The rough guide to scottish highlands and island

INSIDE THIS BOOK INTRODUCTION What to see, what not to miss, author picks, itineraries and more – everything you need to get started BASICS Pre-departure tips and practical information THE GUIDE Comprehensive, in-depth guide to the Scottish Highlands and Islands, with area highlights and full-colour maps throughout CONTEXTS History and recommended books, plus a useful language section We’ve flagged up our favourite places – a perfectly sited hotel, an atmospheric café, a special restaurant – throughout the Guide with the ★ symbol Scottish Highlands & Islands chapters 50 miles N Lerwick ATLANTIC OCEAN Kirkwall Thurso Stornoway John O’Groats Ullapool Inverness Portree Mallaig Aviemore Braemar Fort William Aberdeen Tobermory NORTH SEA Oban Stirling Glasgow EDINBURGH Campbeltown NORTHERN IRELAND SCOTLAND ENGLAND Argyll The Central Highlands The Great Glen The north and northwest Highlands Skye and the Small Isles The Western Isles Orkney Shetland Make the Most of Your Time on Earth at roughguides.com This eighth edition published June 2017 THE ROUGH GUIDE TO THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS & ISLANDS This eighth edition updated by Greg Dickinson, Brendon Griffin, Rob Humphreys, Norm Longley, Keith Munro, Helena Smith INTRODUCTION Contents INTRODUCTION Where to go Author picks 11 When to go 12 Things not to miss 14 Itineraries 24 BASICS 26 Getting there 27 The media 35 Getting around 28 Events and spectator sports 36 Accommodation 31 Outdoor activities 38 Food and drink 33 Travel essentials 43 48 THE GUIDE Argyll 48 Skye and the Small Isles 266 The Central Highlands 122 The Western Isles 290 The Great Glen 178 Orkney 326 The north and northwest Highlands 210 Shetland 366 CONTEXTS 402 History 403 Language 419 Books 417 Glossary 424 SMALL PRINT & INDEX OPPOSITE RED DEER STAG PREVIOUS PAGE LOBSTER POTS, TOBERMORY 425 INTRODUCTION Introduction to the Scottish Highlands & Islands Wild and weather-beaten, the Scottish Highlands and Islands feel another world compared to the pastoral character of much of Great Britain This is a land where the elements govern much of everyday life and the shipping forecast is more than just an aural sleeping pill The scenery is raw and magnificent, shaped over thousands of years by geological forces, glaciers and the weather systems of the North Atlantic Yet, experience a glorious sunset that turns the sea lochs gold or find yet another empty white-powder beach, and you’ll discover the romance of the place, too Sure, the roads can be tortuous and the weather can be grim And let’s not even start on the midges in high summer But when the mood takes it, the Highlands and Islands have a unique glory to make the soul sing Although escapism accounts for much of the area’s appeal, it’s impossible to travel in the Highlands and Islands without being touched by the fragility of life here The Jacobite defeat at Culloden in 1746 was a blow to Scottish pride generally, but it was an unmitigated disaster for the Highlands and Islands, signalling the destruction of the Highland clan system and ultimately the entire Highland way of life The Clearances that followed in the nineteenth century more than halved the population, and today the Highland landscape is littered with the shells of pre-Clearance crofting communities The economy struggles, too, despite government support and decades of European Union subsidies, which, following the Brexit vote, will soon be no more And while recent census figures reveal a rise in population, some of the larger islands such as Bute, Arran and Islay have suffered depopulation as the traditional Highland industries of farming, crofting and fishing no longer provide enough jobs for the younger generation Forestry, fish-farming and the oil industry are now the bigger employers, alongside the region’s ABOVE EILEAN DONAN CASTLE; GOAT FELL OPPOSITE BEACH ON TIREE INTRODUCTION other main industry – tourism Since the former depends on development, and the latter on conservation, it’s a fine balancing act between tapping new opportunities and maintaining traditional values: a dilemma that was voiced repeatedly in debates before the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014, which saw Scots vote to remain part of Great Britain For all that, the region is no time warp Although tradition remains part of the weft and weave of Highlands life, you don’t have to travel far to see a renewal of Highlands culture Nowadays, shortbread and twee tearooms are out, superb super-fresh local ingredients are in, showcased at outstanding gastropubs and gourmet restaurants in some of the most remote locations Similarly, artists have reinvigorated traditional crafts as more people seek a life in the slow lane and set up shop in former crofts Even the visitor profile is changing: the tourists still come to clamber over castles and wrap themselves in tartan nostalgia, but just as many people now visit specifically to see whales and dolphins, to summit a Munro or wild camp their way along the West Highland Way Nor is walking the only activity on the agenda In recent years, the potential of the wilderness in Britain’s backyard has been realized too, as adventure-junkies explore the frontiers of Scotland’s mountains and coastline; the opportunities for mountain biking, scuba diving, surfing, kite surfing and sea-kayaking here are truly world-class, and there’s also the best ice-climbing and skiing in Britain Of course, activities here can be a mite chillier than elsewhere, but what could be more Scottish than shrugging off a wee bit of weather? Western Isles Flannan Isles Flannan Isles N N miles Harris Harris Lewis Lewis 50 ch Stornoway i n eM Th h inc eM h T Stornoway Sula Sgeir North Rona North Rona Cape Wrath Cape Wrath O C E A N A T L A N T I C Sula Sgeir O C E A N A T L A N T I C 50 SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS miles Ullapool 35 Ullapool A836 A836 Rousay Westray Westray Sanday Thurso Helmsdale Helmsdale Wick Wick John O’Groats Orkney Sanday Rousay Stromness Kirkwall Orkney StromnessHoy Kirkwall Hoy John O’Groats Thurso A9 A9 SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS A8 A8 35 A8 Foula Foula Fair Isle Fair Isle Lerwick Shetland Lerwick Shetland Fetlar Unst Fetlar Yell Yell Unst Tiree Tiree A75 Dumfries f Fo Carlisle Hawick Galashiels Hawick Galashiels EDINBURGH ho M6 Carlisle r th h St Andrews or t of F t Fir EDINBURGH th Fir St Andrews Manchester Manchester ENGL AND ENGL AND A68 Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbright A75 Dumfries SCOTL AND Prestwick SCOTL AND Prestwick M8 M8 A9 Dundee Montrose A90 A9 A9 Montrose A90 Fraserburgh Fraserburgh Stranraer Ayr Glasgow Glasgow Stirling A9 Dundee A93 A93 A9 A9 A98 A98 A6 Belfast Belfast Ayr Perth Perth Callander Stirling Crianlarich Callander A85 Pitlochry Crianlarich A85 A8 Pitlochry A9 Braemar Braemar Elgin Elgin York York Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne 0 250 250 500 500 1000 1000 1500 1500 2000 2000 3000 Berwick-upon-Tweed T H A T H A Feet R E R E 3000 Feet N O S N O S Berwick-upon-Tweed Aberdeen Aberdeen A1 Larne Stranraer A8 A9 Aviemore M Larne Campbeltown Arran Arran Bute Bute A87 Aviemore A96 h Firt ray Mo h6 A9 Firt ray o M A74 Ballycastle Jura A 83 A8 Oban Oban A87 Inverness M74 Ballycastle Islay Islay Colonsay Jura Campbeltown Mull Mull Fort William A830 A830 Mallaig Fort William Rùm Colonsay Coll Coll Mallaig Rùm 32 A8 Inverness A9 A A NORTHERN IREL AND NORTHERN IREL AND Barra Skye SkyePortree 32 E TH A8 Kyle of Lochalsh Kyle of Lochalsh 77 M Portree ss Gairloch A8 T H E GR GR EA E A A 2T T GL GL L E EN o ch N Ne ss Ne h 77 A9 A9 Lo c M M90 M90 A90 A90 Gairloch 02 02 North Western Isles Uist Benbecula North Uist Benbecula South Uist South Uist Barra M74 A77 A7 A7 90 A6 A77 A7 A7 ond ond Lom c h Lom Loc h Lo A7 A7 A A 83 90 83 A68 A1 M6 A74 M INTRODUCTION FACT FILE • Covering over 15,000 Where to go There’s a golden rule to Highlands and Islands travel – don’t try to rush It makes no difference whether you than 360,000 inhabitants go by public or private transport, getting around here – a population density of 10 people per square mile, is time-consuming: distances on land are greater than compared to Scotland’s elsewhere in Britain (and there are no motorways), average of 166 while visiting the islands demands coordination with • The shortest scheduled ferry or plane timetables – and that’s assuming the flight in the world links weather doesn’t affect your plans Relax the pace, Westray to Papa Westray in the Orkney Islands At just however, and the journeys themselves – the spectacular one-and-a-half miles in train trips, the flights that scud over tiny islands, the length, the flight can take sailings on inter-island ferries or the winding drives under two minutes with a tailwind along scenic roads – are often as memorable as the • The coastline of the destinations themselves This is slow travel at its best Highlands and Islands The most accessible parts of the region are not far region is nearly 7000 miles from Glasgow and Edinburgh: you can be by the long, and Scotland has approximately 790 islands, banks of Loch Lomond in half an hour, or 130 of which are inhabited Highland Perthshire in a little over an hour As a • Almost half of the 130,000 result, Loch Lomond, and the hills and wooded tons of salmon farmed glens of the Trossachs tend to be busier than other in the region annually is exported, mainly to Europe parts of the Highlands, and while the tourist infrastructure here is hardly theme-park standard, • George Orwell holed up on Jura to write his to escape the day-trippers you need to head further dystopian futuristic novel, north into Perthshire and the Grampian hills of 1984 He called it “an Angus and Deeside where the Highland scenery is extremely ungetatable place” – perhaps why art-rock band at its richest South of Inverness the mighty KLF chose the island as the Cairngorm massif hints at the raw wilderness location to burn £1 million as an artistic statement in 1994 Scotland still provides To reach the lonely north and western Highlands, you’ll have to cross the • Never mind Nessie, midges are the real Great Glen, an ancient geological fissure that cuts monsters of the Highlands across the country from Fort William to Inverness The tiny blood-suckers bite via Loch Ness, a moody stretch of water where hardest from mid-May to August in calm cloudy tourists still hope to glimpse its resident monster conditions, and especially at Yet the area with arguably the most memorable dawn and dusk There’s even scenery of all is the jagged west coast, stretching a Midge Forecast: W midgeforecast.co.uk from Argyll north to Wester Ross and the hills of Assynt Here you’ll find a beautiful coastline that feels ever wilder, ever more remote, the further north you go, not least around spectacular dome-shaped mountains such as Suilven The north coast of Sutherland is less visited but lonelier still, with Caribbean-white beaches and an exhilarating sense of being at the edge of the world square miles, the Highlands and Islands house fewer OPPOSITE FROM TOP PIPERS IN TRADITIONAL DRESS; NEIST POINT, SKYE ... Introduction to the Scottish Highlands & Islands Wild and weather-beaten, the Scottish Highlands and Islands feel another world compared to the pastoral character of much of Great Britain This is a land... Aberdeen Tobermory NORTH SEA Oban Stirling Glasgow EDINBURGH Campbeltown NORTHERN IRELAND SCOTLAND ENGLAND Argyll The Central Highlands The Great Glen The north and northwest Highlands Skye and the. .. romance of the place, too Sure, the roads can be tortuous and the weather can be grim And let’s not even start on the midges in high summer But when the mood takes it, the Highlands and Islands have