Wick sits on the east coast of Caithness, far enough north that the train from Inverness feels like part of the trip. It was once one of Europe's great herring ports, and that boom still explains the place: Pulteneytown's planned streets, the harbour basins, the old cooperage and fishing stories, and the whisky distillery that sells itself, fairly, as the maritime malt.
The town is not pretty in a soft Highland way. Its appeal is wind, stone, working-harbour history, and short coastal walks to ruined castles on narrow headlands. Wick Heritage Museum gives the herring years real texture, while Old Pulteney Distillery adds a good reason to linger after the museum.
The best day here links the town to the coast: walk south to Castle of Old Wick, or drive north to Castle Sinclair Girnigoe and Noss Head. Wick is also useful on the North Coast 500, but it is more than a fuel stop if you give it a few hours.