DramStoryWhere whisky adventures beginBeaches, walks, bike rides, historic sites, leisure and more, in one scannable list - the same way you’d browse distilleries, without needing to hunt across the map pin by pin.
A WWI memorial and Islay's best clifftop walk in one — eagles, choughs, and views to Ireland.
A quiet dune beach at Islay's northern tip, right next to RSPB Loch Gruinart.
The remote farmhouse where Orwell wrote 1984 — an 8-mile round trip on foot, for committed walkers only.
A wood-fired wild sauna that moves around Jura's coast — £15 for an hour of heat, then the sea.
A sand-and-pebble beach past Ardbeg and Kildalton Cross, on Islay's quiet south-east coast.
A proper sandy beach on Jura's only road — easy underfoot, big views.
A ruined clan stronghold, besieged and cannon-battered into ruin in 1615.
The medieval seat of the Lords of the Isles, on two tiny loch islands near Ballygrant.
Islay's small airport at Glenegedale — Loganair flights from Glasgow in around 40 minutes, free parking, car hire on-site.
An 8th-century Celtic cross, carved in stone and still standing in its original spot.
Sandy beach and ruined chapel just off the Oa road, with its own small car park by the war cemetery.
A weathered ancient cross and ruined chapel on Loch Gruinart's shore, with a dark local legend attached.
A roadside view of Lagavulin's distillery and the ruined castle across the water.
Islay's largest loch, with the ruins of a MacDonald stronghold on a small island within it.
An easy, flexible shore stroll from Bowmore, with views across Loch Indaal to the Rhinns.
The Loch Indaal Way - Islay's newest coastal path, built to keep walkers off the road between two distillery villages.
A wide Atlantic beach with dunes behind it — plenty of room, even at the height of summer.
Islay's only indoor pool — heated by waste warmth from Bowmore Distillery next door.
12,000 years of Islay's story, packed into one old Port Charlotte church.
Jura's three Paps, rising pale across the water — no walk required.
Islay's main ferry gateway — every mainland sailing lands here while Port Ellen is closed.
Port Ellen's own beach — small, sociable, and right where the harbour happens.
Closed for redevelopment until 2029 — sailings now go via Port Askaig instead.
A quiet shore below Ardmore House, reached on foot from Kildalton Church.
A whitewashed horseshoe harbour village at Islay's southern tip — Rhinns lighthouse in view, twin village Port Wemyss next door.
A working Stevenson lighthouse on the tiny island of Orsay, guarding Portnahaven's harbour since 1825.
A single oak pillar in the centre holds up the entire roof of Bowmore's Round Church.
~40km loop from Bridgend via Bruichladdich, Kilchoman, and Loch Gruinart — Islay's wilder side on two wheels.
Islay's biggest working nature reserve — farmland, saltmarsh and moorland, and thousands of wintering geese every October.
An easy woodland loop through ancient hazel coppice, with hides over Loch Gruinart's wetlands.
A natural rock arch so obscure it never made it onto any map.
A hidden bay behind the dunes, and one of Islay's best sunset spots.
A tough coastal walk from Kintra to a dramatic, little-seen sea stack on the Oa.
A roadside view across the Sound of Islay to the Paps of Jura, right next to Caol Ila Distillery.
Islay's longest beach, and one of the few here safe enough to swim in.
One of Scotland's most storied links courses, laid out across the Big Strand's dunes in 1891.
26km round trip via three distilleries, flat and scenic — extend further for Loch an t-Sailein's seals and Kildalton's ancient cross.