Loch Torridon

Loch Torridon marks the northern boundary of the Applecross peninsula, its awe-inspiring setting backed by the appealingly rugged mountains of Liathach and Beinn Eighe, tipped by streaks of white quartzite. The greater part of this area is composed of the reddish 750-million-year-old Torridonian sandstone, and some 15,000 acres of the massif are under the protection of the National Trust for Scotland. They run a Countryside Centre (May-Sept Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 2-5pm) at Torridon village at the east end of the loch, where you can call in and learn a bit more about the local geology, flora and fauna. At Torridon itself, near the NTS visitors centre, there's a modern SYHA hostel (tel 01445/791284, www.syha.org.uk; April-Oct), as well as one of the area's grandest hotels, the rambling Victorian Loch Torridon Hotel (tel 01445/791242; £150-200), set amid well-tended lochside grounds. Next door, Ben Damph Lodge (tel 01445/791242, www.bendamph.lochtorridonhotel.com; £50-60) is a modern conversion of an old farmstead, with neat if characterless rooms and a large climber's bar. Along at Diabaig, Miss Ross (tel 01445/790240; under £40) has comfortable accommodation overlooking the rocky bay. There's no road to the tiny, spartan Craig hostel (no phone; May-Aug), a stone cottage by the shore three miles beyond Diabaig.

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