Exploring Mallaig and Arisaig

Two weeks ago we managed to go away for a long weekend. Unusually, we decided on a relaxing trip rather than a challenging one, and our first choice was Arran. Unfortunately, there was no space on the ferry so we quickly made a new plan to go to Arisaig and Mallaig, which is a region of Scotland neither of us had explored at all.

These two small towns/villages are situated on the very western end of the peninsula south of Knoydart, and getting the boat from Mallaig is actually one of the easiest ways to access this remote area; Mallaig is also well-known for the ferry link to Skye.

Mallaig harbour

We left on the Thursday evening, intending to stop somewhere near Glencoe to spend the night before continuing the drive on the Friday morning. However, we hadn’t checked the traffic news (nor did Chris read the signs!), and discovered that the road (A82) was closed at Lochearnhead; this wouldn’t be too much of an issue in England, an alternative could be easily found, but in Scotland, there are so few roads that if the one you need is blocked, it requires an enormous detour (hours and hours!) to avoid it. We therefore turned around and parked in a layby, behind a lorry, to wait until it opened again in the morning.

As this wasn’t a very lovely spot, we left first thing in the morning in order to have breakfast with the much nicer views of Glencoe. Sadly, despite the sun on Rannoch Moor, it was raining in Glencoe, so we had bacon sandwiches admiring the mist.

Loch Morar

We then continued to Mallaig, via the obligatory stop in Fort William to buy the things we had forgotten. Mallaig turned out to be nicer than we expected with a busy harbour, where we watched some fishing boats unloading their catches. It also seems to have one extremely busy street, full of tourists and outdoor enthusiasts.

Ominous clouds before we got soaked

Loch Morar is lovely, it is worth a drive down the little yellow road to have a look. We parked in Morar to go down to the bay, but ended up having a nap before making it out of the van! The tide was out and the beach was massive; wandering along the northern edge, Chris had a paddle and was caught in a torrential rainstorm without his shoes on.

Cambusdarach beach is about a 10-15 min walk from the car park

On Saturday, the sun was shining, so we headed for the string of beaches that stretch between the villages of Morar and Arisaig. They were all lovely with white sand and stunning clear blue sea. They were also busier than any beaches we have been on in Scotland before! However, by walking further beyond the first beach at Cambusdarach, we found a quiet spot for a swim with the fish.

The sea was too perfect to resist going for a swim!

We had lunch beside another beach further south before driving down through Arisaig and continuing south west to the end of the road on the little headland. If you were careful of cars, this road would make a wonderful cycle. Having parked up, we walked further southwest along a track to Rhue Cottage, then on a path down to a secluded beach, Port nam Murach. There were even other people here, though many had arrived by boat, and a big group arrived by kayak while we were there. They set up camp on a wonderful grassy spot above the beach; it looked like an amazing place to spend the night!

The lovely beach Port nam Murach

We had another calm evening watching kayakers and standup-paddle boarders while we ate dinner.

Views across to the islands Rum and Eigg

On Sunday we had exhausted our tasty breakfast supply, so we sheltered from the drizzle and had a bacon roll and tea in a café in Arisiaig, before drivng back east along the A830 to a layby just east of Polnish. From there we walked down the Ardnish peninsula to the Peanmeanach ruins. This is a good walk, along a clear, if very boggy, track. The route climbs up the hillside above Loch Nan Uamh, crosses moorland, passing Loch Doire a Ghearain on the left, before descending through a wonderful mossy, deciduous woodland. The path then comes out onto flat marshland, where it’s a case of trying to avoid totally wet feet, before coming to the ruined village on a slightly raised area above the beach. I hadn’t read the route description in detail so it was a pleasant surprise to find a very nice bothy here amongst the ruined buildings. In fact, in his book, the Bothy Bible, Geoff Allan lists Peanmeanach bothy as one of the top five bothies for “Coast and beaches”, “Families and beginners”, and “Romantic hideaways”. I haven’t yet stayed in a bothy, but this one would tempt me: it was spacious, bright, cleaner and more inviting than the others I’ve seen.

Loch nam Uamh

We had lunch outside, then made our way back. If anyone happens to be there and finds a monocular, I haven’t seen mine since we were there and I would really love to get it back!

The view down to the coast and the bothy

Dinner was cooked and eaten in Glencoe again, sheltering in the van away from the midges and watching the unsuspecting tourists perform the “midge dance”.

It was a lovely weekend and a very novel and pleasant experience to have no time constraints and be able to lie-in and laze around as much as we liked!