Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Appin
Seventeen miles north of Oban is Appin , best known as the setting for Robert Louis
Stevenson's Kidnapped , a fictionalized account of the “Appin Murder” of 1752, when
Colin Campbell was shot in the back, allegedly by one of the disenfranchised Stewart
clan. The name Appin derives from the Gaelic abthaine , meaning “lands belonging to
the abbey”, in this case the one on the island of Lismore, which is linked to the
peninsula by passenger ferry from Port Appin.
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Port Appin
A pretty little fishing village at the peninsula's westernmost tip, Port Appin overlooks a
host of tiny islands dotted around Loch Linnhe, with Lismore and the mountains of
Morvern and Mull in the background. Without doubt, it is one of Argyll's most
picturesque spots.
Castle Stalker
A828, between Connel and Ballachulish • Visits by tour only, roughly mid-July to early Sept • £10 • T 01631 740315 or T 01631 730354,
W castlestalker.com
Framed magnificently as you wind along the single-track road to Port Appin is one of
Argyll's most romantic ruined castles, the much-photographed sixteenth-century ruins
of Castle Stalker . The castle, which is privately owned, can only be visited on one of
the pre-booked tours , which are limited to five weeks of the year over the summer.
Otherwise, there is a footpath from the Stalker View café which winds down to a point
some 200 metres from the castle affording some cracking photo opportunities.
ARRIVAL AND ACTIVITIES
PORT APPIN
By ferry Ferries to Lismore (hourly; 5min) depart from a
small jetty at the southernmost point of the village, by
the Pierhouse Hotel .
Bike rental Port Appin Bikes ( T 01631 730391; £10/day)
are useful if you're popping across to Lismore; you can take
a bike for free on the ferry.
Watersports The Linnhe Marine Water Sports Centre
(May-Sept; T 07721 503981), in Lettershuna (just north
of Castle Stalker), rents out boats of all shapes and sizes and
offers sailing and windsurfing lessons, as well as water-
skiing, clay-pigeon shooting and even pony trekking.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Castle Stalker View Overlooking Castle Stalker
T 01631 730444. In a tip-top position overlooking the
castle, this large, light-filled café makes for a super little
pit stop, serving up fluffy jacket spuds with unusual fillings
like crayfish tails or haggis (£7.95), and a mouthwatering
selection of baked goodies. Daily: March-Oct 9.30am-
5pm; Nov-Feb 10am-4pm.
Pierhouse Hotel A few paces from the jetty T 01631
730302, W pierhousehotel.co.uk. Ideally situated just
along from the jetty, the whitewashed Pierhouse has
twelve sumptuously furnished rooms decorated in cool
beige and mocha tones, most with unrivalled loch views -
it's pricey, mind. The hotel's spa rkling seafood restaurant
is highly rated in these parts too. £130
Isle of Lismore
Lying in the middle of Loch Linnhe, to the north of Oban, and barely rising above a
hillock, the narrow island of Lismore (around ten miles long and a mile wide) offers
wonderful gentle walking and cycling opportunities, with unrivalled views, in fine
weather, across to the mountains of Morvern, Lochaber and Mull. Legend has it that
saints Columba and Moluag both fancied the skinny island as a missionary base, but as
they raced towards it Moluag cut of his finger and threw it ashore ahead of Columba,
claiming the land for himself. Of Moluag's sixth-century foundation nothing remains,
but from 1236 until 1507 the island served as the seat of the bishop of Argyll. Lismore
is one of the most fertile of the Inner Hebrides - its name, coined by Moluag himself,
derives from the Gaelic lios mór , meaning “great garden” - and before the Clearances
(see p.415) it supported nearly 1400 inhabitants; the population today is only 180,
 
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