Top Things to do in Islay
Things to do in Islay, Scotland: The Best Distilleries
The Isle of Islay spans 240 square miles, with an impressive 130 miles of coastline. The island is famous for its malt whiskies, and there are eight distilleries on the island. To be sure, many people visit the Isle to tour distilleries and "appreciate" whisky, but the wildlife and scenery are also a big draw. Bird-watching is particularly popular through the year. Just don't try to squeeze it in after a distillery tour or two. Looking through binoculars has been known to make some people woozy, especially after whisky.
Restaurants in Islay
1. Laphroaig Distillery
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1,093 reviews
For nearly 200 years a small team of dedicated islanders have worked here to create what is considered to be the most distinctive single malt in the world. Of course over time the people change, but our traditional methods, the ancient skills and absolute dedication to quality always remains. We would be proud if you make the journey to visit our home and you will be assured of the warmest of welcomes when you do.
Reviewed By nature-travel-12 - Leeds, United Kingdom
We had a great distillery tour! Very interesting. Lovely friendly and welcoming staff. A great range of choices in the gift shop! Extensive museum. Cosy ‘cafe’ area! A free small bottle for us as we arrived as ‘friends of laphroig’, another free ‘welcome whisky’ in the cafe before the tour, and 3 tasters after, all for the total price of £10! Amazing. We also enjoyed heading out to the field to place our ‘plot’ flag. All in all a great experience and we’d really recommend it!
2. Bruichladdich Distillery
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 991 reviews
We are an innovative Islay distillery producing unpeated Bruichladdich, heavily peated Port Charlotte and super-heavily peated Octomore single malt whiskies. We use a wide range of barley types, including organic and bere, grown on a variety of terroirs including Islay. We also distill The Botanist gin. Mary at the Laddieshop will be glad to organise a tour of our distillery for you and the distilling team will happily answer any questions you may have.
Reviewed By frankt918 - Elmshorn, Germany
Our fourth visit to Bruichladdich confirmed our opinion that this is the best whisky experience on Islay. The friendly, knowledgeable, and (above all) personally engaged Bruichladdich people made our warehouse tour a warming, worthwhile highlight of this year’s Islay vacation. It’s fascinating to see and hear how this distillery has progressed and developed over the years, without losing the ‘family flavor ‘ that makes the visit so much more meaningful. Most of the expressions for sale in the shop are available for tasting, which makes it a bit easier to decide which of the fascinating bottles to purchase (not always an easy decision). We were so pleased with the Valinch 47 that we returned the next day and bought some more bottles! We’ve visited all of the Islay distilleries in the past few years, and we think that Bruichladdich is still the most enjoyable (mainly because of the personal engagement of the good people who work there)!
3. Ardbeg Distillery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 929 reviews
Reviewed By FandCNotts
Went on the tour of the distillery and tasting. Being in the off season February I feel we got an extra personal service. Emma our tour guide was really knowledgeable and passionate about the place and the product, the tour was the most informative and interesting out of all the ones I went on. The whiskey is off course top notch, we got to try whatever we liked. The setting of the distillery is breath taking. Loved the Old Kiln restaurant so much went back twice. The pies were so tasty! There is also a path so if the weather allows you can take in the views and have a beautiful walk between Ardbeg, Laphroig and Lavgavulin distilleries. I love everything about Ardbeg and hope to be back one day!
4. Bunnahabhain Distillery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 496 reviews
Reviewed By Intensivewine
What a great tour - we visited a lot of distillers and this was our last on the island. Fantastic stories and kept giving us new info. Best sherry drams on the island - generous and fantastic range!
5. Lagavulin Distillery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 839 reviews
Following Scottish Government guidelines through their phased re-opening approach, the time has come to open our doors and welcome back our visitors from 26th April 2021. To ensure the health and wellbeing of our employees and visitors, we will be implementing a number of precautionary measures. Find out how we are keeping you safe on our website before you visit us.
6. Caol Ila Distillery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 439 reviews
DISTILLERY VISITOR CENTRE & SHOP IS CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Due to the ongoing construction work on the major transformation of the Caol Ila Distillery visitor experience, we have had to make the decision to close our visitor centre from September 2019. For the health and safety of the public while the construction work is underway the road into the distillery will be also be closed to all traffic with no un-authorised access. This means that unfortunately we will no longer be able to host our tours or tasting experiences. However, we do have our Caol Ila whiskies available at Lagavulin Distillery in the Malt Mill Bar (our sister distillery). We are sorry to have caused any inconvenience to your plans during your visit to Islay.
7. Bowmore Distillery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 690 reviews
Islay is a world-class destination in its own right, but for the Scotch whisky lover it is without rival. For those of you lucky enough to visit our wonderful island, a tour of the Bowmore Distillery is a must. It’s here, in Islay’s capital, that we’ve been making Bowmore Scotch whisky for almost two and half centuries. Rich in heritage and awash in expertise, our tours will give you a privileged insight into life behind the distillery gates, and you’ll see for yourself why so many people keep coming back to Bowmore.
Reviewed By nbm408
We took the Secret Vaults Tour at Bowmore and weren't disappointed. Kim was our tour guide. Her passion and knowledge of the distillery, its heritage, and processes were evident. She appeared to love her job and the company where she worked. We saw entire distilling process from start to finish. However, the malting floor was closed, but we did see a video that explained it. The highlight of the tour was walking around in the Number One Vault and tasting whiskey straight from a cask!!!! Highly recommended... make sure you get Kim as your guide!
8. Ardnahoe Distillery
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 114 reviews
Ardnahoe Distillery opened for business on the 12th of April 2019. We have a Visitor Centre with shop, café and bar. We run a comprehensive program of tours and tastings. Stunning views of the Sound of Islay over to the Paps of Jura and to the Island of Mull. Open daily 10am until 5pm.
Reviewed By cedar_10 - Dunblane, United Kingdom
Lovely lunch . Great menu . Beautiful views and very helpful friendly staff. Will definitely return .
