Western Highlands: Plockton

It was still raining as we pulled into Plockton, but the charm of this small seaside town was evident even through the dreich.

We happily found our hotel (Plockton Hotel) amongst the charming old crescent of buildings along the water, checked in, and parked ourselves by the fire in their pub for a pint and some internet time (data and mobile phone coverage is awfully sparse in the Highlands).

For dinner we went around the corner to the Plockton Inn, where we enjoyed some local seafood while eavesdropping on a small tour group.

Plockton is known for its palm trees, as it supposedly occupies some sort of Mediterranean-esque climate pocket, but the weather remained strictly Scottish West Coast the whole time we were there.

For breakfast the next morning, I stuck with the standard veggie full Scottish breakfast, while Scott went for one of the more exotic breakfast options: kippers. He claimed he enjoyed it, but my nose suspected otherwise.

We decided to spend the day on some short, non-committal local hikes, planning to flee back to the warm embrace of a fireside table at the pub if the rain started in too hard.

First up was a short loop called the Woodland Walk.

It was relatively easy going, and offered up some lovely views.

Next we wandered across the town via an elevated path (Brae), with more lovely views, which brought us to the castle walk at the other end of Plockton.

There was some roadside walking (which took us past an outdoor church) to get to the start of the castle path.

This route also seemed promising in the view department, but after a short ways the path became too soggy to be worth our while, so we turned back before reaching the castle.

We went back into town for a late lunch at Plockton Shores, which served us one of the best meals we had in the Highlands: tempura scallops, a Mediterranean salad, and a giant shellfish platter.

After lunch we had time for one last stroll along the waterfront before hopping in the car to head for our next destination: Skye. Plockton left an impression on both of us, and we’d happily go back. It has stuck in my mind so much that it has been popping up in my recent artwork.