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in Lochaber.

It’s 20:05 in Lochaber.
Lochaber

From Ben Nevis to the Small Isles.

Lochaber is mountain country, running from the moor at the head of Glencoe to the sea lochs of Moidart and out to the Small Isles. Fort William sits at the foot of Ben Nevis, and the Road to the Isles heads west past the curving viaduct at Glenfinnan to the fishing port of Mallaig. There are white beaches at Morar and Sanna, a ruined castle on a tidal island, and a village on Knoydart with no road in. Out on Eigg and Canna you'll find crofts, an old carved cross and quiet bays. The roads are long and often single track, so give each part a day of its own.

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Place of the day19 hours ago

The Sculptured Cross of A’Chill.

An early Christian cross of the 7th to 9th century at A'Chill, Canna's old main settlement, missing two arms.

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From our archive19 hours agoFort WilliamLoch ShielLochaberThe Prince's CairnLochaberLagangarbhArgyll and ButeGlencoeFort WilliamGlenfinnan ViaductArdnamurchanSanna Bay

Lochaber this autumn, in our photographs.

Six places in Lochaber, each as we found it.

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From the magazine19 hours agoThe printed copy of Issue 12Issue 12Spring / Summer 2026

A harp player's gossip cost the chief of Clan Mackintosh his freedom, when Allan MacRuari of Castle Tioram, on Loch Moidart in Lochaber, carried him off by night.

MacRuari, the cunning chief of the MacDonalds of Clanranald, kept his neighbours on their toes with lightning raids. When Mackintosh moved to a new castle on an island in Loch Moy, far inland, he held a banquet and declared that for the first time in his life he was free from the terror of MacRuari. The Irish harp player hired for the night was playing Castle Tioram next, and for a couple of extra coins he passed the boast on. MacRuari's men crossed Loch Moy in light wicker boats in the dead of night, and he delighted in waking his enemy to remind him he would never be safe, before taking him back to Tioram as a prisoner.

See Castle Tioram · Lochaber
Places to visit19 hours ago

King of Norway’s Grave.

A Viking-age kerb of stones on the machair of Canna's north coast, known as the King of Norway's Grave.

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Did you know18 hours agoGraeme JohncockWritten byGraeme JohncockRead Graeme’s piece

Graeme Johncock, who travels Scotland for our series, took one of his driving tours out to Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, near the western tip of the Scottish mainland.

‘The winding road isn’t for everybody, but there are more than enough interesting places to stop along the way and catch your breath. The treat at the end of the road was Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, an engineering marvel from the 1840s. After being greeted by Ted the lighthouse dog, it was a dizzying 152 steps and two ladders to get out onto the top of the building. The views out to the Small Isles and stories of the old lighthouse keepers are definitely worth the effort.’

Graeme JohncockWritten byGraeme JohncockRead Graeme’s pieceSee Ardnamurchan Point · Lochaber
From our guide18 hours ago

Mallaig.

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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Places to visit18 hours ago

Kinlochleven.

The aluminium village at the head of Loch Leven, now a stop on the West Highland Way and a base for the Mamores.

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From the JournalThe journal18 hours agoArdnamurchanCastle TioramAttractionArdnamurchanLoch MoidartAttractionFort WilliamLoch ShielAttraction

Castle Tioram and the Adventures of Allan MacRuari

Castle Tioram is perched on a tidal island in Loch Moidart, seemingly isolated at the end of a long and winding road.

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From our guide18 hours ago

Caledonian Canal.

Thomas Telford's canal runs 60 miles through the Great Glen from Fort William to Inverness, linking Loch Lochy, Loch Oich and Loch Ness. It opened in 1822, years late and well over budget, and boats still use it today. The place to see it at work is Neptune's Staircase at Banavie, a ladder of eight locks that lifts boats 70 feet up the hillside. Stand by the lock gates on a summer's day and watch the yachts climb, with Ben Nevis behind. The towpath makes an easy walk or cycle.

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From the magazine17 hours agoThe printed copy of Issue 13Issue 13Autumn / Winter 2026-27

Wildlife film-maker Gordon Buchanan fell for Buachaille Etive Mòr in Glencoe after two years in the Amazon without seeing a mountain.

Gordon Buchanan grew up around Tobermory on the Isle of Mull and has spent over 35 years filming and presenting wildlife films. At 21 he spent two years, from 1992 to 1994, living in Brazil's Amazon basin, where the forest was so thick that he never saw a sunrise, a sunset or a mountain. Driving home to Mull, he crested Rannoch Moor, and there in the early-morning light stood the Buachaille, whose name means the Great Herdsman of Etive, 'wearing a saucer-shaped lenticular cloud hat at a jaunty angle'. It was love at first sight, and it is still his favourite mountain on Earth.

Read the full story in Issue 13
Places to visit17 hours ago

An Sgùrr.

The mile-long pitchstone ridge over the south of Eigg, the largest of its kind in Europe, climbed from the north to 393 metres.

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True or false17 hours ago

True or false: the castle that played Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films is in England, not Scotland.