Skip to main page content (AccessKey S)
 |
 |
 Port Askaig from the Islay Ferry |
Port Askaig is one of the two gateways to Islay. Ships from West Loch Tarbert on Kintyre have called here since the 1700s and it was the destination of a steamer service from Glasgow as early as 1825.
|
||||||
The village also serves as the ferry port for the wild and lonely island of Jura, whose only road starts at the slipway at Feolin Ferry just across the half-mile wide Sound of Islay before petering out two thirds of the way up the island's east coast.
Visitors to Port Askaig from the mainland find themselves in a tiny settlement dominated by the bulk of the ferry and the bustle of cars and lorries queueing to take their places on the Hebridean Isles' vehicle deck.
 Islay Lifeboat |
|
 Port Askaig Pier |
On emerging from the ferry you sweep past a row of white port buildings, a handful of shops and houses, the Port Askaig Hotel: and that's just about all you have time to see before you tackle the winding road that climbs steeply up the wooded cliff behind the village.
Port Askaig is also home to the Islay Lifeboat, whose station opened here in 1934. This is open to visitors all year round and the lifeboat itself is a striking splash of colour against an otherwise largely white painted village. On the hillside just south of the village is the imposing Dunlossit House.
Just north of Port Askaig is the Caol Ila distillery, built in 1846. Another minor road leads from Keills to Bunnahabhain Distillery, remarkably remote and enjoying stunning views across to the Paps of Jura. There is more about these and other distilleries on our Islay Distilleries page.
A few miles inland from Loch Askaig is the village of Ballygrant, from where a very minor road leads north to Loch Finlaggan. This rather windswept spot may not look much today, but through much of the middle ages it was effectively the capital of a kingdom that included much of western Scotland and the Isles, and parts of Ireland.
On a pair of islands in the loch, one natural the other artificial, were the great hall and main residence of the MacDonald Lords of the Isles. For 350 years from the expulsion of the Norse by Somerled to the imposition of central power by James IV (see our Historical Timeline) the Lords of the Isles did indeed rule the isles and much more beyond. Today you can find out more at the Finlaggan Visitor Centre, run by the Finlaggan Trust.
