Drawing near to the end of this grand tour of the Inner Hebrides, we travelled on from Mull, over the mainland to Mallaig, where we took the ferry ‘over the sea to Skye’.

Unfortunately, we left in a downpour, which made it hard to take a good photo of Tobermore. You might recognise this one from a previous post, but it was taken as we were about to leave, so just to remind you of the colourful waterfront, despite the rain

And the business of the waterways around the islands, here’s another ferry we passed on the way out

Landfall is on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, which includes the most westerly point of the UK mainland. The area is wild and undisturbed, with the only access a single track road, which we drove along at a steady pace, keeping an eye out for wildlife. No Golden Eagles today, but we did stop alongside a fencepost on which sat a large buzzard, about a metre away from the car. After surveying us in annoyance for disturbing his slumber, he flapped away before I could get the camera out of its case. Ah well, another day.

We had one stop planned on this journey, and yet again, we weren’t disappointed.

Castle Tioram is a ruined thirteenth or fourteenth century building, standing on a tidal island, accessible only at low tide via a sand spit. Whilst we were there at the right time, unfortunately due to our slow progress along the narrow road, we didn’t have time to walk across to investigate closer. Never mind, it was still worth the stop off.

The surrounding loch, Loch Moidart is typically beautiful, and the castle stands at a strategic point, controlling access to Loch Shiel.

Moving on, we drove out to Mallaig, passing the Glenfinnan Monument (earlier post here) and the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which Harry Potter fans will recognise from the Hogwart’s Express train ride, which we did a couple of years ago.

We’ve taken this ferry before, but it’s still fascinating to watch it come into dock – amazing how they manoeuvre these huge vessels.

Afternoon was wearing on by this time, and this beautiful picture presented itself

The tip of land is the Sleat Peninsula, also known as ‘The Garden of Skye’, with a view to the island of Eigg behind. We just had enough day left to drive down to that end of Skye to take in the views.

Just a couple of days left to this trip, some fabulous locations on Skye coming up next…