THE BEST PLACES FOR FAMILIES TO STAY IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS

Planning a family trip to THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS and wondering where to stay with your children? The following list of our favourite places to stay with kids, reviewed in the order you’d encounter them on our Scottish Highlands itinerary, includes village apartments, cottages on Skye and a brilliant B&B on the edge of Loch Ness. Accommodation can fill up fast during school holidays, particularly if you’re looking for a family room, so make sure you book well in advance.

You can reserve all of our recommended places to stay in the Scottish Highlands through Booking.com; clicking on the hotels’ name below will take you directly to their booking page, where you can fill in your dates and secure your stay. To find out more about why we’ve partnered with Booking.com, see here.

On the eastern side of Loch Lomond, KNOCKINREOCH is a perfect place to kick off your trip round the Highlands. A stylish semi-detached apartment, it offers plenty of space across two en-suite bedrooms, an open-plan kitchen-diner and a large living room, but is still very comfortable and cosy, with under-floor heating throughout. In all, there’s room for up to 6 guests here, sleeping in a queen bed, two twins, and a double sofa bed in the lounge – extra beds are available on request [£20 per bed per night], if you prefer, as is a crib. Knockinreoch enjoys a great location, too, set in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park and surrounded by fields but just 400 yards from the centre of the village of Drymen, which means there are plenty of cafés and restaurants (as well as the oldest pub in Scotland) just a few minutes’ walk away. The friendly owners, who live in the adjoining house, are more than happy to help with tips on the best places for families to eat – the nearby Skoosh café is an excellent first port of call, although tea, coffee and hot chocolate are all provided – and they can also point you in the direction of one of the many lovely local walks. Drymen is 4.5 miles from Balmaha, for the ferry to Inchcailloch on Loch Lomond itself, and 18 miles (about 45 minutes) from Glasgow and 62 miles (about 1 hour 25 minutes) from Edinburgh; there’s free private parking on site.

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Known as the “Outdoor Capital of the UK”, Fort William serves as a great base for exploring the Central Highlands, combining the convenience of a small town with easy access to some of Scotland’s most iconic scenery. A mile from the centre – it’s technically in Inverlochy, a village that is for all intents and purposes a residential part of Fort William – 12 LOCHIEL ROAD is a smart but homely three-bedroom apartment that can sleep up to 5 people – two of the rooms hold king-size beds whilst the third has a single twin bed, though there’s also a [free] cot for children under 3. There’s also a dining area, a fully equipped kitchen (microwave, fridge, washing machine), and a lounge with entertainment in the way of a flat-screen TV (with satellite) and board games. It’s all very nicely done, but it’s what’s just outside the front door that really counts. This is a superb spot for hiking, cycling and fishing – the Great Glen Way runs behind the next road down and you’re just a few minutes’ walk from the River Lochy and, following its flow northwards, the ruins of 13th-century Old Inverlochy Castle. Glen Nevis and the Ben Nevis Visitor Centre (and the start of the trail up Ben Nevis itself) are just a 5-minute drive away, whilst the Nevis Range Mountain Gondola is less than 10 minutes’ further on (there’s private parking in the driveway outside). The apartment is self-catering – there are plenty of cafés, restaurants and shops in Fort William for food – although the attentive owners provide tea, coffee, milk and wine as a welcome.

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The homely two-bedroom cottages at CROFT4 are just the ticket after a busy day out and about on Skye. They’re comfortable, cosy and thoughtfully furnished with island artefacts – local church pews are used for seating in the dining room, some of the furniture is made from Skye whisky barrels and the decor is all thick sheepskins, Harris Tweed textiles, and paintings by local artists. The layout of the cottages is identical, with a lounge, dining area, cottage kitchen and cloakroom toilet on the ground floor and, upstairs, a bathroom and two bedrooms, one with a double bed, the other with two twins (and all with great views of the mighty Red Cuillin Hills). Outside is an enclosed garden and patio area with picnic tables. You’ll be out most of the day, wild-swimming in the Fairy Pools or walking on the Quiraing, and in the evening you can relax in front of the TV (which has Netflix and Amazon Prime) or with one of the cottages’ family books and board games. With a wee dram of local whisky (also provided) of course. Both cottages are pet-friendly, and they can supply a dog bed and water and food bowl if needed. The cottages are on the edge of Broadford village in southern Skye, which has a good range of cafés and restaurants and some interesting little craft shops and art galleries. They’re 14.5 miles from Armadale, where the ferry from Mallaig on the mainland docks, and, in the other direction, around 27 miles from Portree, the island’s capital.

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It can’t have taken the owners of THE VIEW too long to come up with a name for their spectacular pad. Perched on the edge of a peninsula of land that juts out into the sea, it has wonderful views of the Sound of Sleat and beyond, up to Kyle Rhea and across to Loch Hourn and mainland Scotland. The house itself has been designed to make the most of these, with floor-to-ceiling windows in the lounge, an upstairs mezzanine viewing area, and plenty of seating options for just sitting and staring. Wildlife, too, is prolific here, and you might spot dolphins, seals, sea otters, and eagles, maybe even a pine marten, from the house – there’s a monocular with a tripod for wildlife-watching from the comfort of the lounge. The two en-suite bedrooms have a queen bed and two twins (sleeping 4 people between them), and there’s a sitting area with flat-screen TV just outside the main bedroom. The well-stocked kitchen is enormous and there’s also a handy utility area, but the showpiece room is the light-filled lounge, with sheepskin rugs, cushion-piled Chesterfields and a wood-burning stove. With underfloor heating downstairs and radiators upstairs, you’ll certainly be kept cosy. Check-in is fairly late (from 6pm), but you’ll be coming from the mainland – the ferry from Mallaig docks at Armadale, 8 miles away – and a morning in the Nevis Range, anyway, so it shouldn’t be an issue. The View is situated on the Sleat Peninsula, the so-called Garden of Skye, in the south of the island. It’s 8 miles to the amenities of Broadford village, and around 54 miles to the Quiriang car park. No children under 12 allowed (the house’s garden ends at a cliff edge to the sea).

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They can’t guarantee that you’ll see Nessie, but Chris and Debs, the owners of POLMAILY HOUSE, have laid on just about everything else you could possibly need for a memorable stay near Loch Ness. The rooms at this smashing B&B are spread between the main house, built in the 1750s by the Grant clan (who were later banished to the Caribbean for supporting Bonnie Prince Charlie at the Battle of Culloden) and separate outer houses that were once used as servants’ quarters. Everything’s been renovated recently, and you can choose from a range of attractive two-bedroom family suites that sleep up to 4 – take your pick from a king-size bed and either two twins or a pull-out trundle bed (one of these rooms comes with a four-poster and a spacious separate lounge area) or a double bed and two bunk beds, complete with two TVs and your own Xbox. All rooms have access to the rest of Polmaily House, including a cinema room with reclining La-Z-Boy-style armchairs, a games room with pool table and table tennis, and a heated indoor swimming pool. Outside, the B&B’s six acres of woodland are home to more fun and games, with tennis, football, basketball and croquet on offer, and even a small lake for you to try your hand at trout fishing. It’s no wonder this is such a popular retreat for families. You’ll also get home-made Scottish pancakes on arrival, and a great a la carte breakfast is included in the rates. For dinner, you can either borrow a BBQ or head into Drumnadrochit, 2 miles away, where there are several restaurants and a Chinese takeaway. You’ll need one night here on our itinerary, but you’ll no doubt want to stay much longer.

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At the southern end of the Great Glen, two-thirds of the way from Drumnadrochit to Glen Coe, Spean Bridge is a handy place to stay on the last night of your road trip round the Scottish Highlands. On the eastern edge of the village, characterful TIRINDISH HOUSE B&B is the one-time home of the laird of Tirindish, whose skirmish at nearby Highbridge kick-started the Jacobite Rebellion. It’s a much more peaceful place nowadays, though. Set back from the road, the house enjoys tremendous view across to the Nevis Range, and its 12 acres of wooded grounds are busy day and night with all sorts of wildlife – you’re likely to spot roe deer and red deer grazing outside your window, while the area is also something of a sanctuary for golden eagles and the endangered Scottish wild cat. The house itself has five guest rooms, a couple of which are suitable for families: a double room with garden views, which can actually sleep 3 (there’s also a single camp bed), and a family suite that has two bedrooms (a double and a twin) and a bathroom and can sleep up to 5 with the addition of a camp bed. Both rooms can also fit a cot for children under 2. All rooms have flat-screen TVs, iPod docking stations, and fridges stocked with milk to go with the complimentary tea and coffee (and Highland shortbread biscuits). Guests also have access to their own lounge, with its open fireplace and range of books, board games and DVDs, as well as a very useful drying room, and you can borrow tennis rackets and balls for a game on their outdoor court. A generous Scottish breakfast, or Scottish kippers if you prefer, is included in the rates, and packed lunches are also available.

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