Island 27 - Islay, Inner Hebrides

I spent a week on Islay in 1979 and returned for 3 days in August/September 2012.  On both occasions I stayed in Port Charlotte.  In 2012 I stayed in the excellent SYHA Hostel, which is located on the first floor of part of the old Loch Indaal Distillery, which closed down in the 1920s.  The staff at the hostel couldn't have been more welcoming or helpful.  The bedrooms are a bit small but there is a very spacious kitchen, dining room and living room with views of the beach below and across Loch Indaal towards Bowmore.  In 2025 I returned to Islay and this time stayed in a self-catering bungalow at Lyrabus.

Much of Islay is inaccessible by road.  The A-roads on Islay are well surfaced but some of the unclassified roads are full of patched up potholes. An annual walking festival is held on the island every April.

The island has plenty of peat to flavour whisky from its nine distilleries: Ardbeg, Bunnahabhain, Bruichladdich, Bowmore, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Caol Ila, Kilchoman and Ardnahoe.  Kilchoman  was only established in 2005.  I can recommend their tearoom and their whisky.  Most of the distilleries are open to the public and several have cafes.  I didn't visit any of the distilleries, as I don't like whisky and am of the opinion that visiting 4 distilleries in a lifetime, which I have done already, is quite enough!

The main settlements on the island are Bowmore, Port Ellen, Port Charlotte and Portnahaven/Port Wemyss.  In 2011 the population of Islay was 3,228 and in 2022 it was 3,180.

There is a fine Celtic cross at Kildalton next to a ruined chapel.  It is thought to date from around 800 AD and is made of bluestone.

Calmac runs a vehicle ferry from Kennacraig to Port Ellen or Port Askaig.  During the summer on a Wednesday it is also possible to travel to Islay from Oban via Colonsay.  This is how I arrived.  You can also fly to Islay from Colonsay, Oban or Glasgow.  I did visit the airport but only to buy more coffee and cake at the Drome Café, which was alright but nothing special.

 American Monument at The Oa

The American Monument at The Oa was erected in memory of the more than 600 American troops who died when their troopships sank off Islay in separate incidents in 1918. There is an RSPB reserve at the Mull of Oa with a circular walk including the American Monument.  You can apparently see choughs and peregrines here.  However it was pouring with rain, so I took the direct route, found the geocache and beat a hasty retreat to the car.   

There is another RSPB reserve at Loch Gruinart where hen harriers, corncrakes and wading birds can be seen.  Needless to say I didn't see any of these during my 2012 visit, but I did enjoy the meandering walk through a small area of woodland.  By 2025 I had developed an interest in bird watching and brought my binoculars with me.  I was pleased to see both male and female hen harriers, a pair of choughs, whinchats, a common sandpiper, black guillemots and a solitary corncrake at various places around the island.

 Museum of Islay Life, Port Charlotte

The Museum of Islay Life is housed in a former church. It contains displays of artefacts that represent life on Islay over the last 12,0000 years, including Neolithic flint tools & pottery, Bronze Age burial items, the whisky industry, farming implements, craftsmen's tools, shipwrecks and domestic life on crofts in the 19th century.

 Round Church, Bowmore

Bowmore is the second largest town on the island and home to the biggest Co-op Supermarket, a range of other shops, banks, a hospital, a distillery and the Tourist Information Centre.

 Bruichladdich Distillery

 Caol Ila Distillery with the Paps of Jura in the distance

Ardnahoe Distillery

Bunnahabhain Distillery

 Carraig Fhada Lighthouse

The Singing Sands near Carraig Fhada

I couldn't get them to sing for me.

 Ruined Chapel at Kilchiaran

 Islay House Square Community Garden
Islay House Square has a selection of craft workshops and this community garden, which is huge.  You can buy seasonal fruit and vegetables from them.   I had an informative chat with the friendly lady at the batik workshop.

 Cross and Ruined Chapel at Kilnave

 Celtic Cross, Kilchoman

 One of the Kildalton Crosses

 Celtic Cross at Kildalton
9th century high cross.  The 6 mile road from Ardbeg to Kildalton is single track and very potholed.

 Lagavulin Distillery

 Ardbeg Distillery

 Rhuvaal Lighthouse


Memorial at Sanaigmore
This memorial commemorates the 241 Irish imigrants who died in 1847 on their way to Canada when their ship sank off the coast of Islay.  108 of them are buried nearby.

Sanaigmore Beach

 Peat cutting at Glenegedale


Port Askaig
At first I thought this was an artistic bus stop but its real use is even more mundane - it shelters a petrol pump.  However I thought it was a work of art!

 Port Askaig
What you can see (a shop and a pub) is about all there is at Port Askaig, except for the Calmac ferry terminal and access to the smaller Jura ferry.


Port Charlotte Lighthouse

Port Charlotte
The Youth Hostel is the building on the right

Whisky themed postbox topper at Port Charlotte Post Office

Port Charlotte

Port Ellen

Portnahaven - my favourite place on Islay

Port Wemyss

Portnahaven

The island of Orsay from Port Wemyss - so near, yet so far!
I had a coffee and a chocolate & raspberry muffin at the nearby Coffee and Cakeaway, which is run by a very friendly lady.  She said there had been a basking shark in the sea between Port Wemyss and Orsay that morning but of course it had gone by the time I arrived!

Orsay from Port Wemyss

Saligo Bay

This is my favourite beach on Islay but not looking its best in the pouring rain

Saligo Bay on a sunny afternoon