Arisaig

West of Glenfinnan, the A830 runs alongside captivating Loch Eilt in the district of Morar, through Lochailort - where it meets the road from Acharacle - and onto a coast marked by acres of white sands, turquoise seas and rocky islets draped with orange seaweed. ARISAIG, scattered round a sandy bay at the west end of the Morar peninsula, makes a good base for exploring this area. A boat also leaves from here daily during the summer for the Small Isles, operated by Arisaig Marine (tel 01687/450224). Accommodation in the village is plentiful. Kinloid Farm House (tel 01687/450366; £50-60; March-Oct) is one of several pleasant B&Bs with sea views, while the more upmarket Old Library Lodge (tel 01687/450651, www.oldlibrary.co.uk; £70-90; April-Oct) has a handful of well-appointed rooms, though only two overlook the seafront.

Stretching for eight miles or so north of Arisaig is a string of stunning white-sand beaches backed by flowery machair, with barren granite hills and moorland rising up behind and wonderful seaward views of Eigg and Rùm. The next settlement of any significance is MORAR, where the famous beach scenes from Local Hero were shot. Since then, however, a bypass has been built around the village, and the white sands, plagued by the rumble of frozen-cod lorries, are no longer an unspoilt idyll. Of the string of campsites try Camusdarach (tel 01687/450221, www.road-to-the-isles.org.uk/camusdarach), which isn't quite on the beach but is quieter and less officious than others nearby. B&B is also available in the converted billiard room of their attractive main house (under £40).

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