Thurso is mainland Scotland's most northerly town, and home to the country's most northerly railway station. Located on the north coast of Caithness, its seaward views are dominated by the distant cliffs of Dunnet Head to the north east, and those of the island of Hoy to the north.

Modern Thurso tends to be seen as a stepping stone en route to somewhere else rather than as a destination in its own right, although the sometimes turbulent seas of the Pentland Firth have led to Thurso becoming an unlikely centre for surfing.

Thurso has long been a gateway to Orkney, with the best established of the ferry routes to Orkney, the car ferry to Stromness, leaving from the harbour at Scrabster, now virtually a westward extension of Thurso itself.

Thurso is also a point of departure for those embarking on the best scenic route Scotland has to offer, the 140 miles taking in the north and west coasts via Durness to Ullapool. A quarter of a century ago this route comprised sometimes tortuous single track roads the whole way and included a ferry crossing (or a 100 mile detour along more single track roads) at Kylesku.