A Pilgrimage to Plockton (Plockton)

Member Name: eilidhcatriona

Product:	Plockton
Date:	16/11/09 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cute village, beautiful views

Disadvantages: Not many shops

Plockton is a village located in the North West Highlands of Scotland, close to Kyle of Lochalsh. It is on the shore of Loch Carron, and is a National Trust conservation village.

It is well known as being the setting for the popular BBC series Hamish Macbeth, from the mid 1990s, as the fictional village of Loch Dubh. This beautiful setting captured on the show put Plockton on the map, and it is now a popular destination in the area.

As a huge fan of Hamish Macbeth, my recent visit to Plockton was a bit of a pilgrimage. I spent our time there excitedly spotting where Wee Jock was hit, the Loch Dubh pub, Hamish's house...as it was late September and very wet, the village was fairly quiet, although I understand it can get busy in summertime - there are a lot of holiday homes in and around the village.

The North West of Scotland is not the warmest place in the UK; in fact, during our stay in the area the temperature dropped to 6C - a bit chilly for someone now acclimatised to warm London autumns! However, another thing Plockton is known for is its palm trees. Along the main street on the shore, there are a number of very healthy and happy looking palm trees. This didn't quite fit with the cold and the rain for me, I expect they look more normal in summer!

Despite being a popular place to visit, Plockton is not overly touristy. There are three pubs/hotels, a restaurant and a few shops. We went into one of the shops, which was obviously geared at the tourists, but was nice - it had a mixture of jewellery, pottery, souvenirs and books. On another day we had lunch at the Plockton Hotel, but that's another story.

We had a stroll around the village in the nasty dreich weather, but I still really enjoyed it. Plockton is a very pretty little village, and of course I got to see places I recognised from Hamish Macbeth, including his house - which is someone's home, I took a photo and then ran, feeling a bit bad about photographing someone's house! The main street along the shore has lots of typical little stone cottages, and is a favourite with calendar and postcard producers.

There is a small "island" of houses in the bay, which is reached by a narrow causeway from the main part of the village, although there is road access further along. This is where Hamish lived, so of course we had to go over for a look! There is also a proper island in the bay, which you can walk over to during low tide. Although the tide went out while we were there, we decided not to bother given the weather.

If you are in this part of Scotland, Plockton is not to be missed. You can have a walk, look at the shops and have a nice lunch in one of the pubs. It's very picturesque, so take your camera, and ideally visit in good weather, but you can't always rely on that here!

Summary: A great place to visit