Ardbeg – The Classic Tour on the South Coast of Islay
A few hours.
The route
Ardbeg sits right on the rocky south coast of Islay, its whitewashed warehouses lettered in black above the shore and the sea.
The classic tour goes from the mash tun to the stills with three drams of its smoky core range along the way, and the Old Kiln Café in the visitor centre does lunch. Children may come on the tour, and whoever is driving gets driver's drams.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
None of ours is close by: the nearest is The Hollies, 38 miles away. Sleeps 18.
Book the Classic Ardbeg Distillery Tour on Ardbeg's website before you go, for 10.30am on a weekday: an hour and a quarter, £22.50 a head at the time of writing, three core range drams, children welcome and driver's drams for whoever is driving.
The day
Ardbeg
The morning tour through the mash house, the washbacks and the still house, a dram at each turn, then soup or chowder by the sea.
About two and a half hours
Ardbeg Distillery
An attraction
Ardbeg is on Islay's south coast, about three and a half miles east of Port Ellen on the road past Laphroaig and Lagavulin; park at the distillery. Book the Classic Ardbeg Distillery Tour on Ardbeg's website: an hour and a quarter from the mash tun to the stills, with three drams of the core range along the way, £22.50 a head at the time of writing. Children may come, and there are driver's drams for whoever is at the wheel. It runs Monday to Friday at 10.30am. From 5 to 23 October 2026 the stills rest for maintenance, and Ardbeg marks the Classic tour as not available in this silent season. Its Meet the Makers experience runs instead, at 11am and 2pm on weekdays, from £65, so check which tour is on sale for your date when you book. From October to April the visitor centre opens Monday to Friday only, 9.30am to 5pm. The last tour of 2026 is on 18 December and tours start again on 11 January, and the visitor centre is shut from 22 December to 4 January. Dogs may come into the shop on a short lead, but not on the tour or into the café. After the tour, the Old Kiln Café in the visitor centre serves lunch from noon until last orders at 3.30pm, with soup and smoked haddock chowder.
If it rains
The tour and the café are both indoors; only the courtyard between them is out in the weather.
Where to stay