The mountainous, wild and sparsely populated island of Jura has a rugged and remote appeal. Jura is the eighth largest Scottish island, and yet only around 200 people live here. The deer population, by contrast, numbers between 6,000 and 7,000.
The island’s distinctive peaks, the Paps of Jura, offer fantastic hillwalking and one thing you’re sure to see when you visit Jura is the wonderful wildlife, such as red deer and wild goats.
Gaelic in Scotland
The indigenous language of Argyll contains a great richness of expression. Here we have some lines from the Gaelic poetic tradition about Islay & Jura.
Ó mo ghaol air Ìle ’n fheòir
Far an d’ fhuair mi m’ àrach òg;
Oh my love for Islay of the grass
Where I got my early upbringing
(Trad.)
With thanks to partners CHARTS
The spectacular beaches and mesmerising wilderness of the Inner Hebridean islands of Islay and Jura will fill you with joy and enrich your life.
Home to a vast variety of birds and wildlife, big unblemished skies, and, of course, world-famous distilleries, these islands are surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and will either have you relaxing with the peace and quiet, tapping your toes to traditional music, or tantalising your taste buds with quality local produce.
Jura
If you’re looking to see more wildlife than you do people, Jura is for you. Considered one of Scotland’s last wildernesses, with a population of around 200, outnumbered by over 5000 deer. Jura, believed to originate from the Norse ‘Island of the Deer’, is a walker’s paradise with the Paps of Jura being the main destination.
Paps of Jura rule over the island, which is comprised of three steep-sided conical quartzite mountains rising to 785 metres (2,575 ft). Beinn an Òir is the highest of the three mountain,s standing at 785 metres (2,575 ft), followed by Beinn Shiantaidh, at 757 metres (2,484 ft) and the lowest of the Paps being Beinn a' Chaolais, reaching 733 metres (2,405 ft).
Jura had a famous resident from 1946 to 1949, the renowned novelist and poet George Orwell. During his time on the Isle, he wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four at Barnhill, his final novel.
You can also visit the world’s third-largest whirlpool, Corryvreckan, which sits between Jura and nearby Scarba in the north – it’s a sight like no other