Away from the tourist mainstream lie hidden gems. In this case, it’s the South West Highlands and the Inner Hebrides….
Intro and travel report
And I have to correct myself, because the Isle of Skye is also part of the Inner Hebrides and is right in the tourist mainstream.
But just a few kilometres further south, there’s hardly anything going on: I’ve already written an article about the wonderful Isle of Mull, which I’ll link below.
But the islands of Jura, Islay and Arran are also little visited. And then there are many small islands that nobody will visit unless they are travelling by boat anyway.
We made it much easier for ourselves this time and travelled (among other things) with our (slightly too big) motorhome in the south-west Highlands. This is a corner of Scotland that we had always left out on previous visits and that I finally wanted to see.
Others probably feel the same way, which is why there is much less going on here than at Loch Lomond or Loch Ness or on the Isle of Skye. But it’s no less beautiful!
So let’s get started: we first followed the A85 westwards via Crianlarich in the direction of Oban. At Dalmally, we then turned left onto the small A819, which follows the beautiful Loch Awe for a few kilometres.
However, you should stop shortly after the turn-off, as the beautiful Kilchurn Castle, or the remains of it, appears on the right. Here, the location in the marvellous valley is particularly impressive. From the small parking bay, you can enter the large sheep pasture via small gates and walk a little way towards the castle, which I was happy to do for a few photos.
The small, narrow road follows the shore for a while and then turns southwards. It leads over mountains, hills, pastures and forests to the south coast. Not a road for a motorhome, but a lovely drive!
In the small town of Inveraray you come to the water again. However, this loch is not a lake, but a long bay.
Inveraray is probably best known for Inveraray Castle, a magnificent castle with large gardens that can be visited here. On the hill above is an old castle, or rather a watchtower, the Dun Na Cuaiche Watchtower, which looks out over the bay.
Otherwise, Inveraray is more of a larger village than a small town. There is a nice fishing harbour, a few private boats, a very nice little promenade and a small main street and shopping street.
Many of the buildings are old and whitewashed. Some of the plaster is peeling, but we enjoyed our stopover in Inveraray.
We follow the beautiful A83 coastal road further south to Lochgilphead, where we turn north and follow the road over the hills to the small coastal town of Kilninver.
We drive a little further on small roads through a very beautiful rocky landscape to Ellenabeich, where we find a simple motorhome pitch.
However, we had no idea what to expect: The picturesque village is an absolute dream! Old, whitewashed fishermen’s and labourers’ cottages lie directly on the bay, picturesquely framed by the steep walls of the surrounding rocky hills.
From the small harbour, you can look out over a multitude of rocky outcrops and islets across the sea to the shores of the Isle of Mull in the distance. Boats of all kinds bob in the small bay. They are mainly fishing boats. Fast, small boats are obviously more important here than cars. But there are also a few sailing yachts and boats.
From here you can also book various excursions to watch dolphins, seals and seabirds.
The old harbour still has an old large pier. This was either destroyed by the ravages of time or by a storm and has not been rebuilt. Larger ships must have moored here in times gone by!
And so it is. The tiny and absolutely cute Ellenabeich Museum is located in one of the old cottages and provides information about the history of the village and the islands: As well as fishing, there used to be a lot of mining activity here.
Slate was mined in and around Ellenabeich, and especially on the nearby islands of Easdale, Luing, Seil, Scarba and Jura. The islands, which belong to the Inner Hebrides, are therefore still called the Slate Isles (slate = slate).
The slate was then loaded onto ships from harbours such as Ellenabeich and shipped to England or Europe. The old pier still dates from this time.
The tiny island of Easdale lies just off Ennebeich, on the other side of the destroyed pier. A tiny passenger ferry travels to the offshore island for a small coin – every half hour!
The next day I make the trip with my camera. The two ferrymen are super nice and on the way there and back I learn a bit about life in this remote corner of Scotland.
I walk through the small, old, white cottages on Easdale, admire many more boats, walk around the island and climb the hill in its centre. All around the tiny island are small lochs, old slate pits that have filled up.
The view over the island is nice and also funny: the mixture of old machines, fishing utensils and bicycles lying around the cottages is a bit chaotic.
However, the ferrymen’s little cottage, hung with nets and buoys, is super cute. I also notice an incredible number of wheelbarrows of all ages: This is the islanders’ daily means of transport, as there are no cars here.
The view across to Ellenabeich is incredibly beautiful – my God, what a location!
From my hill on Easdale, I look out over the sea and can’t get enough of it: Small boats occasionally travel between the islands and the high mountains of the Isle of Mull form a worthy backdrop – simply incredible
We stay a second night and set off again the next day, almost reluctantly. This takes us north along the coast on the A816 to the town of Oban.
I’ve been here on my motorbike before and after an overnight stay I took the ferry to the Isle of Mull. I’ll link you to my article below.
Today we only take a short break, enjoy the flair of the small town and the beautiful harbour and continue our journey. Oban is certainly the most important town in the area, not only because several ferries operate from here, but also because it is of medium size and offers corresponding shopping facilities.
The buildings at the harbour are somewhat larger and more magnificent, but even in the side streets the picture is somewhat more mixed. Although Oban has nice corners and a few sights and the town is beautifully situated by the sea, it is probably more of a residential and working town than a tourist town.
The theme repeats itself: there’s not too much going on in the south-west Highlands and Hebrides! I like that and enjoy my second stay in Oban.
We follow the coast further north, past the village of Glencoe and on to Inverlochy and Fort William. Once again, the journey is simply marvellous!
Conclusion
While Loch Lomond, Loch Ness, Glenfinnan Viaduct and the Isle of Skye are busy, the south-west Highlands and offshore Inner Hebrides are refreshingly quiet.
The landscapes and coastlines are beautiful and the small and medium-sized towns by the sea are absolutely lovely and worth seeing.
Is the region completely unknown, undiscovered and unexplored? Not really. But it is sparsely populated and by no means overcrowded! So an insider tip for your tour? I think so, definitely!
More interesting articles for you
Coming soon…
Cover picture: In the bay of Inveraray (Photo: Ulrich Knüppel-Gertberg)
