The north and northwest Highlands - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 215

it is even more rugged than the west, its sheer cliffs and white-sand bays bearing the
brunt of frequently fierce Atlantic storms. The only town here is Thurso , jumping-off
point for the main ferry service to Orkney.
All of this makes the fertile east coast of the Highlands such a surprise. Stretching
north from Inverness to the old herring port of Wick , it is a place of rolling moors,
green fields and woodlands which run down to the sandy beaches of the Black Isle and
Cromarty and Dornoch firths . If the west coast is about raw nature, the east is one of
human history: Golspie 's Sutherland Monument and castle, Dornoch 's fourteenth-
century sandstone cathedral, relics of the Picts and several sites linked to the Clearances .

GETTING AROUND THE HIGHLANDS
Getting around the Highlands , particularly the remoter parts, can be tricky without your own transport. Bus services
are sporadic and often cease entirely on Sunday. And a word of advice if you are driving : fuel supplies are few and far
between in the west and north, so fill up early and be prepared for higher prices. Bear in mind, too, that the Highlands'
single-track roads are far from fast. See that as a good thing.

Morvern to Knoydart: the “Rough Bounds”
Its Gaelic name Garbh-chiochan translates as the “ Rough Bounds ”, implying a region
geographically and spiritually apart, and the southwest corner of the Highlands is
indeed remote and sparsely populated. From the empty district of Morvern to the
isolated Knoydart peninsula are lonely mountains and moors, a rocky, indented coast
studded by white beaches and wonderful views to Mull, Skye and other islands. It's
scenery that begs you to spend time exploring on foot.

4

Morvern
Bounded on three sides by sea lochs and in the north by desolate Glen Tarbet, the
mountainous Morvern peninsula lies at the southwest corner of the Rough Bounds.
Many inhabitants of St Kilda were settled here when the island was abandoned
(see p.310) and the landscape can seem bleak until the coast reveals views to Mull.

Lochaline
Most visitors only travel through the Morvern peninsula to get to LOCHALINE
(pronounced “loch- aa lin”) on the Sound of Mull , little more than a scattering of houses
around a small pier built as a work-for-food scheme during famine in 1846. From here,
a small ferry chugs to Fishnish - the shortest crossing to Mull from the mainland and
cheaper than the Oban-Craignure crossing with a car.

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE MORVERN

By bus Shiel Buses ( T 01967 431272, W shielbuses.co.uk)
runs a single service between Morvern and Fort William on
Tues, Thurs and Fri, plus a Sat service from mid-June to
early Sept. By request, the bus goes as far as the road end at
Drimnin (3h 10min), at the northwest corner of Morvern,
for ferries to Tobermory.
By ferry To save the long journey around Loch Eil
into the peninsula, a ferry nips across to Ardgour from

Corran Ferry, 9 miles south of Fort William, every
20-30min (Mon-Sat 6.30am-9.20pm, Sun 8.30am-
9.20pm; 10min). In addition, two services link the penin-
sula to Mull: a car ferry from Lochaline to Fishnish (Mon-
Sat 6.30am-9.20pm, Sun 8.30am-9.20pm; 15min) and
a passenger-only charter service from Drimnin to Tober-
mory, run by Ardnamurchan Charters ( T 01972 500208,
W west-scotland-marine.com).

ACTIVITIES
Lochaline Dive Centre Lochaline T 01967 421627,
W lochalinedivecentre.co.uk. Based in the village centre,
this outfit specializes in underwater archeology on local

wrecks, and provides drift, shallow, scenic and shore dives.
Also offers air filling and cylinder hire.