Mallaig is a small fishing town on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands, the terminus of the West Highland Line and the busiest ferry port in this part of the country. Most travellers arrive from Fort William either by car along the Road to the Isles or — much more memorably — on the train that grinds its way over Glenfinnan and along Loch Eilt before dropping to the sea at Arisaig. A longer, quieter route runs up from the south through Morvern and Moidart and is at least as scenic.
Once a herring port of national importance, Mallaig today lives off prawns, scallops, and the steady summer flow of walkers, ferry passengers and rail enthusiasts. The harbour smells of diesel and seaweed, the shopfronts are weathered, and the high street takes ten minutes to walk end-to-end. None of that is the point. Mallaig is a doorway: to Skye, to the Small Isles, to the all-but-roadless peninsula of Knoydart across the loch, and to the silver beaches strung out along the road south.
Pedestrian boats also run from the harbour to Inverie on Knoydart and on some days to Loch Coruisk under the Cuillin — for many visitors, the most arresting piece of water in the United Kingdom.