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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Travel
Ailsa Sheldon

Whisky galore – and now plenty more besides: exploring the Scottish island of Islay

Aerial shot of a village of white houses edged with white sand and surrounded by  the sea
The village of Port Charlotte on Islay, located on the shore of Loch Indaal.
Photograph: Mark Unsworth/Alamy

The Paps of Jura disappear into the mist as I pedal along the shores of Loch Indaal, and the rain cloud I’ve been racing finally catches up. I stash my hire bike at Port Charlotte youth hostel, quickly change and make it to Lochindaal Seafood Kitchen just before the downpour.

I’m soon warmed, by the welcome then by a bowl of creamy fish chowder. “We’ve plenty of fresh seafood just in,” is all the temptation I need to order the seafood plate. It’s a bowl for one, but a hungry one, and soon I’m picking and cracking my way through piles of fat langoustines and crab claws, with hot whisky-butter scallops and plenty of bread and butter.

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