It’s 4am and I’m wide awake. I’m on the overnight bus to Glasgow and my phone has pinged to tell me my planned onward train to Mallaig has been cancelled. The person in front has snored since Manchester. Why on earth did I think an overnight bus would be a good idea?
I watch the sunrise somewhere in southern Scotland and Google bus services. I book a bus ticket to Fort William, from where I can catch another onward bus to Mallaig. My eventual goal is Knoydart, a remote peninsula on the west coast of Scotland that I’ve wanted to visit for many years.
Day 1
Although I left Oxford at 6pm the previous evening I’m counting my Knoydart arrival day as day one. Despite a sleepless night on the bus and the cancelled train it wasn’t a bad journey, just very long. Twenty six hours long.
For most of day one I continued to look out of bus windows. From Glasgow I caught the bus to Fort William. The scenery en route was as spectacular as always, particularly the drive through Glencoe.
I’ve always found Fort William a bit down on its luck and nothing much had changed since my last visit. I had an OK lunch at the train station cafe surrounded by Jacobite steam train tourists and then waited for an onward bus to Mallaig.
There were a lot of people waiting for the bus but we all squeezed on. Only a few were heading to Mallaig, most people got off at Glenfinnan to see the viaduct.
I was treated to further spectacular scenery along the road, with views out to the Small Isles and the white sand beaches around Morar and Arisaig. We had an amazing holiday in Eigg a few years back and it was great to see its distinctive shape once more.
I had time to kill in Mallaig as I’d missed my original ferry booking to Inverie. Fortunately I’d managed to rebook on to the last one of the day. I whiled away the time eating chips, drinking coffee and mooching around the souvenir shops.
The ferry (small boat, not a Calmac ferry) to Inverie took about half an hour and was surprisingly smooth. I had considered camping on Knoydart but I was concerned about midges and rain, although both were absent on my trip. Instead I’d treated myself to a B&B, The Gathering, which was just a five minute walk away from the harbour. Despite it still being light outside I was asleep in minutes.
Day 2
I met my fellow B&B guests at breakfast the next morning. Knoydart attracts adventurous types. It’s one of the most remote areas on mainland UK with no roads in. The hardiest backpack there, rather than take the boat; an arduous journey that involves at least a night in a tent or bothy. Even the less hardy walkers have lofty ambitions; the other guests were completing Munros and Corbetts (Scottish hill tick lists). I, on the other hand, intended to pootle around on some low level trails.
I set off after a hearty breakfast, stopping at the small shop to get some snacks. My initial plan was to walk the three mile ‘Knoydart in a nutshell’ route. It started well enough but I got distracted by a trail that I thought went up to a viewpoint. It didn’t, and I found myself on a red mountain bike trail instead, described as ‘not for the faint hearted’ (for cyclists).
I picked up another track which led out of the woodland, towards Inverguseran. Whilst the peaks around were tempting, I was walking alone and had told no-one where I was going so I stayed on the main track. I decided to walk to a bridge and then return but when I reached it it seemed a shame not to carry onto the coast given the good weather.
Around here I was a little freaked out by a man following me along the path. Of course, he wasn’t following me but he looked out of place; no walking gear, dog or other obvious reason to be in the middle of nowhere. My mind worked overtime. I stopped to eat a banana and as he got closer I noticed he was carrying binoculars. Panic over, not an axe murderer after all.
A while later I was passed by a Land Rover. Although you can’t drive to Knoydart there are roads and tracks on the peninsula and the locals do have cars. Although, in a similar way to Eigg, I’m not sure they’d pass MOT emission tests.
The track was flat and I made good progress, reaching the coast where I stopped to eat my snacks. I sat on the beach, looking over the Sound of Sleat to Skye, feeling gloriously remote (if I ignored the farmhouse behind me).
The return journey was back along the same track. Although this time with added eagle. It was circling way above one of the mountain peaks, far away but undeniably a golden eagle. Closer by, there were numerous stonechats perched on the bracken and other unidentifiable small brown birds. One day I really must work out how to identify these.
As I returned to Inverie I came across the bird watching serial killer again, still with binoculars in hand. This time I wasn’t as worried!
My phone told me I’d walked 14 miles so I stopped to refuel in The Old Forge. Now a community owned pub it went through a difficult few years with a Belgian landlord. It’s once more the centre of the village and renowned for its music nights.
On the table next to me was an elderly American who had taught Bruce Hornsby’s wife in his photography workshops. It was impossible not to listen to his conversation. From his name badge I discovered he was a National Geographic photographer, specialising in Scotland, and presumably lecturing on the small cruise ship in the harbour. I guess he’d have taken his name badge off if he wanted privacy.
I prefer the quiet life so after my meal I headed down to the campsite beach to watch the sunset. Stunning. Although slightly disappointed that I’d got to the end of the day and hadn’t seen an otter.
Day 3
Started the day with another hearty breakfast at the B&B, this time avocado and poached egg on sour dough toast.
My plan for the day was a walk out to Sandaig beach, once more hoping to spot an otter somewhere along the way.
The bracken lined road to Sandaig is best described as undulating, certainly not as flat as I’d expected.
I noticed a lot of newly planted trees on some of the hillsides. Knoydart Forest Trust have planted over 600,000 trees in the area since 1999 although I’m not sure if these trees were ones they’d planted. They’re also responsible for deer management, which meant I saw a lot of high fences and venison for sale but no deer.
After about four up and down miles, tempting signs appeared encouraging me to visit Sandaig B&B for coffee. How could I resist? I headed off road, down towards the beach. The B&B is in an old chapel, and flies a Swiss flag. The owners weren’t home when I arrived but I was welcomed by a young Spanish couple who were staying whilst inter-railing around the UK. They’d planned to go to Skye but accommodation was too expensive so they’d ended up in Knoydart. I think it was slightly more remote than they’d envisioned.
The B&B owners had set up a DIY coffee and snack shop which was impressively stocked. I took my time over a cup of coffee and then walked down to explore the sandy beach. I’d expected it to be deserted but shared it with a family braving the cold water (and jellyfish) and a couple of kayakers paddling around the bay. After an unsuccessful otter search I returned to the house and met Bettina, one of the Swiss owners. Over another cup of coffee she confirmed that she’d not seen an otter in the bay, but badgers and pine martens were regular evening visitors.
The B&B owners have created a walking route back along the coast, which was tempting. However the Spanish couple advised it was very boggy underfoot and they’d found ticks on themselves after walking it the previous day. I decided to play it safe and return via the road route. After all, there’s different scenery on the return journey.
I did cut down to the beach near Scottas and walk the final section along the shore. The views towards Inverie, and the mountains behind them were fabulous. But still no otter!
There are few dining options on Knoydart so I ate my evening meal, a curry, at the B&B. It was unexpectedly superb, the food was a real highlight of my stay. Once more I headed to the campsite beach after dinner. Once more I didn’t spot an otter (boo!).
Day 4
After an early breakfast I caught the 8am ferry to Mallaig and then the train to Glasgow. I enjoyed waving to all the tourists lining the road near Glenfinnan Viaduct, even though they were waiting for the steam train to pass, not us.
I had several hours to kill in Glasgow so spent a lot of money on a new pair of walking boots. My old boots had lasted well but I’d had to repair them with superglue in Knoydart and I didn’t think they had many miles left in them.
This was followed by a trip to the tallest cinema in the world (Renfrew Street) to watch disaster movie Twisters. As I headed up the creaky escalator to the sixth floor I did wonder if there had been any disaster movies set in high cinemas. My imagination went into overdrive…
I finished the evening with a quick meal in a Vietnamese restaurant before boarding the overnight bus to Milton Keynes and a local bus to Oxford. If I’ve learnt one thing on this trip, it’s that there will be no more overnight buses!
Challenge complete!
Stay on the Knoydart Peninsula – completed July 2024. Pop over to see the rest of my 60 things to do before I’m 60 list.