Aye, you might laugh and to be fair it doesn’t happy all that often, but weeks of wall to wall sunshine are not unheard of at this time of year (April through June) in Fort William and Lochaber. Come any later though and after a week you may risk returning home looking like a prune.
To celebrate our charming, inconveniently early summers we’ve put together a series of things to do that make the most of the sunshine. Hopefully there’s a little something here for everyone, whatever your ideal fair weather pastimes are. Installment one is…
Pubs, Bars and Cafés
Crisp up like a rasher of bacon under the sun, gently basting yourself in real ale at a selection of establishments with fine outdoor eating and drinking facilities:
The Ben Nevis Inn - sits at the start of the Ben Nevis footpath in Achintee. Fantastic converted barn with great pub food. Has a big area with outdoor tables and views up and down Glen Nevis.
The similarly named Ben Nevis Bar (formerly the Jacobite) in on Fort William High Street and is one of the few bars here with outdoor seating. A Beer Deck overlooks the loch and a highly scenic dual carriageway, however benefits from plenty sunlight in the evenings.
Cafe 115 as it’s name suggests is located at number 115 High Street and serves some great food and coffee with some outdoor seating in the mix.
In Mallaig it’s well worth nipping in to the Tea Garden Cafe which has beautiful outdoor seating with an almost Mediterranean feel, provided it’s not raining.
One of the most braw places for a nice cold pint on a hot day has to be the Clachaig Inn, Glencoe. It has it all, scenery, setting, accommodation, great foot and plenty real ale. There’s also a campsite very close by and of course, has plenty beer garden space.
As always, there’s a great list of more pubs and bars on our site.
What’s your suggestions? Let us know with your comments below.
Next up in this series is a selection of wee walks to see the sights and burn of all those outdoor pints, coming soon.
