Scotland the best
Best beaches
Make the most of what remains of summer with a trip to the coast. You’re spoiled for choice Machrihanish
Foot of the Kintyre peninsula six miles from Campbeltown. Walk north from Machrihanish village or golf course, or from the car park on A83 to Tayinloan and Tarbert at point where it hits/leaves the coast. A joyously long strand (five miles) of unspoiled orange-pink sand backed by dunes and facing the “steepe Atlantic Stream” all the way to Newfoundland.
Kiloran
Five miles from quay and hotel, past Colonsay House (8km circular walk); parking and access on hillside. Often described as the finest beach in the Hebrides, it doesn’t disappoint, though it can change character. Craggy cliffs on one side, negotiable, rocks on the other, tiers of grassy dunes between. The island was once bought as a picnic spot. This beach was why.
Camusdarach and Sands of Morar
Four miles from Mallaig by a good road, these easily accessible beaches stretch for miles and there’s enough space for everybody. The sand is among the best in Scotland with lots of rocky bits for exploration. One of the best stretches (the bay before the estuary) is Camusdarach, signed from the main road (where Local Hero was filmed); further from the road, it is quieter and a very good swathe of sand. Traigh, the golf course, makes good use of the dunes.
Around Gruinard Bay
By Laide, north of Gairloch. While Gruinard Beach itself on the A832 is easily found and accessed (and huge), these two I found on either side with local intel, both very special. The nearest is at Mungasdale, 500m N. Go between fence-post pillars or over a stile by a makeshift pull-over spot – 15-min walk through straggly birch woods to pristine dunes and sand with a burn. The beach at Mellon Udrigle is more widely known and has a car park and a camping ground. A crescent of golden sand and a Stac Polly over the sea. Four miles north from the A832 at Laide.