When traveling around the coast of Scotland (aka the North Coast 500) there are few places to stop in some places for the night, so you have to plan your trip ahead of time. We stopped at The Old Smiddy Guesthouse in Laide. In the website pictures, it looks like the house is in a quiet pasture, but in fact it sits right on a busy road and your bedroom sits only 10 feet from the road, so you will get road noise and car headlights in your room at night. The room is in the owners home, which is a cute old croft style house. When we arrived in the late afternoon, the heat had not been turned on in the room yet, and it took a few hours to warm up. Then we discovered the kitchen in the B&B was not open (closed early for the season) for dinner, and we had to drive over 20 miles to the next town to get takeout to bring back for dinner after a long day of driving. The breakfast in the morning, prepared by the owners (lovely ladies), was good, and included in your stay. I even managed a quick walk in the adjoining park that is maintained by all of the residents in the town before breakfast. read more

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