Island 9 - Eilean Mor, Finlaggan, Seat of Lord of the Isles

The Finlaggan team

Delighted to discover from the lovely owner of Persabus Pottery and Café that Finlaggan, the seat of The Lord of The Isles, is actually two islands. One is accessible by a wooden causeway but the other was only possible to reach by a set of underwater stones carefully placed there many centuries ago.

The MacDonald lords commanded from this power base for ages. It's a real gem of a place and should be on  'don't miss' list for any visitor to Islay.  Its quite a long way from the road so we were glad of our bikes. 

We biked and photographed ourselves on Eilean Mor, which has lots of ruins and useful information boards.  Thrilled to tick off another island and one so atmospheric.

Island 8, Islay, 24th June

At Bowmore Harbour

My favourite tipple.  Lovely to be here

Chilling Islay,  Port Askaig

Biked Islay today with Anne Tavendale. We had such a lovely day exploring some of the roads and distilleries, of which there are eight.

Choice of ferries

One of them, Bowmore,  sits in the oldest planned village in Scotland - it dates from 1768. It has a round church so that there are no corners for the devil to hide in. The distillery here is the second oldest in Scotland.  Lovely drink,  though my favourite remains Bruichladdich.

It's a perfect island for cycling.