SCENERY AND HOSTELS IN SCOTLAND'S WILD NORTHWEST
- Isle of Skye Fantastic range of scenery -- but be prepared for wind and rain
- The Outer Hebrides Another world
- The Far Northwest Intricate and fantastic landscape
- Ullapool Little town with great sea views
- The North Coast Bleak and breezy
NORTHWEST SCOTLAND
Transport to the area
From Inverness: trains leave 4 times a day for Kyle of Lochalsh. The first two connect with a bus which runs across Skye. For the far northwest, take the train from Inverness (3 per day) to Lairg (1.5 hrs) or Thurso (3.5 hrs) then a connecting bus. On Sundays there are 2 trains per day from Inverness on each route, but only in summer.
There are buses every day in summer from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Kyle of Lochalsh and Skye. There are trains from Glasgow to Mallaig then a ferry to Skye, but bus connections on Skye are then not good.
Kyle of Lochalsh
Trains from Inverness and buses from Glasgow get you to Kyle of Lochalsh, a little fishing village where the hills of Skye tempt you to cross the narrow strait to its twin village Kyleakin. Crossing the bridge is now free. Coaches stop at both Kyle and Kyleakin, and there is an occasional shuttle bus across the bridge.At Kyle of Lochalsh there is a hostel OK for one night:
Address: Station Road
Tel: 01599-534492
Email: cuchulainns_hostel + AT + hotmail.com
Facilities: Small hostel, medium kitchen w eating table; adjacent bar with smoking, TV & internet ; barman is manager (helpful but not always available).
UK Trail opinions: A clean and OK hostel, kitchen/dining room is cramped but sociable, no other common room. Several annoyances: nextdoor cafe extractor fan outside dorm window, dorm window frosted, hot water not working.
THE FAR NORTHWEST
This is a land where beauty turns into fantasy. Starting with
plain ordinary impressive mountains, and long valleys with
lochs leading down to great sea inlets, you pass a subtropical
garden (!!) at Inverewe, come to the small bustling but remote
town of Ullapool where boats leave for the Western Isles, see
the most fabulously beautiful scenes where the clouds and
sunbeams interact with the sea, and enter a landscape of tiny
valleys and hillocks suddenly interrupted by hills of the most
outlandish shapes plonked in the middle of the landscape. The
chain of hostels takes full advantage of the scenery, with many
located right on the coast, and several of them very remote.
It is possible to tour this area by bus, but get hold of the timetables before you plan your tour.
Just inland from Kyle of Lochalsh is an area of magnificent mountains, sea lochs, a castle and more. You have a choice of three very different hostels. Among the mountains far from the main road (transport from Kyle can be arranged) you will find:
Tel: 01599-588205
Facilities: Self-catering with breakfast food provided.
Just a mile from the main road and 8 miles from Kyle is:
Address: Silver Fir, Carndubh
Tel: 01599-555264
And 18 miles from Kyle, beautifully situated on the quiet side of Loch Duich, is:
Address: Glenshiel
Tel: 01599-511243
Going along the railway from Kyle towards Inverness, you first pass the picture-postcard village of Plockton, with a hostel right by the station:
Tel: 01599-544235
Email: gill + AT + ecosse.net
After traversing some exquisite lochside scenery you can get out at Achnashellach. There is an excellent hostel right by the railway line but unfortunately 4km from the station. But it's worth it for the many fine hikes from here:
Tel: 01520-766232
Facilities: Owner-run, good kitchen, cosy common room w books and stereo, non-smoking, good hikes from hostel door.
UK Trail opinions: Excellent small sociable hostel, owner individualistic and helpful, no smoking in or outdoors.
For the rest of the northwest, take your time if you can. Nearly all the hostels are in magnificent locations, usually by the sea.
Tel: 01445-791284
Facilities: Lounges with panoramic views. In remote area suitable for active mountain walking or relaxing by sea and lochs..
UK Trail opinions: Reviewers mark fun factor low, but I guess that just means it's quiet and there's no pub!.
Reviewers' comments: Kitchen and dining areas, and showers, excellent. Midges can be troublesome. H-Bookers rating 84%, but fun only 54%..
Tel: 01445-760253
Tel: 01445-712458
Tel: 01445-712131
Address: Gairloch
Tel: 0871-330-8510
Tel: 01445-771263
Email: ruareidh + AT + netcomuk.co.uk
Address: Croft Nr 9
Tel: 01854-633281
Email: michael.stott2 + AT + virgin.net
Tel: 01854-633224
Email: sailmhor + AT + btinternet.com
Address: West Argyle Street
Tel: 01854-613126
Email: rlindsay + AT + btinternet.com
Facilities: £14 (2006), 22 beds. Equipped kitchen, dining room, lounge w stove & TV, low-cost internet, drying room.
Address: Shore Street
Tel: 01854-612254
Facilities: 50 beds, open Mar-Oct. Kitchen..
From the next 2 hostels you can take easy walks or climb peaks from the hostel door:
Address: Achiltibuie
Tel: 0870-004-1101
Facilities: Low-cost, small hostel.
This hostel is on a white sandy beach:
Address: Recharn
Tel: 0870-004-1102
Facilities: Low-cost, small hostel on beach, good sunsets.
UK Trail opinions: Looks superb.
Tel: 01571-822218
Email: assynt + AT + dial.pipex.com
Facilities: Kitchen, dining room, lounge, shop, pub next door.
THE NORTH COAST
At last the beauty starts running out, and the far northern
coast is less impressive, but only compared with what has gone
before -- it is wild and often windy, but the villages lie in
sheltered coves. The northernmost point of the mainland at Cape
Wrath is rather difficult to reach, so stay 2 nights at Durness
and investigate the transport. To come direct to this area,
there is one bus a day from Lairg (on the railway) to Durness
and one to Tongue, and in summer one bus a day runs along the
north coast from Durness to Thurso. Durness is a remote village
but it has a shop and some fantastic beaches.
Address: Smoo
Tel: 0870-004-1113
Facilities: Kitchen, lounge with stove, drying room.
UK Trail opinions: Remote windswept area. We have not seen it, but it looks good..
Tel: 01971-511209
Email: fiona + AT + durnesshostel.com
Facilities: Smoke-free, equipped kitchen, living room, drying room, bike store.
UK Trail opinions: We haven't seen it, but it looks cosy and sociable. Remote, but shops nearby..
Farther along this coast is Tongue, an equally remote place with impressive scenery.
Tel: 01847-611301
If you continue further E along the N coast of Scotland you arrive at Thurso and John-O-Groats
