As in Hunter's other books, setting plays an important role in Cat, Herself. The novel takes place in a variety of locations across the Scottish countryside since the travellers never stay long in one place, moving through towns, farms, and across mountains.

It begins when the travellers are forced out of their winter camp because Cat is falsely accused of poaching. They journey through Perthshire, where they try to sell their wares, passing the shores of Loch Ness, stopping in a glen where Cat's mother dances away her grief.

Eventually, they arrive in the "enchanted land," Loch Loyal. As her grandmother explains, no matter how long a person is on the road, there is "always something that calls you back to some place that feels special to you—maybe because it's the place where it all started. And you can't be at peace till you see it...