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Ninety seconds on Ullapool Harbour
The crossing takes 2 hours 40 minutes. Ullapool lies 69 km from Stornoway, against 114 km from the old mainland terminal at Kyle of Lochalsh, which it replaced.
Sailings run daily all year, with extra ones added at the busiest time of year and a very slight decrease in winter. The departure times change with the season, so the timetable for the travel date sets them.
Booking ahead is advised, and for vehicles it is strongly recommended. The route is bookable, and a passenger who arrives at the port without a reservation may still be carried.
At least 45 minutes before departure, the longer of the two check-in times the port gives. Anyone who turns up earlier than the stated check-in time stays out of the boarding lanes until then.
For a car left in Ullapool during a trip to the islands, the Highland Council car park at Latheron Lane is the one to use. Town centre parking next to Tesco has council ticket machines that ask drivers to pay, and accessible spaces are allocated in the Assembly Area.
Yes, in late spring and summer. Trips leave from Ullapool Pier, either a high-speed RIB ride or a slower cruise around the archipelago, and seals and eagles are among the wildlife seen. A cruise lasts just over two hours and has been cash only, and high winds at sea can stop the boats sailing.
Walk Shore Street to see a working harbour at close quarters, with fishing boats tied up at the pier and the ferry loading for Stornoway, the mainland's lifeline link to the Western Isles.
Ullapool sits on Loch Broom, a natural harbour carved by the glaciers of the last ice age, which shelters it from the open waters of the Minch. A large open pier is kept for mending nets and checking warps.
Fishing has been at the heart of the village for over 230 years, and it is still one of the ten major fishing ports in the UK. Scottish and Spanish boats land white fish and shellfish every week, and much of the catch is exported once the local eateries have taken their share.
In the mackerel boom of the 1980s and 1990s, up to 140 fishing boats worked from here.
Today the harbour's main customer is the ferry operator, with a daily passenger and car service to Stornoway and an overnight freight run on the same route.
Follow Shore Street along the front. The harbour buildings and the pier come up on your left, and the ferry car park is the first right past them.
The Inverness bus stops at the pier in the centre of the village, and the shops are only 200 metres away.
For lunch, walk up to the seafood trailer on West Argyle Street, which cooks whatever came off the boats that morning. It opens in the daytime from April to October and has only a few picnic tables.
Corrieshalloch Gorge lies about 20 km south, off the Dingwall road at Braemore Junction, where a footbridge spans the gorge below the falls.
On the crossing, stay out on deck. Ullapool is on the Hebridean Whale Trail, one of the UK's notable hotspots for porpoises, dolphins, basking sharks and even orca.
Book ahead for sit-down meals in Ullapool in summer, since most places get busy.
The terminal has free Wi-Fi throughout, and electric vehicle chargers stand in the car park opposite.
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