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Lochinver
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The potholed and narrow road north from Achiltibuie through Inverkirkaig is unremittingly spectacular, threading its way through a tumultuous landscape of secret valleys, moorland and bare rock, past the startling shapes of
Cul Beag
(2523ft),
Cul Mor
(2785ft) and the distinctive sugar-loaf
Suilven
(2398ft). A scattering of pebble-dashed bungalows around a sheltered bay heralds your arrival at
LOCHINVER
, 16 miles due north of Ullapool (although more than twice that by road). There's a better-than-average
tourist office
(April-Oct Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, July & Aug also Sun 10am-5pm; tel 01571/844330), whose visitor centre gives an interesting rundown on the area's geology, wildlife and history; a countryside ranger is available to advise on walks.
Heading north from Lochinver, there are two possible routes: the fast A837, which runs eastwards along the shore of Loch Assynt to join the northbound A894, or the narrow, more scenic B869 coast road that locals dub "The Breakdown Zone", because its ups and downs claim so many victims during summer. Hugging the indented shoreline, this route offers superb views of the Summer Isles, as well as a number of rewarding side-trips to beaches and dramatic cliffs. Post- and schoolbuses from Lochinver cover the route as far as Ardvar or Drumbeg (Mon-Sat). The first village worthy of a detour is ACHMELVICH , a couple of miles along a side road, whose tiny bay cradles a stunning white-sand beach lapped by startlingly turquoise water. There's a noisy campsite and a basic forty-bed SYHA hostel (tel 01571/844480, ; May-Sept) just behind the largest beach. However, for total peace and quiet, head to other, equally seductive beaches beyond the headlands.
The side road that branches north off the B869 between
Stoer
and
Clashnessie
, both of which have sandy beaches, ends abruptly by the automatic lighthouse at
Raffin
, built in 1870 by the Stevenson brothers (one of whom was the author Robert Louis Stevenson's dad). You can continue for two miles along a well-worn track to the Point of Stoer, named after the colossal rock pillar that stands offshore known as "
The Old Man of Stoer
", surrounded by sheer cliffs and splashed with guano from the seabird colonies that nest on its 200ft sides. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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United Kingdom,
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