The Three Distilleries Path – Port Ellen to Ardbeg on Foot
About 6 miles on foot.
Three of Islay's best-known distilleries stand about a mile apart on the south coast, and a tarmac path links all of them to Port Ellen.
It runs beside the road past Laphroaig and Lagavulin to Ardbeg, about three miles each way, with the sea never far off. It's flat and easy underfoot, and on a weekday there's lunch at Ardbeg before you walk back.
- Time
- About two hours' walking: 9.7 km, or six miles, there and back on a tarmac path, about three miles each way.
- The path
- Tarmac all the way and wide, without many steep stretches.
- Where to start
- The free public car park at Imeraval in Port Ellen; the path starts at the village primary school.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January set off by 11am. The Old Kiln Café at Ardbeg opens Monday to Friday from October to March and is shut from 22 December to 4 January. Every Islay ferry uses Port Askaig while Port Ellen's terminal is closed, until 2029. No ferry on 25 December or 1 January. Wind can stop the boat: look at CalMac's service status page on the morning you travel.
- Dogs
- On a lead: the path runs beside the road and is shared with bicycles.
- Children
- Flat tarmac, but six miles there and back: the bus can save small legs one way.
- Toilets
- Public toilets in Port Ellen, beside the main road at Imeraval.
- Before you set out
- Shared with cyclists. The 451 bus between Ardbeg and Port Ellen runs Monday to Saturday: check the times. Every Islay ferry uses Port Askaig while Port Ellen's terminal is closed, until 2029. No ferry on 25 December or 1 January. Wind can stop the boat: look at CalMac's service status page on the morning you travel.
The walk
Park in Port Ellen, where there's a free public car park at Imeraval and public toilets beside the main road there. The Three Distilleries Path starts at the village primary school and runs east beside the road to Ardbeg, with Laphroaig and Lagavulin on the way. The Machrie hotel's walking guide gives it as 9.7 km there and back, which is about three miles each way, and two hours' walking. You'll want longer with stops. It's tarmac all the way and wide, without many steep stretches, and cyclists use it too. Laphroaig comes first, down by the shore with its name in black along a white warehouse wall. Lagavulin is next, with the ruin of Dunyvaig Castle on a rock at the mouth of its bay, and Ardbeg is at the far end.
Each has a shop, and tours and tastings are booked ahead on each distillery's own website. If you're tasting, remember that somebody has to drive away from Port Ellen afterwards. Islay Coaches' 451 bus runs between Ardbeg and Port Ellen a few times a day from Monday to Saturday, so you can walk one way and ride the other: check the times first. From November to January, set off by 11am. Port Ellen is 19 miles from the ferry at Port Askaig, about 40 minutes' drive. Islay's car ferry is CalMac's, from Kennacraig in Kintyre, and the crossing takes just under two hours. The terminal at Port Ellen is closed for rebuilding until 2029, so every boat lands at Port Askaig, in the north-east of the island.
Book the car on before you travel, and be at the pier 30 minutes before the boat sails. On the winter timetable, from 19 October 2026 to 25 March 2027, the first boat leaves Kennacraig at 7am, or at 10am on a Tuesday and a Sunday. The last boat off the island leaves Port Askaig at 5.25pm on a Monday and a Wednesday, 6.05pm on a Tuesday and a Friday, and 6pm on a Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Read the times on CalMac's Islay page before you go. Wind can stop the boat: look at CalMac's service status page on the morning you travel.
If it rains
It's tarmac all the way, so rain only makes it wet, and each distillery has a shop to step into. In heavy rain walk as far as Laphroaig and back, which is about half the distance.
Along the way
About 1 hr 16 min on foot
The Old Kiln Café, Ardbeg
Lunch
The Old Kiln Café is inside Ardbeg's visitor centre, where the path ends, about an hour and a quarter on foot from Port Ellen. From October to March it opens from Monday to Friday, with coffee and home baking from 10am and lunch from noon until last orders at 3.30pm. Expect soup, smoked haddock chowder, open sandwiches and pies, and perhaps a short wait, as small groups can't book. Dogs can't come into the café. It's shut from 22 December to 4 January. From April to September the Ardstream trailer in the courtyard serves food instead, also Monday to Friday. At the weekend, bring a flask or eat in Port Ellen.
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 car onto CalMac's Kennacraig to Port Askaig ferry before you travel, out and back, and be at the pier 30 minutes before the boat.
For further reading, before you go.