Plockton

• Stepping out of Church View, you will see the Haven Hotel in front of you. Read their menu, which changes daily. Their local-based gourmet cuisine is tempting. Smart attire to be worn.
• Just up the road to the left is the Plockton Inn, with a comfortable lounge and friendly back bar. They specialize in sea-food and have their own smokery.
• Head down to the loch. At the car park, there is an information panel showing the original plan of the village. Edmund's newsagent and gift shop was Ruaridh Campbells in the BBC series, Hamish Macbeth. Calum's Seal Trip to the islets out in the loch leaves from here depending on the tide.
• Turn left and walk up Harbour Street. Read another menu at the Plockton Hotel, previous sea-food champions, and consider a drink in the beer garden. The loch-side gardens are owned by the houses on the other side of the road. The palm trees, cabbage palms from New Zealand, thrive by the warming effect of the Gulf Stream.
• Take a note of seal trip times at the Leisure Marine office and shop. Good range of unusual gifts here.
• Further on, visit the Plockton Stores, remarkably well-stocked with everything you need for self-catering. Snacks and ice-cream at The Buttery.
• Fifty yards from the Stores, take a right turn and cross the causeway to the point at Rhu. This is the start and finish point during the annual sailing Regatta fortnight (see right bar). Sailing takes place throughout the summer and craft can be hired from Leisure Marine.
• Turn left from the causeway, past the village green, and turn right down to the main pier. You may be able to buy prawns from the local fishermen in the late afternoon. Calum's alternative embarkation point
• Head back down Cooper Street and turn right at the Village Hall on Harbour Street again. Note forthcoming drama and music, and the library times.
• You're heading up the hill now, with Obanduine (Dead Man's Bay) on the right. At the top of the hill to the right is a woodland walk to the far side of the point.
• If you turn left here, you will find yourself in Frithart, a quiet street of modern houses. Carrying on would take you up Frithart Hill, an easy scramble with great views and an etched viewing panel, but we will go left and head back along the Back Brae.
• Since we are high over the village, the views over the loch are fabulous. Duncraig Castle, ancestral home of the Mathesons (of Jardine Matheson HK, early drug barons), is now in private hands again, after long years of neglect.
• The gardens climbing up to the Brae are also owned by the houses on Harbour Street (yes, two gardens for most).
• The turn-off to the right takes you down to Camus Teann, a wonderfully quiet stony beach.
• For now, we will head back to Church View, perhaps stopping at the Plockton Inn.

We have described some longer trips on the Wester Ross page. Here are some excursions which will fit into half a day.

• Eilean Donan Castle at Dornie is a completely restored Jacobite Castle, a journey back in time to the seventeenth century. By yourself, or with a guide, visit the Great Hall, the kitchens and the sleeping quarters. Walk along the old battlements. Also a Visitor Centre and a cafe. (Weddings in the summer.) This is one of Scotland's premier tourist attractions.
• Carry on down Loch Duich to Shiel Bridge, turning right up the Ratagan Pass. Incredible views at the top of the Five Sisters of Kintail. On the other side of the summit is Glenelg, tranquil and remote. There is small ferry here to Skye (yes, still possible to go 'over the sea . . .'). Also an abandoned fort, built by General Wade after the 1745 Rebellion. A good lunch can be had at the Hotel.
• Carry on out the village for three miles and you will come to the best example of prehistoric brochs on the west coast. It is not known who built these imposing towers but it is believed that they were constructed as a refuge for the local inhabitants against sea raiders.
• Sandaig is near-by, where Gavin Maxwell wrote 'Ring of Bright Water'.
• Taken all together, probably more than half a day!

1. Calum's Seal Trips (Leisure Marine) of course, and more sea trips in Kyle and South Skye, some focused on seabirds.
2. Craig Highland Farm — a rare breed conservation centre, with unusual types of goats, sheep, pigs, ponies and llamas. Take the kids and you'll come away with a rabbit, or two. First left after the station, then five minutes.
3. There is a viewing platform for otters and other wildlife at the Bright Water Centre in Kyleakin in Skye, just over from Kyle. (Gavin Maxwell lived here also.)
4. Highland Cattle at Durinish.

• Sailing during the season, with craft for small boats and kayaks for hire at Leisure Marine. The Regatta takes place every year, with races for local clinker-built boats and centre-boards for visitors.
• There is riding at Nostie (just before Dornie and golf at Kyle and Lochcarron.
• A swimming pool and small leisure centre at Kyle
• Cycles can be hired from Plockton Cycle Hire and the Haven Hotel
• Plockton has a new outdoor bowling green. Guest bowlers welcome.

• Excellent walks all around the village. A 'Plockton Walks' booklet is available in the shops.
• We recommend the walks to Duncraig Castle, to the TV mast, to the sandy beach at Dubhaird and to the Coral Beach.