The Hidden Coast

Photo: Becky Williamson / Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Two days up the single-track coast, with Jura across the water the whole way.

Two distilleries at the end of a road built for passing places rather than speed — most people who come to Islay never drive it, which is the entire argument for doing so.

2 distilleries

across the route

from £35

per person in tours, booked separately

2 nights

one bed throughout, and you'll need a car

Day by day

relaxedmoderatepacked

Every nightBridgendBridgend or Port Askaig both work as a base - neither day involves much driving either way.Bridgend Hotel→

Night one

You arrive today — Port Askaig is fifteen minutes off, if you want the island's oldest bar first.

ONEThe north eastModerateToday's tours £60Car needed

Ardnahoe, Worth the Wait

Five years between opening the doors and bottling the first single malt — today you taste exactly what the wait was for.

Today's tour costs £60pp. Ardnahoe's standard tour is £15pp.

Ardnahoe → Paps of Jura Panorama

Open the day →

Night two

Ardnahoe closes at five and there's nothing open past it — eat back in Bridgend.

TWOThe north eastRelaxedToday's tours £50Car needed — single-track at the end

Bunnahabhain, Back from Silence

Islay's one great unpeated outlier, at the end of a single-track road built for passing places, not traffic.

Today's tour costs £50pp. Bunnahabhain's standard tour is £20pp.

Bunnahabhain → Rubha Bhachlaig

Open the day →

Getting here and away

FerryKennacraig to Port Askaig — both days start within a few miles of where you land.

TransferAbout 15 minutes to Bridgend, and nothing on this route is a long drive from there.

RoadsSingle-track with passing places for the last few miles into Bunnahabhain. Allow more time than the distance suggests.

When to come

SilentArdnahoe's maintenance shutdown runs 11 June–15 August — you can still visit, but nothing is being made, and tour routes may change.

Fèis ÌleThe last week of May. Both distilleries open up, and the single-track road in is the one that suffers.

RoomsApril to September — winter light goes early out here, and there is very little to stay in nearby.

Take the Hidden Coast

Every tour and every drive already worked out, across two days and two nights. Take it exactly as it stands, or open it up and make it yours.

Free, and you can edit it after.

Use it exactly as it is
Or change any part of it
Nothing is booked, and nothing is paid

Or start differentlyBuild your own from the sixteen days →

What it costs, and where

Colour is how hard the day works you. Width is what it costs.relaxedmoderate

ArdnahoeDay 1 · Ultimate Ardnahoe Experience. The standard tour is £15£60pp

BunnahabhainDay 2 · Warehouse 9 Experience. The standard tour is £20£50pp

Tours, as planned£110pp£35pp on standard tours

two nights£320–£560for the party, off-season to peak

Car, two days£200for the party

Not included—The ferry, food, fuel.

Nothing here is paid to DramStory — you book each of these yourself.

Not quite right?

three honest reasons this one might not suit you

IF TWO DISTILLERIES ISN'T ENOUGH