THE ROUGH GUIDE to Scottish Highlands & Islands ROUGHGUIDES 7Xekjj^_i Xeea Hek]^=k_Z[iVgZ YZh^\cZYidWZ\ddYid gZVYVcYZVhnidjhZ# I]ZWdd`^hY^k^YZY^cid i]Z[daadl^c\hZXi^dch VcYndjh]djaYWZVWaZ idÒcYl]ViZkZgndj cZZY^cdcZd[i]Zb# I]ZYebekhi[Yj_ed^h YZh^\cZYid\^kZndj V[ZZa[dgi]ZHXdii^h] =^\]aVcYh>haVcYh! hj\\Zhi^c\l]Zcid\d VcYl]Vicdiidb^hh! VcY^cXajYZhV[jaa a^hid[Yedj[dji#I]Zc XdbZhXWi_Yi![dgegZ" YZeVgijgZ^c[dgbVi^dc VcYdi]ZgegVXi^XVa^i^Zh# I]Z]k_Z[X]VeiZgh XdkZgi]ZgZ\^dch^c YZei]!ZVX]hiVgi^c\ l^i]V]^\]a^\]iheVcZa! Vc^cigdYjXi^dcVcY VbVeid]Zaendj eaVcndjggdjiZ# I]ZYedj[njihZXi^dcÒaahndj^cdc]^hidgnVcYWdd`h!l]^aZ ^cY^k^YjVaYebekh_di[hji^cigdYjXZHXdii^h][ddYVcYYg^c`VcYl^aY HXdiaVcY!VcYbWd]kW][\^kZhndjZcdj\]<VZa^Xid\ZiWn# I]ZWdd`XdcXajYZhl^i]Vaai]ZicWbbfh_dj!^cXajY^c\YZiV^ahd[]dl idhZcY^cjeYViZhVcYXdggZXi^dch!VcYVXdbegZ]Zch^kZ_dZ[n# J^_iÓ\j^[Z_j_edfkXb_i^[Z@kd[(&&.$ I]ZejWa^h]ZghVcYVji]dgh]VkZYdcZi]Z^gWZhiidZchjgZi]ZVXXjgVXnVcY XjggZcXnd[Vaai]Z^c[dgbVi^dc^cI]ZGdj\]<j^YZidHXdii^h]=^\]aVcYh >haVcYh!]dlZkZg!i]ZnXVcVXXZeicdgZhedch^W^a^in[dgVcnadhh!^c_jgn!dg ^cXdckZc^ZcXZhjhiV^cZYWnVcnigVkZaaZgVhVgZhjaid[^c[dgbVi^dcdgVYk^XZ XdciV^cZY^ci]Z\j^YZ# JH'.$//86C('$&& I SB N 978-1-85828-079-0 5 1 8 9 9 9 7 8 1 8 5 8 2 8 0 7 9 0 The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands & Islands written and researched by Rob Humphreys and Donald Reid with additional contributions by Colin Hutchison NEW YORK • LONDON • DELHI www.roughguides.com 02 Scottish H&I Intro&TNTM secti1 1 4/2/08 10:41:14 AM 02 Scottish H&I Intro&TNTM secti2 2 4/2/08 10:41:19 AM Contents Colour section 1 Orkney .............................. 371 Shetland............................ 419 Introduction ............................... 6 Where to go ............................... 8 Contexts 461 When to go .............................. 11 Things not to miss ................... 14 History ................................... 463 Books .................................... 476 Basics 25 Language 485 Getting there ........................... 27 Getting around......................... 31 Language............................... 487 Accommodation....................... 34 Glossary................................. 493 Eating and drinking .................. 37 The media ................................ 39 Travel store 495 Events and spectator sports .... 41 Outdoor pursuits...................... 43 Travel essentials ...................... 51 Small print & Index 503 Guide 57 Scottish food and drink Argyll................................... 59 colour section The Central Highlands....... 137 following p.168 The Great Glen.................. 199 The north and northwest Highlands............................... 235 Skye and the Small Wild Scotland colour section Isles ....................................... 303 following p.424 The Western Isles.............. 331 3 왗왗 Uig Sands, Lewis 왗 Calanais standing stones | CONTENTS | 4 02 Scottish H&I Intro&TNTM secti4 4 4/2/08 10:41:25 AM | INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO 5 | INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO Introduction to Scottish Highlands & Islands Rugged and weather-beaten, the Scottish Highlands and Islands are far removed from either the rural charms or the cosmopolitanism of much of Britain. Stuck out on the northwest fringe of Europe, this is a land where the elements play an important part in everyday life, where the shipping forecast is more than simply a form of sleep therapy. The landscape is raw, shaped over thousands of years by geological shifts, scouring glaciers and the hostile weather systems of the North Atlantic, to create magnificent land- and seascapes. It’s a region with a wild, romantic glint in its eye, too, with a regular supply of glorious sunsets that turn the sea lochs gold, and with more deserted beaches than the entire Mediterranean. Sure, the roads can be tortuous, the weather sometimes grim and the midges a pain, but, when the mood is on, the Highlands and Islands rarely fail to seduce. Despite all its dramatic beauty, it’s impossible to travel in the Highlands and Islands without being touched by the fragility of life here. While the Jacobite defeat at Culloden in 1746 was a blow to Scottish pride, it was an unmitigated disaster for the Highlands and Islands, signalling the destruction of the Highland clan system, and ultimately the entire Highland way of life. The Clearances that followed in the nineteenth century 6 more than halved the population, and even today the Highland landscape is littered with the crumbling shells of pre-Clearance crofting communities. 02 Scottish H&I Intro&TNTM secti6 6 4/2/08 10:41:30 AM | INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO Depopulation remains a constant threat, Fact file particularly on the islands, and in many cases only the arrival of settlers from outside • Covering over 15,000 the region has stemmed the dwindling square miles, the numbers. The economy, too, struggles, even Highlands and Islands region houses less than with government and European Union 400,000 inhabitants – a subsidies. The traditional Highland indus- population density of 25 tries of farming, crofting, fshing and whisky people per square mile, distilling are no longer enough to provide compared to Scotland’s jobs for the younger generation, and have average of 166. The largest centre and only been supplemented by forestry, fsh-farming city in the region, Inver- and the oil industry. However, all three of ness, has a population of these have a detrimental efect on the little more than 66,000. environment, whose health is of paramount • The coastline of the importance to the region’s other important Highlands and Islands industry – tourism. In the end, it’s a tricky region is nearly 7000 miles long, and Scotland juggling act balancing the importance of has approximately 790 seizing new opportunities with the will to islands, 130 of which are maintain traditional values. inhabited. • The highest mountain in the Highlands is Ben Nevis (4406ft), while the bottom of Loch Morar is 1017ft below sea level. The highest point of any island is Sgurr Alasdair in the Cuillin on Skye (3258ft). The highest point on the Shetland and Orkney islands is Ronas Hill (a streamlined 1476ft). • Almost half of the 130,000 tons of salmon farmed annually is exported, mainly to Europe. • The Highlands and Islands region is repre- sented by fifteen MSPs (Members of the Scottish Parliament) in Edinburgh, and seven MPs (Members of Parliament) at 7 Westminster. 02 Scottish H&I Intro&TNTM secti7 7 4/2/08 10:41:36 AM | INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO 왖 Tossing the caber Tradition and the sense of the past may be vital elements of the Highlands and Islands, but the region is by no means entombed by them. Today visitors come not just to clamber over castles and wrap themselves in tartan nostalgia but to hike up hills or photograph pufns, meditate by standing stones or scuba-dive among shipwrecks. You don’t have to look too far to fnd old assumptions being challenged in many aspects of Highland life – these days gourmets steer clear of tearooms serving shortbread to seek out wild venison and west-coast shellfsh, landowning lairds are as likely to be Hollywood stars or Formula One racing drivers as titled aristocrats, while even in the remotest corners there are crofters looking after websites as well as shaggy Highland cattle. Where to go here’s little to be gained in trying to rush round the Highlands and Islands. Travelling in these parts is time-consuming: distances on land are greater than elsewhere in Britain (and there are no motorways), Twhile getting to the islands means coordinating with ferry or plane timetables and hoping the weather doesn’t intervene and spoil your plans. Having said that, the journeys themselves – by spectacular train lines, small 8 aircraft scudding over tiny islands, inter-island ferries or winding, scenic roads – are often memorable. 02 Scottish H&I Intro&TNTM secti8 8 4/2/08 10:41:40 AM 왔 Highland cow | INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO