Islay and Jura, Scotland

[paul]

Anyone here been to Islay and/or Jura?

What are the must-sees?

What's mobile reception like?

Grateful for any tips... thanks,

Paul
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[Scotland]

I've never been but I'd like to.
There are (I think) eight malt whisky distilleries on Islay. So I suppose visiting one of those is a must see.

As for mobile coverage Islay looks better than Jura especially near the south of the island.

[islayblog]

Yes, been to both plenty of times.

If you like whisky there are of course the eight distilleries on Islay and an additional one on Jura. Then there are plenty of wonderful beaches, like Machir Bay or Saligo Bay. If you're into history try Finlaggan, where the Lords of the Isles used to rule from. Or the Celtic crosses at Kilchoman and Kildalton. For an unusual church there's the Round Church in Bowmore, round so that the devil can't hide in a corner. the Islay Woollen Mill uses over 100 year old machinery. If you like wildlife there's plenty of that as well, in particular birds like Golden Eagles or the Barnacle Geese during the winter. You might also spot an Otter in the wild. Does that give you some ideas?

Mobile coverage is patchy. Most of the larger villages have cover, if you get to more remote areas it can get patchy to non-existent (e.g. if you're behind the hill). For mobile internet the best you're going to get is 2G, I'm not aware of any 3G signal anywhere on Islay (or Jura for that matter).

[paul]

Thanks, this is a really helpful start.

I am planning to visit with my family. We are all used to the outdoors (living between the Lakes and the Dales), but I'm a little hesitant as to what there is to do (for our young children - boys aged 7 and 5 - in particular) if the weather isn't favourable. It's not a problem if we have the odd wet day but, if it rains non-stop for the week, then I guess it could be a bit more testing! Hopefully this is unlikely in mid-July. That leads me on to another thing, are midges likely to bad then?

Thanks for the advice on mobile reception. Do you know if there is anywhere on Jura where I would be able to use a WiFi connection...? Or is that wishful thinking?

Thanks.
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[Wild and Magic Islay]

HI Paul,
This is Rachel from WILD AND MAGIC ISLAY travel company. you can find us on the web at tut tut, please read the guidelines. There are many things you can do with your children whilst on holiday on Islay. Not least come to our PEAT CUTTING, DRYING AND STACKING WORKSHOPS on a Tuesday at 11.30am. You will all learn a traditional skill, and have an informative, fun time. We also provide a tasty homemade picnic lunch. Please phone to book - oops
You can also go horse riding at Ballivicar which is just 10 mins up the road from Grianan Croft where we hold the peat cutting.
There is also a lovely swimming pool in Bowmore, which is located in what used to be a distillery warehouse.
We have a wonderful wildlife field centre in PortCharlotte, and also the Musuem of Islay life. There are RSPB reserves both down The Oa, and at Gruinart. In Port Ellen your children would enjoy the Cyber Cafe which offers pool tables and lots of organised kids activities. Also, you can just enjoy our fabulous beaches. Also, WILD AND MAGIC ISLAY travel company can provide you with a special handmade body lotion which is great for keeping the midges away. Please get in touch and we will help you any way we can. Regards Rachel

[Vanessa Fuery]

I have a 7 year old and live on Islay and you are right a week of rain would be testing to say the least. I know from last year that the swimming baths had activities throughout the summer (although they are age dependent). Islay natural History Trust ran some activities for young children last year, mostly shoreline, but these are of course weather dependent. There are usually some activities being run in the school - usually circus skills and sports. But to be honest the only way to deal with the weather is embrace it, the beaches are fantastic - there are some more sheltered than others, the RSPB reserve has a hide useful when the weather is bad, pictures can be drawn in there and posted on the wall - there are some games and books in the main RSPB centre up at the farm. I would give some thought to some way out activities I find the Mission Explore Books (amazon has got them) really good for getting my daughter interested in doing something outside that is slightly different (there are some copies on the island at the RSPB centre and at Islay Natural History Trust). Forgot to mention there are two places where the kids can paint pottery animals and tiles Persabus Farm being one, its a bit expensive but the owner is great and there is good coffee and cake to eat whilst the kids are busy. There is a long standing competition to win a book at the islayandjuraexplore wiki it changes every few weeks. The most important web site is the islay info site and the blog which gives you a lot of useful info, you can also follow on Twitter which is useful.
Other stuff you need to know, Bread delivery is only on monday, wednesday and friday - if you are arriving saturday evening bring bread with you!!
Have a great holiday its the best place in the world

[laz]

I was going to suggest distilleries, but possibly not suitable for kids, even in Scotland

I know there are some good "nature safaris" on many of the western isles. Mull certainly has them, and Skye, but not sure if Islay and Jura do, although the comments above suggest it might be possible.... I'd have liked that kind of thing as a kid...


Oh, and I also thought it quite odd that there are three responses from 1st time posters as their only post! Something fishy going on....
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[islayblog]

Well, there's a reason for us coming here and answering:

I don't know if this comes from the board or somewhere else, but "ukseries" has been posting this thread on Twitter quite regularly on Twitter over the last few days. As certainly I have a regular search for "Islay" on Twitter (I suspect the other two do the same) this thread was difficult to miss.

So why not answer the question if we can help? Not really anything fishy, it's just how things spread on the internet.

[paul]

Thanks, everyone.

Just to clear up a few things.

This message board has an introductions forum where it says to post first and tell us a bit about yourself. If you just disregard that, and post an ad in the first sentence of your first post, it does risk getting more established members a little upset! That's really where the signature is meant to kick in (but to have one you need to have a few more posts under your belt). That aside, there's some really helpful information in Rachel's post, so thank you.

Incidentally, @ukseries just pulls a feed automatically from the UK & Ireland forum here, automatically tweeting whenever there's a new post within it.

I have looked at your site, islayblog (it wasn't too difficult to work out from your board name ) and have enjoyed browsing posts at random and learning all sorts of bits of info that I wouldn't otherwise have known. Some really useful insights and it sounds like you are a regular visitor now.

Thank you also for your insights, Vanessa. Very helpful, and you must have a good knowledge of how easy (or difficult) it is to entertain children on Islay. It sounds like there's more going on on Islay on this front, but we shall probably be based on Jura for our trip, flying from Glasgow to Islay, and then taking the ferry to Jura. Is it easy/inexpensive/recommended to pop back to Islay from Jura. Or would there be plenty to occupy us on Jura for the duration? We are RSPB members (for England, at least... I'm guessing that extends to Scotland also?), since we live quite close to Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve on the Cumbria/Lancashire border.

Would it be worth hiring bikes on Jura (or even a car?). I think I read that the shop at Craighouse hires bikes, but I wasn't sure if they had children's bikes and/or helmets, etc. Obviously, if we're flying from Glasgow, it would be helpful if we didn't have to bring helmets, etc. with us.

The kids activities that you describe at the Cyber Cafe, Rachel... is that really intended just for local children or would it apply to visitors also? Is there somewhere where I could see what events might be taking place when we visit in July?
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[paul]

Well... our trip is definitely "on" and we're really looking forward to it. Will be there next month. Any more tips and advice welcomed, or answers to the questions in the post just above.

Hope we get good weather but will embrace it whatever...
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[paul]

Well... we're back, and we had a great time. We were very lucky indeed with the weather. Glorious sunshine the whole time we were there.

Spent most of the time on Jura but, on our arrival, we went to the RSPB place at Loch Gruinart, before heading to Port Askaig and taking the ferry across to Jura. We stayed in Craighouse but went back on to Islay the next day because the RSPB were doing a guided walk on the Oa, with the chance of seeing golden eagles. Unfortunately we weren't quite so lucky there as it was only the second time the guide had done the walk and not seen them, despite conditions being good.

On Jura, we just relaxed on the beaches, explored a little, did the Evans Walk and generally had a very relaxing time. Would recommend that anyone visits at least once, particularly if you're a city dweller, just to experience how different life can be. Jura is a fairly remote place, particularly once you get out of Craighouse which is the only settlement of any significance (one hotel/pub/campsite, one distillery and one shop). You wouldn't think there was an overcrowding problem in the UK if you ventured up to Jura...!
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[laz]

Sounds good. Any pics?

Shame about the Golden Eagle, mind you. We were really lucky on our long weekend in Mull, as we had a bus tour of the island, and just stopped for some sea views in a car park on the north of the island... and there was a golden eagle sitting on top of a telegraph pole in the car park!!
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[paul]

[laz]

[laz]

Oh, and by the way, if you click on any one photo in a FB album, then, when it is open, you right click and select "properties", then copy the whole "http://" part in "Address (URL)" that is a direct link to the single picture... e.g.


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