If you’d like to hike the Paps of Jura, and ‘bag’ all three mountains in one day, check out the full details on the Walk Highlands website.Even though they are always there, and always visible, they kept taking me by surprise when I saw them from a new angle, or against a differently coloured sky. When I reached Port Askaig to catch the ferry to Jura, my excitement quickly amplified, as I stood gawking at the uninterrupted and otherworldly vista of those soaring peaks. I could see them from Bowmore on Islay, hours before my journey to the island had even begun. The Paps of Jura have a truly stunning presence, and beckon you to the isle from a great distance. Barnhill is the house where George Orwell took up residence in the 1940s, to escape the chaos of London and write his classic novel 1984 in the years before he passed away.Ĭorbett = mountain between 2500ft – 3000ft Quite pricey given the basic provisions, and limited electricity, you think? This however, is no ordinary abode. There is also a remote farmhouse which can be yours for £1000 for a week. Everything else is wilderness.įor those who wish to go into the wild, there are bothies which can only be reached on foot. There is only one road, which runs from the ferry port at Feolin to the main town of Craighouse, then along the east of the island. Nowadays, the 200+ residents are vastly outnumbered by the population of deer, which can be anything between 5000 – 6000! Despite its size, Jura is blissfully untouched, and much of the landscape is inaccessible to the average visitor. At its peak in the 18th century, the island was home to around 2,000 people, however these numbers dropped dramatically due to emigration. For centuries, most of the island was owned by the Campbells, however the last member of the family left in 1938 and parts of the island are now owned by various landlords. Jura is a long and relatively large island 30 miles long and 7 miles wide. The island can be reached in just 10 minutes, on the ferry crossing over the Sound of Islay from Port Askaig to Feolin. Jura belongs to the Inner Hebrides, and sits off the west coast at Scotland between the mainland of Argyll and Islay, with Colonsay even further west, and the famous Corryvreckan whirlpool to the north. Jura falls to the extreme end of the latter. I love every Scottish Island that I’ve visited, but some have been slow-burners, while others were more like a scenic slap in the face. No matter what weather it wears, Jura is an absolute beauty. It was as if these temperamental conditions were deliberate, allowing me to literally see the island in so many different lights. Then, beams of sunlight forced their way through the thick clouds, to illuminate the landscape and highlight the true blue of the water. There were droplets of dew on the grass, and the pebbles on the beach were grey with polka dots from the sporadic sprinkling of rain. When I arrived on Jura, the mist was low and lingering. Was this even the same island I had spent the last two days on? Just an hour earlier, the heavens opened and a luminous rainbow had appeared. It was as if the seasons had shifted, and I was being teased by this glorious outburst. I knew I’d find it hard to leave, and this was definitely not helping. Palm trees, sparkly sea, and the warmth of the sun on my skin. This trip to Jura was on a paid campaign called ‘ The Heart & Soul of Scotland’ with Wild About Argyll and People Make Glasgow.Ĭheck out my other blogs in this series ‘ Islay Bucket List: The Best Whisky, Food & Experiences’, ‘ My Top Ten Ways to Spend a City Break in Glasgow’and ‘ Where to Find the Best Street Food in Glasgow‘ When I embarked on a solo adventure to the island – entirely on public transport from Glasgow via Islay – I quickly discovered that there is so much more to this wildly gorgeous island. On the surface, the Isle of Jura can be defined by its famous whisky, the imposing Paps and its abundance of deer.
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