Ardmair Beach – Skimming Stones and Fish and Chips
A few hours.
The route
Ardmair is a curving shingle bay just north of Ullapool, with white cottages along the shore, Isle Martin out in the bay and the ridge of Ben More Coigach behind.
It's a lovely spot for an easy hour of skimming stones, rock pooling and dog walking, and then it's 8 minutes' drive into Ullapool for award-winning fish and chips at Deli-Ca-Sea by the harbour.
Before you go
The day
Ardmair
An easy late morning by the sea: an hour on the shingle at Ardmair with the islands in view, then fish and chips by Ullapool harbour.
About two and a half hoursAbout 1 mile on foot
Ardmair Beach
An attraction
At Ardmair the A835 runs right along the bay. Pull into the long roadside lay-by above the beach, and mind the traffic getting in and out. The beach is shingle and pebbles, so it's no place for a pushchair, but it's grand for skimming stones and poking about in the rock pools, and dogs can run along the shore. Walk the curve of the bay, with Isle Martin out to the west and the ridge of Ben More Coigach to the north. The holiday park on the point is private, and there are no public toilets here.
8 min by car
Deli-Ca-Sea
Lunch
Lunch is in Ullapool, 8 minutes' drive south. Park in the Highland Council car park on Latheron Lane, where the signs set the charge, and walk down to Deli-Ca-Sea on West Shore Street, by the harbour. Its fish supper won Best Fish Supper North-West at the Scottish Fish & Chip Awards in 2024. The takeaway opens every day from noon, and the licensed café beside it seats you until 3.30pm, Monday to Saturday. If it's busy, the Seaforth round the corner does award-winning fish and chips until 9pm.
If it rains
On a wet, wild day, look at the bay from the lay-by and go straight on to Deli-Ca-Sea's café, open until 3.30pm except on Sundays.
Cult Cafe, a café in Ullapool.
Ceilidh Place, a café in Ullapool.
Photograph by Rob Hall via Google