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Fishing boats and a moored ferry crowd a working harbour, a hillside town rising behind with a radio mast on the summit.
Lochaber

Mallaig

The fishing port at the end of the road to the isles, and of the railway, with ferries to Skye, the Small Isles and Knoydart.

Welcome

Mallaig sits at the very end of the Road to the Isles, a busy fishing port where boats crowd the harbour and houses climb the hillside above.

Ferries leave from here for Skye, for the Small Isles, and for Knoydart, which no road reaches.

The town is younger than it looks. In 1841 there was only a farm here with 23 people, until Lord Lovat divided the land into plots to draw in fishermen. The railway arrived in 1901, and Mallaig grew so fast on herring that by the 1960s it was the busiest herring port in Europe.

The station and the harbour sit side by side, so it is easy to step off the train and onto a boat. Between sailings, the Mallaig Heritage Centre tells the town's story, and the harbour still bustles with working boats.

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The Daily for 1 November, from Scotland with love. A misty lane runs past slate-roofed cottages toward a wooded hillside.
Before you go

A working harbour town; keep to the public quays.

Where
The end of the A830 and the West Highland Line.
Railway
Arrived 1901.
Ferries
Skye, the Small Isles, Knoydart.

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Did you know

Fishing boats and a ferry are moored in a working harbour, houses lining the waterfront behind.
Did you know

Two cars at a time.

The first car ferry to Skye sailed from Mallaig in 1932: a small vessel called the Road to the Isles, carrying just two cars.

Fishing boats and small craft crowd a working harbour, houses climbing a hillside behind with a radio mast on the summit.
Did you know

A railway won by a landowner.

The railway was first planned to end at Roshven on Loch Ailort, but its landowner would not agree terms and Lord Lovat wanted it at Mallaig.

Hidden Scotland

From our guide to Lochaber

Mallaig sits at the very end of the Road to the Isles and the railway, a working fishing port with boats crowding the harbour and houses climbing the hill behind. Ferries leave here for Skye, the Small Isles and Knoydart. The town is younger than it looks. In 1841 there was only a farm here, and after the railway arrived in 1901 it grew so fast on herring that by the 1960s it was the busiest herring port in Europe. The station and the harbour sit side by side, so it's easy to step off the train and onto a boat.

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Where it is

At the end of the A830 Road to the Isles from Fort William, and the end of the West Highland Line's Mallaig Extension.

Close byMallaig.
  1. Minch Adventures, MallaigMinch Adventures, MallaigUnder a mile 1 min by road
  2. Minch Adventures boat approaching steep rocky cliffs along a narrow sea lochPrivate Loch Coruisk, Isle of Skye adventureUnder a mile 1 min by road
  3. The Mallaig Heritage Centre, a low building under a pitched slate roof beside the railway platform, a brick path and planters in front.Mallaig Heritage CentreThe town's story.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. Picnic tables outside the West Highland Hotel overlooking Mallaig's church and coastlineThe Chlachain InnA small pub with food and rooms in Mallaig, built around 1900, serving West Coast seafood, with live music on Saturdays and a Thursday quiz.Under a mile 1 min by road
  5. Yellow boat moored in a tidal river winding through a sandy beachSilver Sands of MorarWhite beaches down the coast.4 miles 7 min by road
  6. Loch MorarLoch MorarBritain's deepest loch, to the south.7 miles 10 min by road
Directions
Empty café dining room with pale wooden tables, white chairs and hanging pendant lightsRestaurantsThe Cabin Restaurant and Takeaway0.2 miles
Backpackers Lodge building with The Tea Garden Cafe sign, "Seats insideRestaurantsThe Tea Garden, Mallaig0.2 miles
The white Fisherman and Child statue on a round grassy platform at the end of Mallaig's harbour wall, an anchor beside it and the harbour behind.AttractionsThe Fisherman and Child Statue0.2 miles
Two silhouetted diners watch a tall ship sail past mountains beyond the windowCafeKnoydart Pottery and Tea Room1.9 miles
Gift shop interior with wooden shelves, antlers and a pegboard display wallCafeKnoydart Shop1.9 miles
Black sign reading "The Old Forge" among trees, rooftop visible behindRestaurantsThe Old Forge, Knoydart1.9 miles
Weathered wooden post on a seaweed-strewn beach beneath a forested mountainAttractionsLong Beach, Knoydart1.9 miles
Rocky, moss-covered hills rise above a calm loch with distant mountainsAttractionsStatue at Rubha Raonuill2.0 miles
White houses along the shoreline at low tide, seaweed-covered rocks in foregroundAttractionsArisaig7.7 miles

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the harbour, and when each is next free.

A keeper's cottage and lighthouse stand together on a rocky headland overlooking the sea at Eilean Sionnach.Eilean Sionnach Lighthouse Cottage
  • Sleeps 8
  • In Isleornsay
  • 10 miles from Mallaig
Check datesKinloch Lodge, Isle of SkyeKinloch Lodge
  • To stay
  • In Sleat
  • 12 miles from Mallaig
Check datesStonechat Bothy, a timber-clad cabin with a grey corrugated roof, at the end of a grassy double track among birch, pine and rushes.Stonechat Bothy
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Drumfearn
  • 12 miles from Mallaig
Free 1–4 MarBothan Beileag, Isle of SkyeBothan Beileag
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Heasta
  • 13 miles from Mallaig
Free 1–3 NovPlaces to stayEvery stay in LochaberAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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Read on

What we have written about it, the collections it is in and more in Lochaber.

From the magazineThe Last Stop Before NowhereFrom the magazineFishing Towns and VillagesArticleScotland’s Greatest Rail Journeys (and Where They’ll Take You)CollectionThe Prettiest Villages in Scotland
More in Lochaber
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