Hidden Scotland
Sign in

Places to visit
in Wester Ross.

It’s 20:54 in Wester Ross.
Wester Ross

Plockton, Loch Maree and An Teallach.

Wester Ross is a coast of long sea lochs and steep mountains, and the places worth a stop are spread all the way along it. Around Loch Carron you'll find the painted cottages and palm trees of Plockton, seal trips and sea kayaks from its harbour, and a ruined castle above the Strome narrows. Further north, Loch Maree lies under the mountains with its wooded islands, and a great garden at Poolewe grows plants from around the world. Above Little Loch Broom rises the red sandstone ridge of An Teallach. The roads are often single track, so allow more time than the map suggests.

Loch Maree→
An Teallach→
Sea Kayak Plockton→
Plockton→
Kishorn Selfie Box→
Place of the day20 hours ago

Sea Kayak Plockton.

Guided sea kayaking from Plockton for beginners and families, with small groups exploring the sheltered bays and islands of Loch Carron.

Read about it
From our guide19 hours ago

Beinn Eighe Visitor Centre.

Beinn Eighe became the first National Nature Reserve in Britain in 1951, and the visitor centre near Kinlochewe is the place to begin. Above it rises a long ridge of pale quartzite, and on the lower slopes grows ancient Caledonian pinewood, with granny pines more than 350 years old. Inside you can learn about the reserve's pine martens, red deer, crossbills and eagles, and there is a wildlife hide just behind. Trails range from a half-hour wander in the woods to a hard mountain day of four or five hours. Come in autumn to hear the stags roaring.

See the place
Did you know19 hours ago

Tanera Mòr, the largest of the Summer Isles off the north-west Highland coast, began printing its own postage stamps in 1970.

For decades the island's post office ran its own local post, and the Summer Isles Philatelic Bureau issued stamps of the islands for visitors to buy and send. The stamps went on letters carried across the water to the nearest Post Office box on the mainland. The island had long been quiet by then: 118 people lived on Tanera Mòr in 1881, but all of them had left by 1931. The naturalist Frank Fraser Darling later reclaimed land there, and wrote about the island in his books Island Years and Island Farm. Boats sail out to it from Achiltibuie and Ullapool.

Read about it
From the JournalThe journal18 hours ago

The Destruction of Strome Castle

Strome Castle guarded a crossing of Loch Carron until 1602, when the Mackenzies blew it apart after a servant’s slip with a bucket of water left its MacDonell defenders without dry gunpowder.

Read the story
From the magazine18 hours agoThe printed copy of Issue 03Issue 03Winter 2021

Until the 1950s the road over Bealach na Bà to Applecross, in Wester Ross, had no passing places.

The road over the Pass of the Cattle, as the Gaelic name means, was completed in 1822 and first surfaced in rough gravel, its hairpin bends seeming to meander madly across the map. It connected the people of Applecross to the wider world. After snow, though, it could be impassable for weeks, buried under head-high drifts, and then the only way in or out was the steamer to Kyle of Lochalsh and the Isle of Lewis. Between 1956 and 1958 the road was finally upgraded: its surface was levelled and tarred, its hairpins were widened and passing places were put in. It is still a challenging drive, and no place for a campervan or motorhome.

See Bealach na Bà · Ross and Cromarty
Did you know17 hours ago

The road over Bealach na Bà to Applecross, in Wester Ross, is said to have the steepest ascent of any road in the UK, from sea level to 630 metres in about six kilometres.

Its gradients approach 20 per cent, and it winds up the hillside in very tight hairpin bends, built more like an Alpine pass than a Highland lane. The name is Gaelic for the Pass of the Cattle, and drovers once walked cattle over it to markets as far away as Falkirk and even London. Work on the road began in May 1818, the first contractor lasted only three months, and John Reid and Son of Edinburgh finally finished it in September 1822. It is still single track, unsuitable for learner drivers and very large vehicles, and often impassable in winter, so it is worth checking the weather before you set off.

Photograph: chris_j_houstonSee Bealach na Bà · Ross and Cromarty
From our guide16 hours ago

Craig Highland Farm.

A few miles from Plockton, a small farm on the shore of Loch Carron is given over to keeping old breeds of farm animals going. Craig Highland Farm is a rare-breeds conservation centre, and a gentle place to spend an hour. You'll meet old Scottish breeds of sheep, pigs and piglets, ponies, goats and a llama, as well as owls, rabbits and traditional poultry, geese and ducks. Many of the animals can be fed by hand, which children love. Beyond the fields the farm runs down to a quiet stretch of shore, and there are cottages if you want to stay longer.

See the place
Free16 hours agoWester RossLoch MareeAttractionWester RossLoch Torridon ViewpointAttractionWester RossLoch Maree ViewpointAttractionWester RossLochcarronAttractionWester RossSand BeachAttraction

Free to visit.

Beaches, waterfalls, viewpoints and stones: nothing to pay and nobody to ask.

See all the places to visit
Newly discovered15 hours agoWester RossCraig Highland FarmAttractionWester RossCalum's Seal TripsAttractionWester RossShieldaigAttractionWester RossSand BeachAttractionWester RossStrome CastleAttractionWester RossLochcarronAttraction

Some good places to go, newly added to the site.

The newest places on our pages in Wester Ross.

Browse everywhere to go
True or false15 hours ago

True or false: the palm trees along the waterfront at Plockton, in Wester Ross, are real palms.

From our guide14 hours ago

Ullapool Guitar Festival.

Every year in early October, guitarists of all kinds gather in Ullapool for a weekend of music on the shores of Loch Broom. The Ullapool Guitar Festival began in 2000 and is based at the Macphail Centre, with masterclasses from established players and new tutors, daytime concerts and evening festival-club sessions. A trade show runs all weekend, where makers and luthiers show off their instruments. Tickets are sold for the whole weekend or a single day. It is a fine reason to visit Ullapool after the summer crowds have gone home.

See the place
Did you know14 hours agoWritten byLaurie GoodladMore from Laurie

Laurie Goodlad, a fisherman's daughter, joined the long queue at The Seafood Shack, a food trailer behind the harbour in Ullapool.

‘Diners can choose to take their food away or eat it at one of the wooden benches outside the trailer. We were lucky enough to get a table, and the sun was shining, which was a bonus. What The Seafood Shack proves is that seafood doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need a vast kitchen or a swanky West End restaurant.’

Written byLaurie GoodladMore from LaurieRead the full story