The Glenelg Inn, Glenelg

Sea bream stuffed with chorizo, langoustines from nearby Loch Hourn and wild venison from the hills … that's just some of the fare you can tuck into in the cosy, beamed bar of this traditional whitewashed inn. There's a roaring fire in the grate, seafaring memorabilia – old buoys and a ship's wheel – on the wood-panelled walls, fairy lights and a bulging bookcase. The inn is at the end of a single-track lane in the pretty village of Glenelg. Tables and benches in the garden look over the sea to Skye, a gate leading onto the beach for blustery walks. The bedrooms have sea views over the Sound of Sleat, which you can cross during the summer on the original Skye ferry, which carries just a few cars at a time across the Kylerhea narrows.
• 01599 522273, glenelg-inn.com. Doubles from £120 B&B

The Schoolhouse Rooms, Dornie

The Schoolhouse Rooms in the pretty, pastel-painted village of Dornie is part B&B and part self-catering holiday let. There are three contemporary en suite rooms and a communal kitchen in the old stone cottage. Mary Drummond provides bread, cereals, fresh coffee and milk but there's no full Scottish fry-up. What there is, however, is the freedom to cook for yourself – and Mary's buzzing little cafe next door, the walls scattered with local art for sale, rustic wooden floors, fairtrade teas and a piano in the corner. Outside, turquoise chairs and wooden benches look out over the loch which laps against the most photographed castle in Scotland, Eilean Donan (remember those BBC trailers?).
• 01599 555482, highlands-info.co.uk/dornie/rooms.html. Doubles £80 (make your own breakfast)

Plockton Gallery and Guesthouse, Plockton

Checking into the Red Room or Blue Room of this lovely old manse in pretty little Plockton could end up costing you a fortune. Not because owner Miriam Drysdale charges too much, but because the place also doubles as an art gallery – and we're not talking views of the Cuillins or amateur seascapes. Miriam is an artist herself, holds a summer exhibition each year and also offers tuition and courses. As you'd expect, the house has bags of character – the breakfast room is bright pink – paintings and etchings plaster the walls, and there's even a desk with paper and paints in the eaves where guests can while away a few creative hours. • 01599 544442, plocktongallery.com. Doubles from £90 B&B

Plockton Inn and Seafood Restaurant

Plockton is so picture-perfect it's graced many a television screen over the years, most famously as the setting for three series of the BBC's Hamish Macbeth, starring Robert Carlyle. Yachts moor in a bay ringed by mountains, while the waterfront is a charming stretch of seaside cottages, restaurants and shops. The Plockton Inn is a cosy old hostelry with 14 comfy rooms split between the inn and an old cottage across the street. It also has a popular seafood restaurant – owner Kenny smokes his own fish in his little smokehouse behind the hotel. There's live music from local musicians Tuesdays and Thursdays, a quiz night on Fridays, a log fire in the bar and a good selection of malts. • 01599 544222, plocktoninn.co.uk. Doubles £52pp B&B

Grants at Craigellachie, Ratagan, Glenshiel

You can gaze out over the Five Sisters of Kintail (a popular ridge walk) from this little restaurant-with-rooms, originally a factor's house on the banks of Loch Duich. And if you fancy bagging a munro, three of the peaks are over the requisite 3,000ft. There are two sweet little rooms in the main house with views of Loch Duich and the mountains beyond, but two in the "but and ben" (two-room traditional cottage) at the back are the luxury option: smart and contemporary with private decks. The tiny restaurant seats just eight and is only open for dinner. For a real treat book a gourmet weekend break with a wine-tasting course.
• 01599 511331, housebytheloch.co.uk. Doubles from £100 B&B

Seadrift B&B, Avernish, Nostie

An old tin cottage once stood on the shore of Loch Alsh where you'll now find this contemporary A-frame house. Catherine and her husband knocked down her late mother-in-law's ramshackle cottage and built an all-singing, all-dancing three-bed B&B. The main attraction is the tranquil setting. Veering off the busy A87 between Dornie and Kyle of Lochalsh you crawl down a tiny dirt track, over a little bridge towards the shore and the peace wraps itself around you. The house is light and modern, the view from the bedrooms onto the water, the only sound seagulls. • 01599 555415, seadrift.co.uk. Doubles from £50 B&B

Tingle Creek Hotel, Erbusaig

This small family-run hotel on the coast between the Kyle of Lochalsh and Plockton looks out across the bay of Erbusaig towards Skye and Raasay. Flinging open your window you can taste the salty tang on the air. There are just 12 contemporary rooms with tartan trim, while in the lounge there's a log fire for those dreich days when the mist rolls in and the Cuillins are lost from view. You can walk down to a rocky beach and watch yachts sail past – the water here isn't deep enough for them to anchor so they scud across the waves to Plockton – or soak up the sunset over Raasay on the decking with a beer. A popular reception venue for people getting married at Eilean Donan castle, it's also handy for the island of Eilean Ban, where Gavin Maxwell penned Ring of Bright Water. Today you can visit his museum and otter hides.
• 01599 534430, tinglecreek-hotel.co.uk. Doubles £90 B&B

Applecross Campsite, Applecross

The remote Applecross peninsula was catapulted into the limelight by Monty Halls' first Great Escape series on BBC2. As he tried his hand at crofting, the Applecross Inn, already famous for its lively atmosphere and fresh seafood got a fair bit of airtime. In the summer there's also the Potting Shed cafe in a lovely old walled garden and, at the campsite, the Flower Tunnel Cafe and Broch Bar – in a plant-strewn polytunnel. The campsite covers six acres, with stunning views to Skye and Raasay. As well as room for 60 tents, there are a handful of heated wooden camping cabins.
• 01520 744268, applecross.uk.com/campsite. Camping huts (sleep four) cost £42 for two adults, £10 extra adult, £7 child. Open 1 March-31 October

Loch Dubh B&B, Lochcarron

Perched on the hillside above the village of Lochcarron with views over the loch to the mountains beyond, this contemporary, three-bed B&B has the wow-factor design-wise, with its two-storey cathedral-style picture windows. Inside things are simple: clean lines, wooden floors and a beige and cream palette. It's on a working eight-acre croft, with its own trout loch, a boat for sea fishing and salmon and sea trout fishing available on the Carron River. • 01520 722854, lochdubh.com. Doubles £60 B&B

The Stationmaster's Hostel, Stromeferry

The Stationmaster's House was built in 1888 for the man in charge of the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh railway. The stretch from the village of Stromeferry to Kyle, an engineering feat of cuttings, causeways and bridges, hugs the shore of Loch Carron and was featured in Michael Palin's Great Railway Journeys of the World TV series. Today, the old house is a small independent hostel with just 20 beds in a mix of dorms and private rooms. The remote setting is perfect for those wanting to get away from it all: there are woodland and beach walks – dolphins and otters are regularly sighted – from the door and plenty of activities for outdoor enthusiasts. It's worth noting that the village has no shop and the nearest pub is in Plockton, seven miles away.
• 01599 577212, stationmastershostel.co.uk, dorm beds £18, doubles £50, family room from £60, all including help-yourself light breakfast