip better than a hotel room, mostly for boring practical reasons: somewhere to dry kit, a kitchen for an early breakfast before a tee time, and space for everyone to spread out in the evening.
It sometimes does. Cawdor Castle and its gardens are a short drive inland, and Fort George with the Highlanders' Museum sits out on a promontory over the firth. In town there is the Nairn Museum, the Little Theatre and the Community and Arts Centre, a good bookshop, and enough places to eat that you are not stuck.
You can see both cottages and what is nearby on our Nairn page.
