Our favorite area in Scotland is the far north west.  The landscape is rugged, often barren, dotted with lochs, and very beautiful.  Well, when you're blessed with clear weather it's beautiful.  You don't really see much when the clouds close in, but you do feel the damp and the cold.  We've had occasions to wear all of our winter hiking gear in June and still been freezing!

This is also where you find the Altnaharrie Inn, nestled on the southern shores of Loch Broom, just opposite the fishing village of Ullapool.   It scores in the top 5 restaurants in our Good Food Guide, and since getting there is not easy, dinner guests stay the night in one of the eight beautifully appointed bedrooms.

But because you can't help but over-indulge, we try to balance our eating with a strenuous hike.  This year we