There are lots of opportunities for hill walking, water sports, fishing and exploring the countryside around Pebble Coast. Big Sands (2.5 miles) has a lovely sandy beach, as its name suggests, and also a camp ground that rents out sea kayaks and bikes so you can take advantage of the quiet, single track roads in the area.

The camp ground has a well-stocked outdoor equipment and grocery shop that sells fresh bread, rolls and pastries and there is also a popular cafe/restaurants on the grounds.

The nearest settlement is the lochside village of Gairloch (6 miles) where there is an excellent butcher and green grocer, a bank, a petrol station, a newsagent, a pharmacy and two small supermarkets. There is also a pub and several restaurants for those who fancy a break from cooking and the Mountain Coffee Company café which is home to a well-equipped book shop. The leisure centre in the village has a swimming pool, climbing wall and soft play area and the Gairloch Heritage Museum provides an interesting insight into the village’s maritime and crofting history.

Experienced local guides run trips out from Gairloch on a glass bottom boat where a wide range of marine life such as star fish, sea urchins and even freshwater oysters can be seen up close on the sea floor and from which sea eagles, golden eagles and many other seabirds are regularly spotted. There are also highly acclaimed whale, dolphin and seal spotting trips available locally, as well as shellfish safaris, sea angling and kayaking tours. Just on the edge of the village next to the beach is a 9-hole golf course where you can enjoy glorious sea views as you play.

The Gairloch Trekking Centre at Red Point (18 miles) offers pony trekking expeditions which take you along some of the magnificent beaches that featured in the 2014 Billy Connolly film ‘What We Did on Our Holiday’.

The Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve (23 miles) runs up the side of Loch Maree offering walks of varying difficulties amongst some of the most spectacular mountain and native woodland scenery in Scotland.

Heading north from Gairloch, the village of Poolewe (11.5 miles) has a café and a swimming pool and is home to the Inverewe Gardens on the shores of Loch Ewe. There are many interesting walks around these beautiful sub-tropical style gardens which showcase a wide range of unusual plants and flowers that flourish under the effects of the warm Gulf Stream. Further north still is Gruinard Bay (21 miles) which has some magnificent sandy beaches and an absolutely stunning viewpoint that looks out across the bay towards the wild and rugged scenery around the Assynt mountains and the Summer Isles.