Cullen is a small fishing village on the Moray Firth coast of northeast Scotland, best known for two things: Cullen Skink, the thick smoked haddock soup that has become one of Scotland's iconic dishes and appears on menus the length of the country, and its striking beach dominated by three great sea stacks known as the Three Kings. The beach is sandy and wide, and to the east Sunnyside Beach offers a more secluded alternative. Further along the coastal path you'll find the ruined Findlater Castle, perched dramatically on a clifftop above the sea.
The Cullen Golf Club, founded in 1870 and set right at the beach with views across the Moray Firth, is one of the older clubs in Scotland and worth playing if you're in the area. The viaduct above the town — built in 1886 when the railway bypassed the Earl of Seafield's estate rather than cutting through it — is a piece of Victorian engineering now repurposed as a walking and cycling route.
Cullen sits on the Moray coastal route between Elgin and Banff, making it an easy stop on a drive along what is genuinely one of the most rewarding stretches of Scottish coast. The village has a handful of shops and places to eat, and accommodation is limited — this is somewhere you visit rather than base yourself for long.