This week Bob Montgomery takes to the Highlands of Scotland, and a drive around the Isle of Skye and the Wester Ross area of the highlands
In view of the excellent car ferry services which exist between Ireland and Scotland (Larne and Belfast to Stranraer and Cairnryan) it's a surprise to find relatively few motorists from the south of Ireland availing of them to gain access to some of the least crowded and spectacular roads to be found anywhere. I'm referring to the roads of the west coast of Scotland - in particular the Isle of Skye and the area known as Wester Ross.
Good roads speed you to the Kyle of Lochalsh and the fine bridge which crosses the Inner Sound to the Isle of Skye - An t-Eilean Sgiathanach - the "Island of Mist", and perhaps the most picturesque of the islands lying off the Scottish mainland. Skye is some 50 miles long and over 600 square miles in area and contains what is the most spectacular range of mountains to be found in Britain or Ireland, the jagged black Cullins.
The roads are good, and Portree, the main town on the island, is attractive and has most amenities on offer. North of Portree are the rock pillars known as the "Old Man of Storr" while the road from Staffin to Uig crosses over the mountain pass known as the Quiraing between Meall na Suiramach (543m) and Bioda Buidhe (466m). From the crest of the pass the views towards Wester Ross on the mainland are indeed magnificent.
Good roads link most places on the island, but the spectacular Cullins (which rise to 986m) are accessible only to walkers. Nevertheless, an exploration of the roads that surround them will prove rewarding.
Having explored the roads of Skye and crossed back to the mainland over the Skye bridge, just after Auchtertyre take the A890 to Stromeferry with its spectacular views over Loch Carron. Follow the A890 around the shores of the loch through Strathcarron and onto the A896 to Lochcarron on the northern shores of Loch Carron before turning west and inland to Ardarroch on Loch Kishorn.
At the head of Loch Kishorn take the small road for Applecross on the western coast. This road leads over the Bealach na Bo - The Pass of the Cattle - which at around 690m is the highest pass which can be traversed by car in Britain or Ireland. It's another spectacular place (with wonderful echoes) and views across the water to Lochalsh.
Once the pass has been crested the road drops gently down to Applecross, a surprisingly sheltered village where the Irish missionary monk Maelrubha founded a monastery in AD673.
Perhaps at this point a word about Scotland's single track roads would not go amiss. These are narrow roads with passing places marked by a white diamond shaped sign every couple of hundred metres. There are rather a lot of them. The theory is that one gives way if one meets another vehicle and is the one nearest to one of these passing places.
It's a great theory which would work fine, if all the roads were straight and one could see ahead more than just a short distance. Most visitors are more than ready to give way, but the locals are another matter altogether! So be warned. . .
However, don't let these single track roads put you off exploring this wonderful part of the world and its otherwise magnificent roads. (How is it other countries can have smooth, repair-free, properly marked asphalt which hasn't subsided - even in remote places?) The west coast of Scotland remains a wonderful place for the enthusiastic motorist.
We explored only a small selection of the roads on the west coast during our visit but that short selection has whetted our appetites for more, and will take us back again and again to the Isles and Wester Ross.