Isle of Jura, Scotland

UK & Ireland

13 Mar

Written By Simon Campbell

Private Scottish golf estate on an isle where golden eagles soar and wild deer roam.

On an isle where once the famed author George Orwell would escape the rigours of city life to be immersed in nature and alone with his thoughts, with a population of barely 200, Jura still offers exactly that.

A trio of mountain peaks – the Paps of Jura – with the highest Beinna Oir (gaelic for Mountain of Gold) reaching 2,575ft through the clouds, provide the perfect backdrop to the most serene of Scottish island canvasses. Nearly 6,000 wild deer (included the most perfect red deer) roam this Inner Hebrides landscape of Scotland’s western isles, while the skies are patrolled by eagles of both golden and sea varieties, and the gin-clear – but ice-cold – waters are home to plentiful supply for both the plate, and play, with dolphins, otters and seals as wise to the abundance of quality seafood as the locals.

A speck of a village in Craighouse barely musters three figures for population, yet is the nearest to a metropolis in these parts and yet they’re still served with a whisky distillery, producing delicately smoky single malts famed the world over and with history dating back to the early 1800s.

While the stormy Atlantic ocean ravages the rugged coastline of Jura – which is a smidge more than 30 miles by seven miles in size – you can find serenity, at Ardfin estate, 12,000 acres of idyllic Scottish wilderness, and home to a five-star hotel with every bell and whistle you can think of, and many more you can’t. Stay in either The Quad, the converted barns and farm buildings of the original estate now with 13 luxury bedrooms, a dining room, bar and Ceilidh Barn, where you return after a days hiking, kayaking or golfing for a dram of Jura whisky and a game of billiards.

The golf is next level, a clifftop to shoreline work of art from Bob Harrison, already troubling the higher echelons of every ‘best golf’ listing you’ll ever read. A course you’ll never tire of it, but you should drag yourself away to make the short hop across to Islay and play The Machrie, a classic links designed originally by Willie Campbell in 1891 and remastered by DJ Russell.