Hollywood on holiday

Few are aware that Nairn was Charlie Chaplin’s favourite holiday destination. When Andrew Ross visited the picturesque Royal Burgh he found that it has hung on to some of its Victorian splendour and still boasts a touch of Hollywood glamour.

I had often driven past the Morayshire coastal town of Nairn en-route from Aberdeen to Inverness, but had never found a reason to stop. Achance dinner party conversation about the seaside town known as the ‘Riviera of the North’ being a favourite holiday destination of screen legend, Charlie Chaplin, piqued my interest. I did some more research and found that Burt Lancaster and Charlton Heston had both been frequent visitors too.

Yet I still never got round to visiting.

Indeed, it was only when I opened a newspaper the morning after the 2008 Oscars ceremony to find the town and one of its famous residents splashed across the centre pages that I resolved to go and find out what I had been missing. I was not disappointed.

From the moment you enter Nairn, it feels just like a seaside town should. There is more than a whiff of Victoriana, and the restored bandstand, gift shops, plethora of cafés and restaurants, and general ambience just scream out – vacation!

The grand houses and hotels in the town’s West End lend it a certain regal air too. It is no wonder that actor and Oscar winner Tilda Swinton and her artist husband, John Byrne, have continued the Hollywood tradition and set up home here, or that each summer legions of American golfers flock here... and leave wishing they had dedicated more of their itinerary to the place.

The golf here is great. Indeed, there are two championship courses – the ‘West’ course, established in 1887, played host to the Walker Cup in 1999. .....

To read the rest of this article you can buy this issue or subscribe to Scotland Magazine to have every issue delivered direct to your door.

By Andrew Ross

Section : Scotland Shopping

Page number : 62