Driving to Port Ellen from Port Charlette, we thought we would take the main road around the inner bay, through Bowmore and past the airport. Instead we took the more direct high road which bypassed everything but provided a beautiful view.
Port Ellen is a working town. The islanders have fun rivalries between themselves and Port Ellen is joked as the red-light district. By the way, there are no stop lights on the entire island of Islay. Anyway, Port Ellen is a classic harbor town with a wall of white connected houses in a horseshoe around the harbor.
Getting around
There is a ferry landing for the island, the other ferry landing is Port Askaig next to Coal Ila. Both Ferries go to and from Kennacraig on the Kintyre peninsula which is also where Campbeltown is located. The ferry to Islay from Kennacraig landing at Port Ellen (2 hours 20 minutes) or Port Askaig (1 hour 55 minutes). Vehicle reservations are recommended. Although I don’t want to drive, so the bus from Glasgow would be best for me. While hiking, I saw several people take their bikes from the mainland to Islay for a day trip to the distilleries along the Port Ellen coast – Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg. Taxis are also available.
We hiked. Its 1.5 miles to Laphroaig, 2.5 miles to Lagavulin and 3.5 miles to Ardbeg. Hiking adds time but its pretty refreshing to take a 30-minute stroll for the one mile between the distilleries.
Diageo, owner of several major global spirit brands such as Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and Tanqueray, has their global supply maltings in Port Ellen. Behind their huge barley processing plant, they are re-opening the Port Ellen Distillery. Along with another new distillery in the making, the Port Ellen area will soon have 5 distilleries.
Nightlife
We found the best food to be at The Islay Hotel restaurant. The hotel Whisky Bar has the best selection in town and they serve the full restaurant menu. The atmosphere is a bit more proper than we like because we like the freedom to talk with strangers around us. A couple of must eat items, their butter and their smoked mussels. I don’t know what is going on with the butter but “It’s go’n on.” And smoked mussels with a strong, oily Ardbeg is something special as well. The Ardbeg Warehouse Tour includes some food pairings and the smoked mussels will show up there as well – only one mussel per person. So, you might as well return to the Islay Hotel Whisky Bar after Ardbeg.
If you’re looking to meet locals and have a great selection of Scotch, head to the Ardview Inn after dinner. Tell them the guys from Chicago sent you. I’d have to say, the Ardview was my favorite and most interactive pub of our trip, which is saying a lot because we made many vacation friends everywhere we went.