THE popular image of Scotland for most travellers centres on its "Highlands and Islands". The landscape is as varied as it is beautiful. Rugged peaks, breathtaking lochs, glistening glens, a straggling coastline, with white sandy beaches, sheltered bays and rocky cliffs, looking out to the remote islands in the Atlantic, Scotland is wonderfully diverse land offering a wide scenic variety.

Wester Ross boasts of some of the most beautiful and rugged scenery found anywhere in Scotland. It is one of the most remote and beautiful parts of Britain — many say the world. Largely unpopulated and surrounded by high peaks and sea lochs, the area is recognised as one of Europe’s last wildernesses.

Like many other parts of the Highlands, Wester Ross’ biggest attraction for visitors is its many and varied hill, mountain and woodland walks, all natural and unspoilt.

Loch Carron is an ideal base from which to explore this beautiful part of the west coast. The village of Lochcarron is beautifully situated with its shops and houses and hotels strung along the shore of the loch. In the 1970s and early 80s it was something of a boom town, catering to workers at the nearby oil platform yard on Loch Kishorn, which is now closed due to lack of orders. But Lochcarron still is a lively town and has much to offer to the visitor, including beautiful walks and a nine-hole golf course.

The area offers a beautiful driving experience. The main road out of Lochcarron to the north quickly gains height but drops down again to the village of Kishorn. A few miles further on, the road to Applecross turns off to the left, one of the most dramatic and beautiful stretches of road in the country.

The Bealach na Ba (pass of the cattle) on the Applecross peninsula is one of the highest motorable roads in the UK, offering grand views from the summit. The road has several hairpin bends and has been described as the closest thing in the country to an Alpine pass. Its summit offers view of some of the Hebridean islands. The inland views from the summit are also spectacular.

The Bealach na Ba is clearly not for the fainthearted. Snow-frosted mountains soar into the sky while raw rocks jut out at startling angles. The drive around the hairpin bends on the windswept road can be heart stopping.

Applecross itself is a tranquil village providing a contrast to the scenery one has just travelled through. It is one of the most remote peninsulas in the Highlands. The single-track road soon broadens out to double-track and follows the coast along the shore of Loch Torridon, eventually arriving at Torridon village.

Much of this area is a national nature reserve. The Beinn Eighe Reserve is rightly honoured as one of the finest in Europe.

It was getting late and so we decided to return to our self-catering cottage on the Isle of Skye. On our way home, we stopped at the picturesque village of Plockton, which is famous for its palm tree-lined main street. Originally a fishing village, Plockton now relies on tourism to bring in revenue. No wonder the village has quite a few arts and crafts shops and art galleries.

The sea features strongly in the life of Plockton. A few boats were still fishing for prawns and crabs. Fresh seafood can be purchased from the hotels and restaurants as well as from the fishermen at the pier. Regular boat trips also take visitors to the nearby seal colonies.

A few miles away is Dornie and the much-photographed Eilean Donan Castle. Situated on an island at the point where three great sea lochs meet and surrounded by some majestic scenery, it is little wonder that the castle is now one of the most visited and important attractions in the Highlands.

Partially destroyed in a Jacobite uprising in 1719, Eilean Donan lay in ruins for the best part of 200 years until Lieut Col John MacRae-Gilstrap bought the island in 1911 and proceeded to restore the castle to its former glory. After 20 years of toil and labour, the castle was re-opened in 1932. Today, visitors can explore nearly every part of the castle and enjoy listening to its history.

Further ahead is the Kyle of Lochalsh, a busy little village and also the railhead on the world-famous Inverness-Kyle railway line. It was formerly the ferry point for the crossing to Skye. Now motorists cross from Kyle to Skye on the bridge. There are many worthwhile walks around the Kyle area, affording views across to Skye and the great central mass of the Cuillin Hills.

Breathtaking destinations packed with many things to do, sights to see, and above all, places just to get away from the maddening crowd, a holiday in Wester Ross is one you’ll remember for years to come.

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