Isle of Eigg

Islanders bought Eigg from its last private owner in 1997, through the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust, a partnership with the Highland Council and the Scottish Wildlife Trust. In 2008 they switched on their own electricity grid, the first to bring wind, water and solar power together for a scattered community, and renewables have supplied around 95% of the island’s electricity since. Above the pier rises An Sgùrr, a 393-metre ridge of pitchstone, a dark, glassy volcanic rock, and you can climb it. On the north-west side, the crofting township of Cleadale sits above the Bay of Laig, a wide white beach facing the mountains of Rum, and a short walk north are the Singing Sands, where dry quartz sand squeaks when you scuff your feet through it. The ferry lands at Galmisdale, where An Laimhrig, the community building by the pier, has the shop, a café-bar and bike and kayak hire. CalMac sails from Mallaig all year, and from April to mid-September a passenger boat runs from Arisaig.