North-west Sutherland — July 30th - August 1st, 2004

Written by Narelle

Day 3, Kinlochbervie to Edinburgh via Achnahaird and Ullapool (Part 1)

On our last day we left Kinlochbervie at around 10.30am and headed for Achiltibuie because it was on the way home and I'd remembered seeing a rave review of the place on Undiscovered Scotland. To get there, drove through absolutely stunning scenery, past Stac Pollaidh and through Assynt Coigach on a single-track road — dodging sheep all the way.

When we were half way along this single track road we saw a beautiful beach in the distance. It wasn't our intended destination but we decided to head there after Achiltibuie anyway. Continuing on, the road turned towards the sea and we got a great view of the Summer Isles. We drove right onto the grass at the beach of Achiltibuie but it turned out to be a bit disappointing. Still very pretty of course, but not what I'd remembered when I read about the place. When I got home to Edinburgh I looked it up, and it turns out that Achiltibuie wasn't the beach I was thinking of afterall. It was Achmelvich (soooo similar!) that I really wanted to see and it was just around the corner apparently. D'oh! We'll have to go back there.