Best UK islands to visit
Anglesey
Boasting over 120 miles of coastline, Anglesey is renowned for its natural beauty, alluring beaches, historic sites like Beaumaris Castle, and landmarks like the Menai and Britannia bridges. But it’s also known for great food, particularly seafood, thanks to its location on the Menai Strait, which means fresh mussels, oysters and even lobster (try the latter at the Lobster Pot in Church Bay). Also harvested from the Strait is Halen Môn, or Anglesey Sea Salt, a quality salt known around the world for its unique taste and used by chefs and food lovers worldwide.
The island is also home to a traditional dish, Anglesey Eggs, a baked dish of eggs, mashed potatoes, leeks and cheese – proper comfort food. You’ll find classic Welsh dishes all over the island, from bara brith – a yeasty bread speckled with dried fruit – to lobscows, a stew made with beef, marrow bone, onions, carrots and potatoes, and Welsh cakes, whose deliciousness comes from its mix of lard, sugar, currants, sultanas and raisins.
For lunch with a view onto the Great Orme headland, try the Tavern on the Bay which uses local, seasonal produce, or book into Dylan’s by the Menai suspension bridge for mussels mariniere. Anglesey even produces wine; head to Red Wharf Bay Vineyard for a tasting of their white, made from the Spanish Solaris grape, and red, made from the Rondo. visitanglesey.co.uk
Where to stay: The cosy Treaddur Bay Hotel overlooks the sea and has 39 charming rooms decorated in bright, marine colours. There are two restaurants on-site – one serving more pub-style food – with the likes of lamb cawl, pan-fried sea bass, and seared scallops on the menu.
Doubles from £143, check availability at booking.com or expedia.co.uk
Jersey
The largest Channel Island, Jersey’s food scene packs a rich and colourful natural larder into its 45 square miles. Farm stalls, food markets and restaurants all make the most of the island’s unique produce, from the delicate, nutty Jersey Royal potatoes (Jersey’s most famous export, with UK Geographical Indication (UKGI) status) to creamy milk, butter, cheese, yoghurt and ice-cream from the distinctive dairy cows which have lived and grazed here for over 200 years. It’s also known for its fresh, delicate oysters, which grow in the nutrient-rich waters of the Royal Bay of Grouville, and sweet, succulent lobsters. Jersey produces wine too; La Mare Wine Estate is the most southerly vineyard in the British Isles, and has gained international acclaim for its sparkling wines (tours from £16.95).
Try the fab fish and chips or a Jersey crab sandwich at beachside bistro Le Braye on St Ouen’s bay, or barbecued lobster served with aioli and Marie Rose sauce from Faulkner Fisheries a little further up the coast. At award-winning Ocean at the Atlantic Hotel, executive chef Will Holland offers a ‘Taste Jersey’ tasting menu featuring everything from Jersey scallop carpaccio to roasted retired Jersey dairy cow and Jersey yoghurt mousse. You can also take a tour of Jersey’s food markets with a chef from the island’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, Bohemia (£119 per person), or follow the Jersey Oyster Trail around Grouville bay, followed by a sampling session at the Seymour pub and restaurant (£25 per person). jersey.com
Where to stay: Longueville Manor, in St Helier, is arguably Jersey’s finest hotel and comes with a fantastic foodie pedigree thanks to long-standing head chef, Andrew Baird. He often catches his own seafood, and makes good use of the hotel’s kitchen garden as well as other locally-sourced ingredients from scallops to squid.
Doubles from £275, check availability at booking.com or britishairways.com
Skye
Named by Lonely Planet as one of the ‘best epicurean regions’ in Europe, Skye, the biggest of Scotland’s Inner Hebrides, is also known for rugged landscapes, medieval castles and charming fishing villages. Here, in its pristine waters, you’ll find some of the country’s best seafood, from hand-dived scallops to langoustines and wild trout. The fertile land supports game and foraged ingredients from sea astor to wild mushrooms.
For some of the finest ways to taste these, head to Scorrybreac, which overlooks the harbour in colourful capital, Portree. Helmed by chef Calum Munro, you’ll find anything from barbecued scallops to Hebridean crab, venison or lamb on the menu, with breathtaking views of Ben Tainavaig and Skye’s Cuillin mountains a bonus. Multi-award-winning Three Chimneys, a fine-dining restaurant with rooms, sits on the shores of sparkling Loch Dunvegan; dinner is a five or seven course extravaganza featuring the likes of loch-caught crab with asparagus, grilled hake or lamb navarin. Said to offer the best brunch in the Hebrides, Café Cùil – which started life in East London, run by Skye-born chef Clare Coghill – serves up fresh local shellfish, Isle of Skye black pudding, hand-foraged mushrooms and berries, and reinvigorating spicy bloody Màiris with views out to Loch Harport. Don’t miss a trip to the Torabhaig distillery, on Skye’s south coast, for a dram or two of their fine single malt scotch whisky. Check out our 10 foods to eat in Skye for more inspiration. isleofskye.com
Where to stay: Sitting in splendid isolation on the shores of Loch na Dal, Kinloch Lodge is a handsome former 17th-century hunting lodge turned luxury hotel. The 18 cosy and comfortable rooms come with loch or mountain views, and the hotel can arrange anything from fly-fishing to foraging tours.
Doubles from £660, check availability at booking.com
Tresco, Isles of Scilly
Tiny Tresco, which only measures 1.15 square miles, nonetheless has some delicious food with which to impress visitors. It makes the most of its proximity to the sea, so you’ll find local delicacies such as lobster, crab and mackerel, including from nearby Cornwall, but also beef from the herd of cattle which grazes on 160 acres of pasture here. These ingredients are served throughout the island’s only four restaurants (we told you it was tiny!).
At the Ruin Beach Cafe on the east coast, from where you can see across to St Martin’s, you’ll find Mediterranean-inspired dishes such as aubergine parmigiana but also dressed crab and fish stew with samphire, while at The Flying Boat Cafe, expect the likes of Cornish scallops with ‘nduja butter or hot smoked trout. Time your visit for Tresco’s biannual Low Tide event, a completely unique one-hour, lunar tide experience where a pop-up festival takes place on the sandbars between Tresco and neighbouring Bryher. Here, the Hell Bay Hotel dispenses drinks and locally-produced spirits, while local suppliers Island Fish serve fresh seafood. tresco.co.uk
Where to stay: The charming shore-front New Inn, in New Grimsby, offers 16 beautifully decorated rooms with either a sea or countryside view. It also has its own cosy restaurant, serving up anything from smoked haddock chowder to market fish with seaweed potato rosti, lobster roll with garlic butter, and crab sandwiches.
Doubles from £232, check availability at tresco.co.uk/staying/the-new-inn
Isle of Wight
Thanks to its extra sunshine – the Isle of Wight gets 37 hours a week compared to the national average of 29.7 – its local produce is bigger, juicier and bursting with flavour. One of the most spectacular is its tomatoes, which benefit from the island’s rich soil, warm temperatures and long daylight hours; Isle of Wight Tomatoes supplies many local stockists and can be ordered online. You’ll also find some great garlic, which grows exceptionally well in the nutrient-rich, chalky soil; the family-run Garlic Farm, near Sandown, produces around 20 types, including the giant elephant garlic, and has a shop and restaurant on site. Here you can buy delicious chutneys, condiments, beer, salad dressings and more, or order the likes of burgers, linguine and chicken salad – all full of garlicky goodness.
The island’s warmer waters mean sea life thrives; take a walk to Steephill Cove in Ventnor and pop into the Crab Shed on the seafront for one of their legendary freshly-caught crab pasties or mackerel ciabattas. The Hut at Colwell Bay is a small, rustic beach bar turned iconic IoW restaurant, serving everything from fish tacos with mole sauce to locally-caught lobster, with a side order of stunning views over the Solent. Pop into the Mermaid Gin distillery for a taste of their unique spirit, flavoured with locally-foraged botanicals and seagrass, or for something different, a glass of the UK’s only blue – yes, really – sparkling wine at Adgestone vineyard. If you’re a fromage-o-phile, check out the award-winning Isle of Wight Blue and Gallybagger hard cheese from the Isle of Wight Cheese Company, and don’t leave without sampling ‘the best sausage roll in the world’ – according to chef James Martin at least – at WW Woodford & Sons butcher in Bembridge. visitisleofwight.co.uk
Where to stay: The Terrace Rooms and Wine in Ventnor is a boutique, six-bedroom hotel, with sea views; stays include wine tastings and breakfast.
Doubles from £200, with 25% off Red Funnel ferry travel to the island if you book both via redfunnel.co.uk.
Mersea
Measuring only five miles long and two miles wide, Mersea – which sits off the Essex coast just twenty minutes from Colchester – may be small, but it packs a mighty punch when it comes to seafood. Since Roman times, oysters have been cultivated here, and today they end up in some of the finest restaurants in the UK. You’ll find the Colchester rock oyster, which lives naturally on the seabed and is available year-round, and the Colchester native, harvested from September to May in the shallow tidal creeks off Mersea. These creeks, along with the island’s distinctive marshes, bring in nutrient-rich North Sea water which mixes with freshwater to give the oysters their unique flavour.
The best place to try them is at seafront The Company Shed, run by Tom Haward, part of an eighth-generation family of oyster producers; be quick though, they run out quickly. If you’re faced with disappointment, order a hefty dressed crab platter instead, or, for classic fish and chips, head to the Mersea Fish Bar on West Mersea High Street. To find out more about how oysters are farmed, head to the Colchester Oyster Fishery by Pyefleet Creek on the other side of the island. They’ll explain the process, and you can also buy fresh oysters to take away. Take a trip out on the water by boat to admire the coastline (£50 for 30 mins for 10 people) – if you’re lucky, you might spot a trawlerman or two bringing in a haul. visitmerseaisland.co.uk
Where to stay: The White Hart Inn, on West Mersea, is a stylish, contemporary pub-with-rooms not far from pebbly Monkey Beach. Head chef Ed Campbell, who previously worked for the Galvin brothers, uses local produce for his modern British seasonal menus.
Doubles from £125 including breakfast; check availability at whitehartinnmersea.co.uk
Islay
If you’re a whisky-lover, you’ve come to the right place; Islay, the southernmost of the Inner Hebrides, is home to nine distilleries. Thanks to its abundance of peat, pure water and barley, whisky production is said to have started around the 1300s, by Irish monks who brought over the art of distilling. The oldest registered distillery, Bowmore, was established in 1779, and at one point, there were an impressive 23 distilleries here.
The Distilleries Coast Walk takes you from the harbour town of Port Ellen to Laphraoig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg (Islay whisky tends to be intense and smoky, thanks to the peat, and Ardbeg is said to be the peatiest and smokiest of them all). You can do tastings and tours in all of them, with stunning sea views to enjoy along the way; look out for local wildlife from seals to deer and eagles. Also worth visiting is Bruichladdich, which dates from 1881 and is one of only two distilleries on the island which bottles on-site, or, if you’re more into gin, The Botanist, the first gin distillery on Islay.
To accompany all these incredible spirits, you’ll find utterly fantastic local produce here too, particularly oysters, lobster, lamb and venison. Try the freshest, biggest oysters at The Oyster Shed on the north coast, either raw, or in an ‘Islay Buoy’: three deep fried oysters served in focaccia with seaweed hot sauce, little gem lettuce, tomato and pickled cucumber. The restaurant at the beachside Port Charlotte Hotel serves local scallops, oyster and lobster: give the hot Islay seafood platter a go, or try the venison burger instead. islayinfo.com
Where to stay: Another Place, The Machrie, is an exceptionally-designed 43-room hotel with its own championship golf course and wild garden wellness experience. You’ll find everything from Loch Gruinart oysters to Islay scallops, Port Askaig lobster and local beef, lamb and game on the menu at its 18 Restaurant and Bar.
Doubles from £245, check availability at booking.com or mrandmrssmith.com
Guernsey
Like its big sister Jersey, Guernsey has an impressive food scene of its own. Great fish and seafood are a given, and, like Jersey, the island has a distinctive breed of cow – the Guernsey Golden – whose milk is also high in butterfat and protein. Look out for delicious local cheeses, such as those from the Guernsey Dairy (in particular the extra mature and the smoked) or Fort Grey, an award-winning soft blue cheese from artisan producer Torteval Cheese.
The island also offers a few unique specialities, such as Guernsey Gâche, a rich, brioche-like bread studded with dried fruit, and bean jar, a hearty, slow-cooked, cassoulet-like dish made with simmered pork and beans. The sea here is also home to the ormer, a rare, abalone-like shellfish which can only be harvested, by hand, on 20 days of the year and is best served sautéed in local Roquette cider or coated in flour and simmered in gravy. Some of the best places to enjoy Guernsey’s gorgeous ingredients include La Fregate in the bustling capital, St Peter Port; from its terrace you can see across to Herm, the smallest Channel Island. Order anything from local hand-dived scallops to Guernsey monkfish tail or brill. Try Dix Neuf for French-style cuisine such as confit duck rillettes, bouillabaisse, or Provencal fish stew. If you can, time your visit for the island’s Spring Food Fest, an island-wide celebration of local ingredients, seasonal menus and dining experiences, with participating venues offering everything from set menus to signature dishes and exclusive offers. visitguernsey.com
Where to stay: Treat yourself to a luxurious stay at Old Government House, the only five-star hotel on Guernsey, situated in the heart of St Peter Port. It features 63 beautifully designed rooms, as well as a spa, and is within walking distance of two lovely public gardens.
Rooms from £280 per night, check availability at booking.com
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