Islay

By plane

Islay AirportLoganair has two flights a day from Glasgow () and one from Edinburgh (); these are in medium-sized turbo-props with a normal baggage allowance. Hebridean Air Services fly one day a week (Thursday at least to mid-Oct 2019) from Oban for £70-85 each way. This is a triangular route, with the morning flight continuing from Islay to Colonsay then back to Oban, while the afternoon flight goes to Colonsay then Islay then back to Oban. The aircraft are small BNF Islanders with 10 kg max baggage allowance. Islay airport terminal is very small, with toilets; one hour before flight suffices for check-in and security. Local car hire firms pick up and drop off at the airport, but you must book. The bus stops at the airport, see "Get around".

By boat

Calmac car ferries sail from Kennacraig to two ports on Islay, both taking about 2 hr 20 min and with single fares of £7 per adult, £35 per car. March to Oct there are usually a couple of sailings daily to both and to . On Wednesdays and Saturdays the Port Askaig ferry continues to Colonsay, and this is also the ferry to use to reach Jura. In winter there are only one or two ferries per day.
The mainland port Kennacraig is near Tarbert on the Mull of Kintyre, almost a 3 hour drive from Glasgow. Citylink buses connect with some sailings.
Kintyre Express is a ferry for foot passengers to Port Ellen from Ballycastle in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. This runs F-M in April and Sept, daily May-Aug. It sails from Ballycastle at 09:30, taking an hour and returning at 15:00, so a day trip is possible from Ireland but not from Islay. Adult fare is £60 single, £95 return, bikes are free. This ferry is a continuation of the sailing from Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre at 07:30, returning from Ballycastle at 16:30 and taking 90 mins.

Remember to wave to other road users, whether it be vehicle drivers, cyclists, or pedestrians.

By bus

Islay Coaches Bus 450 / 451 runs along the spine of the island from Ardbeg to Port Ellen, the airport, Bowmore and Bridgend then either east to Port Askaig, or west to Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte and Portnahaven. It runs M-F only, roughly hourly on the Port Ellen - Bowmore stretch, with the route varying slightly on schooldays.

By car

Two companies on the island offer car hire:

• Islay Car Hire

  phone: +44 1496 810544 or +44 7824 665099 (mobile phone)
  Based at Bridgend, can pick up and drop off at ferry piers (but won't do one-day hires there) or airport. No dogs, bikes, sleeping or smoking in cars. Cars can be taken to Jura but not to the mainland.

• Cresswell Cars

  phone: +44 1496 302 300
  They do a meet & greet service for booking at airport & ferry piers. No dogs, bikes, smoking or sleeping in vehicles. You may take the car to Jura but not the mainland.

By bicycle

• Bicycle hire is available in Bowmore (next to the Post Office).

• Islay Cycles

  phone: +44 7760 196592
  address: Port Ellen

By thumb

Hitchhiking is easy and relatively safe on Islay.

Whisky distilleries

Islay has a remarkable number of whisky distilleries dotted around its coast. Most date to the 19th century, though the tradition goes back to the 13th. One factor was the local barley, fresh peaty water and salt-sprayed environment conducive to good whisky. Another was the intricate coastline, so small ships could easily bring materials in and carry the whisky out, duty free if it was for export. (Their skippers would surely not be tempted, as soon as the sun set, to run the barrels ashore on some mainland beach?) Some distilleries have come and gone but there are nine as of 2019, with probably more on the way; they all offer tours, booking recommended, and have shops or visitor centres.
The reason for their recent expansion is a change in the interpretation of the law in 2009. It's illegal to distil your own spirits (of any kind) for personal consumption, but you're permitted under licence to set up a commercial distillery. That was held to mean a still of at least 1800 litres capacity, but in 2009 a legal case overthrew that minimum, and opened the door to micro-distilleries, which then popped up all over the UK but particularly in Scotland. Most of these produce gin, but that market was quickly over-saturated. Scotch whisky as a protected trade name has many extra rules and has to mature at least 3 years before it may be sold. So it's only in recent years that a slower second wave of Scotch distilleries has begun trading, hopefully on a more sustainable basis than the "boutique gin" fashion.
Three of the Islay distilleries - Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg - are connected by a footpath with each other and to Port Ellen, a 4 mile walk each way. The others are scattered around the island. See also Jura, which has one distillery.

• Ardbeg Distillery

  phone: +44 1496 302244
  address: Port Ellen, PA42 7EA
  Visitor centre, café, and distillery tours.

• Lagavulin Distillery

  phone: +44 1496 302749
  address: Port Ellen, PA42 7DZ
  No café. The 16-year-old Lagavulin belongs like Caol Ila to the Classic Malts and is also owned by Diageo. If you join the Friends of the Classic Malts you get free access to the twelve Classic Malt distilleries (standard tour) including Lagavulin.

• Laphroaig Distillery

  phone: +44 1496 302418
  address: Port Ellen, PA42 7DU
  No cafe, but free tea and coffee from an automatic machine. Nice lounge area adjacent to the tasting bar. Join the 'Friends of Laphroaig' (for free) and get a free 50 ml bottle.

• Bowmore Distillery

  phone: +44 1496 810671
  Visitor centre and distillery tours. 12-year-old Bowmore is one of the most popular Islay-Whiskies.

• Bunnahabhain Distillery

  phone: +44 1496 840557
  address: Port Askaig, PA46 7RP

• Ardnahoe Distillery

  phone: +44 1496 840777
  address: Port Askaig PA46 7RU
  Opened in April 2019, so its products won't go on sale till 2022, but you can visit and sample the work in progress.

• Caol Ila Distillery

  phone: +44 1496 302769
  address: Port Askaig, Isle of Islay, PA46 7RL
  12 years old Caol Ila is one of 13 Classic Malts and owned by Diageo. If you join the Friends of the Classic Malts you get free access to the twelve Classic Malt distilleries (standard tour) including Coal Ila.

• Bruichladdich Distillery

  phone: +44 1496 850190
  address: PA49 7UN
  Distillery producing both whisky and gin.

• Kilchoman Distillery

  phone: +44 1496 850011
  address: Rockside Farm, Bruichladdich, PA49 7UT
  Farm distillery established in 2005. Visitor centre, tours and cafe.

Other sights

• Kildalton Cross

  address: Kildalton, Port Ellen PA42 7EF
  Celtic high cross from 8th century AD, ornately carved, the finest of its kind. Plus medieval cross and ruined church.

• Finlaggan

  phone: +44 1496 840 644
  address: Finlaggan Farm Road
  Loch Finlaggan is a freshwater lake. At its north end are two islands which in the 13th-15th centuries were the seat of the Lord of the Isles, until rule passed to the King of Scotland. A visitor centre displays various artefacts of that era. A bridge links to Eilean Mòr ("the Big Island"), which can always be accessed even when the centre is closed. Here the main ruin is the castle (simply a fortified house), plus a medieval chapel and 16th C graves. You can't routinely visit Eilean na Comhairle ("the Council Island"), which has the fragmentary remains of the Lords' council chambers.

• The Oa

  phone: +44 1496 300118
  The rocky headland at the south tip of Islay. It's an RSPB nature reserve good for birdwatching (golden eagles are most active in spring and summer), and with two trails (one mile or two miles). The American Memorial, built 1920, is a stone tower commemorating the loss of two troopships nearby. In Feb 1918 the Tuscania was in convoy from the US to France when it was torpedoed and sank with the loss of 230 lives. Then in Oct 1918 the Otranto, carrying troops from New York to Glasgow, collided with another ship during a storm, and 400 lives were lost.

• Loch Gruinart

  phone: +44 1496 850505
  This is a sea loch; at its head are the Gruinart Flats wetland, an RSPB resrve. Great masses of barnacle geese roost here in winter; look out also for corncrakes, hen harriers and otters. The reserve is always open. There are two trails, the Woodland Trail (a mile) and the Moorland Trail (2 miles). You can cycle from Uiskentuie (on the A847) along the B8017 to the visitor centre, and then north to Ardnave, 7 miles each way.

• Museum of Islay Life

  phone: +44 1496 850358
  address: Daal Terr, Port Charlotte, PA48 7UA
  Housed in the old Kilchoman Free Church, the museum has over 1600 items, spanning from the Mesolithic period 10,000 years ago till 1950.

• McTaggart Leisure Centre

  phone: +44 1496 810767
  address: School Street, Bowmore PA43 7JS
  Use the swimming pool, sauna and gym.

• Kayak Wild Islay

  phone: +44 7973 725456 (mobile phone)
  address: Port Ellen
  Sea kayaking around the coastline of Islay. Based in Port Ellen, but tours from other points on Islay or Jura are possible on request. The half day is recommended for beginners.
• You can sit on the beach at The Oa, and watch as Highland cows stroll past

Events

• Islay Festival / Feis Ile has folk concerts, Gaelic lessons, whisky, ceilidhs, whisky, golf . . . um, did we mention whisky already? It's held in the last week of May: the next is Fri 22 - Sat 30 May 2020.
• Cantilena Festival is a chamber music festival held for a week in July. A permanent cadre of six professional musicians selects young musicians from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to join them for what will probably be their first extended tour. The next event is Sun 5 - Fri 10 July 2020.
• Islay Half Marathon is held in early August. The route is a circle from Bowmore out to the airport then back, some gradients but no proper hills. The next event is probably on Sat 1 Aug 2020 but tbc.
• Islay Jazz Festival is held in September, multiple venues but often at the distilleries. The next event is Fri 13 - Sun 15 Sept 2019.

• Islay Ale Brewery

  phone: +44 1496 810014
  address: Islay House Square, Bridgend, PA44 7NZ
  The only brewery on Islay. Producing real ales since 2004.

• Old Kiln Café

  address: Port Ellen, PA42 7EA
  Rustic cafe within Ardbeg distillery offers light meals.

• Bridgend Hotel

  address: Bridgend PA44 7PB
  3 star with rooms, but it's best known for its restaurant. The bar also does meals.

• Taj Mahal

  address: Shore Street, Bowmore
  A good Indian restaurant in the centre of Bowmore. They don't serve alcohol, but you can bring your own. Cash only.
• Other options in Bowmore are the Chinese takeaway, Pizzeria, and "Cottage restaurant" lunchtime M-Sat.

• And see the Drink and Sleep listings.

• An Tigh Seinnse

  address: 11 Queen Street, Portnahaven PA47 7SJ
  Cosy bar and restaurant serving local food. No dogs inside.
• In Port Ellen the Ardview Inn is open daily and serves meals. No 1 Charlotte St, the former White Hart Hotel, is now just a bar but plans to re-open for B&B.
• Wine from Islay? Yes, flavours include rhubarb and bramble, taste before you buy. Mis en bouteille at Mansfield Rd Port Ellen, open M-Sa 10:00-18:00.
• And see the hotels listed in "Sleep".

• Islay Hotel is by the ferry pier in Port Ellen, B&B double from £220.

• The Harbour Inn

  phone: +44 1496 810330
  address: The Square, Bowmore
  Hotel owned by Bowmore Distillery with seven rooms as well as a restaurant and a cosy pub with good selection of whisky. Restaurant also open to non-residents, 07:30-10:00, 12:00-14:00 & 18:00-22:00. They also run several nearby self-catering cottages.
• Bowmore B&Bs include the Lambeth and the Lochside Inn.

• Ballygrant Inn

  phone: +44 1496 840277
  address: Ballygrant PA45 7QR
  Small hotel with bar and restaurant daily 19:00-21:00. Ten min walk to Finlaggan.

• Port Askaig Hotel

  phone: +44 1496 840245
  address: Port Askaig, PA46 7RD
  Right next to the ferry pier, this is one of the island's oldest inns, and feels it - needs refurbishment. No dogs. The pub does bar meals.

• Port Mor Centre

  phone: +44 1496 850441 or +44 1496 850442 (the cafe)
  address: Port Charlotte PA48 7UE
  Camp & caravan site open Mar-Nov. Licensed cafe is open daily 08:00-20:30, no dogs indoors.

• Port Charlotte Youth Hostel

  phone: +44 1496 850385
  address: Port Charlotte PA48 7TX
  Hostel open March-Sept in old whisky warehouse. 30 beds with good common room facilities, free wifi. The well-equipped kitchen is locked between 10 am and 2 pm.

• Port Charlotte Hotel

  phone: +44 1496 850360
  address: Main Street, Port Charlotte PA48 7TU
  Comfy hotel, does good bar meals and often has live traditional music on Wednesday and Sunday evenings. There is a beer garden at the back. Excellent selection of whisky, but establish the price first (especially if they're coy about it) - it could be £50 a shot.
• Lochindaal Hotel in Port Charlotte has accommodation in four adjacent converted cottages.
• Self-catering cottages are dotted all over Islay. They're usually rented by the week, expect to pay £400 or more for that.

Islay is a pretty safe place and any crime here is likely to be big news.

• Isle of Jura — a 5-min ferry trip from Port Askaig, but then a long lonely road, you need a car. Jura has a distillery, an attractive walled garden, and lots of walks. It's an easy day-trip.
• Colonsay — the ferries from Kennacraig to Port Askaig continue to Colonsay Apr-Oct on Weds and Sats, taking 70 min. A day-trip is possible with six hours on Colonsay, as the ferry sails on to Oban then turns around and retraces its route. Nov-March there's still a connection once or twice a week, but only one sailing so a day-trip isn't possible.
• Otherwise it's back to the mainland of Argyll, but there are other islands within reach. A short drive from Kennacraig brings you to Claonaig, which has a ferry to Arran. Or continue south for the short crossing from Tayinloan to Gigha.