Welcome to HOLIDAY West Highland - Discover the West Highlands

Road to the Misty Isle

Author Holiday West Highland

PASSING through Lochaber, with its fabulous braes, high mountains and huge areas of wilderness, you might think you’ve seen all there is to see of the magnificent west Highlands, but you’d be wrong. If you continue north along the A82 Inverness road to Invergarry and then north west along the A87 towards the Isle of Skye you will find an area of such unimaginable beauty you’’ll catch your breath at the sights that meet you round every corner.

At the small village of Invergarry is the A82/A87 junction where you can either turn right for Inverness or left for the Isle of Skye and all points north west. Shiel Bridge is an ideal base from which to tour the immediate area, visit Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, a couple of hours’ drive away, or go over to the island of Skye or further up the north west coast beyond Kyle of Lochalsh to Plockton and Applecross.

A single-track road from Shiel Bridge takes you round to the Glenelg peninsula via the Mam Ratagan Pass. Glenelg is a charming village and if you still want to go ‘over the sea to Skye’ by boat rather than the Skye Bridge you can do so from here with a small vehicle ferry which in summer plies the short distance between Glenelg and Kylerhea on Skye. Heading once more on the A87 towards Kyle of Lochalsh you will find yourself at one of the most photographed, if not the most photographed locations in the whole of Scotland.

Skirting the shores of Loch Duich, suddenly you come across the ancient stronghold that is Eilean Donan Castle, sitting on a rocky outcrop into the loch and accessible by foot over a stone bridge. Heading towards Kyle of Lochalsh (Kyle) you’’ll spot the famous Skye Bridge, built to replace the short ferry crossing to Kyleakin on Skye. Don’t just bypass Kyle, though. It gives you the chance to stretch your legs and gaze over to Skye from its bustling harbour from where larger ferries sailed to Stornoway in the Western Isles before roll-on/roll-off ferries arrived and moved the main ferry port to Ullapool further up the coast. The railway from Inverness terminates here and in summer you can enjoy a steam train journey up through Achnasheen and glorious Glen Carron to the Highlands capital - an unforgettable trip.

Near to Kyle is Balmacara Estate, run by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) – a fine example of a Highlands crofting estate. The land has been in use for thousands of years.