Clachaig: likely the best pub in the Scottish Highlands

Clachaig, Old Village Road, Glencoe, PH49 4HX

That's a post I actually due to Rubén, so sorry if it's a bit out of place once I have just moved to London. It's jut about our great Scotland Trip, summer 2007.


The whole trip was actually great fun: huge landscapes, Edimbourgh Frindge festival (the most important theatre festival all over the world), castles&abbeys, 35 ml per single drink pubs (of course: pubs!), whisky distilleries, and so on. Talking about whiskys, if you just trust me, try Talisker, from Skye island, before Japanese and Americans find out how incredible taste it has (we discovered it in The Old Inn, Carbost, but that's another piece of post for the close future). But if I had to choose something, and it wouldn't at all be an easy one, I'd say Glen Coe (Coe Valley, as Glen means 'valley' in ancient scotch).

Fairly close to Fort William, Glen Coe is very likely the most beautiful vista I have ever had. Crossed by a single way road, you are there just all surrounded about slightly sloped hills, wonderful springs and mountains. The valley just opens up marvelously as you go by towards the east, but the views are magnificent eastwards as well. Well... just have a look at it, and believe me if I say the picture doesn't make the place a real favour:


And right up there, in the edge of nothing and nothing again, there's a little inn called Clachaig. Ruben had already been there with his brother, something as four years ago, and he proposed to head to this place which left him so a good memory. And the visit really worth it!

Clachaig (you can have a little description of it on wikipedia) is a small inn with several rooms for rental, which I imagine are comfortable enough. What worries us here, however, is the pub itself. And... wow, what a place. We were some tourists there, but there were plenty of locals as well. And they were, indeed, the real charming thing of the pub. They were all the time playing music, singing, and, of course, enjoying Guinness (yeah, also a great choice even when you are so close to the end of the world). We recorded a couple of videos of that friendly party they had, but, unfortunately, they are at home in Getafe. Promised I'll upload them, altogether with the pictures we got, the next time I'll go home.

Clachaig Inn from the outside... from the inside pics coming soon

They did also had a pool table, and plenty of space to sit. About the beer, I'm not too sure, but I think they had Broughton and Caledonian ales, as well as the common stuff around there: Guinness, Fosters and Tennets, which is the actual 'scotch Carling', that is, a cheap pale ale which we had the chance to taste several times. By the way, Ruben tried a home made cider which was also pretty good, and which had a nice orange colour. Drinks weren't cheap for scottish standards, but they sound as a bargain now I live in London!

Anyway, the place is a classic in Scotland, and is usually frequented by climbers who enjoy that area, which is the only one in the UK where you might find something high enough to be called 'mountain'. The chimney, beer and party we had at that place is for sure something I don't think i'll forget ever... basically 'couse I'll be back there as soon as I'll have a chance.

PS: as noticed, that's the first post in English. I'll move back to Spanish and I'll jump from one to the other frequently in the future.