Getting to Islay

Posted on 2004/09/19 14:12:04 (September 2004) by john.

Is it possible in a weekend?

For a while now I've been itching to visit the distilleries of some of my favourite whiskies, all situated on the Isle of Islay - Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Bunnahabain, Bruichladdich, Caol Ila, Ardbeg, Bowmore and the now closed Port Ellen. So I've been trying to work out if it is possible to visit Islay for a weekend (without taking any days off work!). So largely as a note to myself, but also just in case this information might be useful to other people, I am going to compile my findings here.

Not being a great fan of flying, I'd rather go by "conventional" public transport. This does look like it's going to be a long haul though! For example.

The first leg would probably require the London to Glasgow sleeper. This is operated by Scotrail (timetable). Leaving London late Friday night (currently listed as 23:40), this ought to get you into Glasgow for Saturday morning (at 7:16 as I write). On the plus side this ought to leave you plenty of time for a decent night out in London first!

The second leg involves getting to the ferry port at Kennacraig on the Kintyre peninsula. A coach service operated by Citylink (timetable), which seems to take three and a half hours, appears to be the only real option here. As I write, this is advertised as leaving Glasgow Buchanan Bus Station at 9:00 and arriving at Kennacriag Ferry Terminal at 12:30.

Then it's a ferry to Islay from there. Ferries are operated by Caledonian MacBrayne (early/late summer timetable or peak summer timetable). With the timetables published as I write, this leaves Kennacraig at 13:00 and gets you to Port Askaig for 15:30.

On the way back on Sunday (again, correct as I write but almost certainly subject to change) you'd be looking at the 15:30 ferry from Port Ellen, arriving in Kennacraig at 17:50, which then gives you a very tight connection with the 18:00 coach back to Glasgow, arriving in Glasgow at 21:15. Then after a couple of beers and maybe a late dinner in Glasgow, you could hop on the 23:15 sleeper train which ought to get you back into Euston for 7:00 Monday morning.

So you'd basically end up with just 24 hours on Islay. The question is, of course, would any distilleries actually be open in this timeframe...?

Kate and I need a holiday. If you want to do this before Chrimbo, then let me know and I'll drive.

Posted by Rob Lang at 2004/09/20 15:26:14.

Be warned. i have a some experience of Calmac ferries and if its raining a bit or there's a light breeze they cancel everything. So I'd be very careful about tight connections.

Posted by Alex at 2004/09/21 15:21:22.

We're going to Wales for a week soon. And then I'm going on the Wing Windermere expedition. This flagrant use of holiday means I'll be at work over Christmas, but hey hum.

Posted by tom at 2004/09/22 20:34:41.

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