| About the Area
Ratagan is a small village on the shore of Loch Duich. It boasts Grants an haute cuisine restaurant – which is well worth a visit, a riding stables and a youth hostel. Past the youth hostel the road leads to Letterfearn. It ends a little after this and there is a small deciduous wooded hillside through which can be seen a different view of Eileen Donan Castle.
Eileen Donan castle is reputedly the most photographed castle in Scotland. It was rebuilt about 75 years ago having fallen into disrepair and the bridge across from the mainland was added at the same time. The café/tea rooms have excellent home made food and the shop sells a variety of souvenirs.
Just passed the Castle on the right is the village of Dornie which has a pub, an Hotel with a restaurant and a Post Office with village shop. The restaurant in the Dornie Hotel has a good menu serving large portions by friendly, attentive staff. On the left as you leave Dornie is a small road signposted Carr Brea. If you follow this up and over the hills there are various view points looking out towards the Cuillins. The road eventually rejoins the A87 at Inverinate and if you turn left onto the A87 you will be driving/walking back towards Ratagan. Carrying on the A87 from Dornie takes you towards the Kyle of Lochalsh and the road bridge to the Isle of Skye or you can turn right and travel either north towards Torridon or east for the ‘scenic’ route to Inverness – it’s not as though the direct route to Inverness isn’t scenic either! It takes between one and a half and two hours to reach Inverness should you feel a need for a large town (city) or you are flying to and from there. It takes about as long to get to Portree on Skye as it does to get to Inverness.
The area of Torridon is also stunning and well worth a visit. If you are not in any hurry the old ferry from Glenelg to Kylerhea on Skye runs during the summer season and is a short drive over the hill from Ratagan. There is also an excellent pub in Glenelg and close by are the Pictish Brochs.
The Kintail Lodge Hotel about a five minute drive from the lodge on the main A87 towards Kyle has both an excellent restaurant and bar. They also run organised walks. People staying at Silver Birch Lodge in 2007 have reported seeing a wide variety of wildlife in the area ranging from eagles to dolphins and otters and deer. Loch Duich is a very deep sea loch and porpoise and dolphin sightings are not uncommon.
A word of warning about the deer especially if you are driving about at dawn, dusk or at night BE CAREFUL. Many accidents are caused by deer running into the road in front of a car – or because they are lying in the road. Even a young red deer is large and will cause damage to you and your car.
If, like me, you are a keen landscape photographer the photo opportunities in the area are endless. It takes a couple of minutes to get to the shore if the light looks as though it’s going to do something particularly interesting and although you won’t get a sunrise or sunset from Ratagan because of the height of the hills the early or late light can be stunning and if it’s not looking promising light wise you have all those rivers and waterfalls in Glen Shiel! Places of interest
Glenelg brochs
Ferry at Glenelg to Kylerhea on Skye – summer only
Falls of Glomach
Eileen Donan castle
3 of 5 Sisters are Munros
Inverness 1.5-2 hrs drive away
Skye
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