Eilean Donan Castle
The Western Kintail ridge
Loch Cluanie and Drium nan Cnamh
Accommodation
- Ratagan
Youth Hostel
- This is a nice youth hostel with a great 'postcard' view up to the five sisters of Kintail. The drying room is effective but space is limited. The facilities were generally at an excellent standard. The warden knows the mountains like the back of his hand and is an excellent substitute for a guidebook!
Travel
Scottish Citylink provide three coaches a day from Glasgow and another three from Inverness. It's cheaper to go via Fort William rather than Inverness when heading from Glasgow. They stop at the Cluanie Inn and Shiel Bridge.
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Introduction
Glen Shiel has some of the most extensive rugged mountain scenery in the highlands. The only contestants to this claim lie in Knoydart and Lochaber. It has the sharpest peaks on the mainland covering such a large area and the large number of munros in the area act as testament to that fact.
The Five Sisters of Kintail seen from Bealach Ratagan There are many classic walks to do in the area. The South Glen Shiel ridge traverses many fine summits while the Five Sisters of Kintail makes a classic picture postcard. The Saddle provides one of the exhilarating ridge scrambles in mainland Scotland while Beinn Fhada boasts some of the finest corries in the group.
Because of its distance from the big Scottish cities, the area tends to be quieter than places like Glen Coe and the southern highlands. Despite that, it can be popular during the holiday period. None of the mountains are too far from the road and so overnight trips to bothies aren't neccessary. Indeed there are few bothies in the area.
Creag nan Damh on the south Glen Shiel Ridge
Apart from the mountains there are other fine qualities to the area. The Eilean Donan castle is probably the most photographed castle in Scotland and features in quite a number of movies.
Loch Hourn seem from above Arnisdale
Loch Duich seen from the Five Sisters |
Scenery south of Sgurr na Sgine |
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