Tain is a town in Easter Ross in the Scottish Highlands. It's on the coast 40 miles north of Inverness on the A9 and the railway line to Thurso. It mostly grew up in Victorian times and has changed little since then. Its main attraction for visitors is the Glenmorangie distillery.
Get in
By train: Six trains per day (M-Sat) run from Inverness to Tain, taking just over an hour. Four of them continue north to Helmsdale, Thurso and Wick. Sundays there are four trains, only one continuing north.
By bus: Stagecoach Highlands Bus 25X runs from Inverness to Tain via Invergordon. It runs hourly M-Sat taking 75 mins; only four buses Sunday.
The Stagecoach X99 from Inverness to Thurso and Wick also stops at Tain.
Get around
You can walk between town and distillery. That's probably a good plan all round.
See
- 1 Tain Through Time, Tower St. Apr-Oct M-F 10:00-16:30, also Sat Jun-Aug. Volunteer run museum. £3.50.
Do
- 1 Glenmorangie Distillery (on A9 a mile north of town), ☏ 44 1862 892477. M-F 10:00-17:00, Sa ( Su Jun-Aug) 10:00-16:00. This distillery (say "Glen-MORR-anjee", not "Glenmorr-ANJEE") produces 6 million litres of Scotch whisky per year, sold as single malt and not blended. (Their blend, Glen Moray, was hived off in 2009.) It's one of the smoothest single malts, so if you find classic Speyside whiskies a tad heavy then do try this. Limited numbers for tours so booking is recommended. In April the distillery goes offline for maintenance: limited tours (free) are still available. The firm also runs Ardbeg distillery on Islay. Standard tour £8, Signet tour £35.
- Tain Highland Gathering is held on the second Saturday in July at Glenmorangie Ground just north of the village. The 2021 event was cancelled so the next is expected to be Sat 9 July 2022 but tbc.
Buy
Eat
- Top Tain Curry Club is on High St, open daily 12:00-14:00 and 16:00-23:00.
- Green's on High St is open lunchtime M-Sat, evening meals W-Sat.
- Platform 1864 is the old railway station building turned into a restaurant. Daily 10:00-23:00, later at weekends.
Drink
St Duthus Hotel is your best option. The two other pubs are a mite drouthy.
Sleep
- Dornoch Firth Caravan Park, Meikle Ferry South, IV19 1JX, ☏ 44 1862 892292. Static caravans and pitches for visiting caravans and tents.
- Morangie House Hotel is a Victorian mansion with 26 rooms on A9 at the north edge of town.
- Mansfield Castle is a baronial B&B southwest of town centre.
- 1 The Royal Hotel, High Street IV19 1AB. Town centre 3-star hotel with 25 rooms. Pets allowed, £5 extra. With restaurant, lunch dinner & Sunday carvery. B&B double from £90.
Go next
It's a choice of north into Sutherland towards Dunrobin Castle, Thurso and John o'Groats, inland via Bonar Bridge to the wild west and north coasts, or south to Inverness.
| Routes through Tain |
| Thurso/Wick ← Helmsdale ← | N  SW | → Dingwall → Inverness |