Ullapool

Ullapool is a fishing and ferry town on the shore of Loch Broom, about 45 miles north-west of Inverness, and by some distance the largest settlement in the North-West Highlands, though its population is only around 1,500. It was built in 1788 as a planned herring station by the British Fisheries Society, laid out on a grid that still shapes the town today, and it remains a working harbour as well as the ferry port for Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.

Why base here

The North-West Highlands around Ullapool, Assynt and Coigach to the north, and the hills around Loch Broom, are among the least crowded and most distinctive in Scotland: isolated sandstone peaks rising alone from moorland and lochans, rather than the connected ridgelines further south and east. Ullapool is the only town of any size for a long way in any direction, which makes it the natural base for exploring this area, and its ferry gives an option most other bases in this guide don’t have: a day trip, or a longer one, to the Outer Hebrides.

On foot versus by car

Nothing of note is walkable directly from Ullapool itself beyond the town’s own harbourside and a stretch of the Ullapool river; the area’s best-known features, Stac Pollaidh and Corrieshalloch Gorge, both need a car, roughly 25 to 30 minutes’ drive in different directions.

Practicalities

Ullapool has never had a railway; the nearest station is at Garve, on the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh line. A daily Citylink coach connects the town to Inverness. Ferries to Stornoway run year-round, timetabled around tides, and it’s worth checking sailing times independently rather than assuming a fixed daily schedule.