Britain’s Top Ten Quirky Bus Routes 2: West Ferry Point to Cape Wrath

Saturday 11th October 2025

Now, this route really is a Bucket List Must Do. Except it’s probably one of Britain’s most challenging bus routes to take a ride on.

The service only runs in the summer and passengers need to first take a sporadically timed tiny passenger ferry boat run by one ferryman, Mr Morrison, across the Kyle of Durness subject to the tides and weather being favourable; there’s a minimum number of six passengers required before the ferry and then the bus waiting on the other side at West Ferry Point will set off; and thirdly no service will run if the MoD are carrying out military exercises in the area. The bus can’t exceed 15 mph so it takes roughly an hour to complete the 11 mile journey from the ferry jetty to Cape Wrath.

And all that’s assuming you’ve made it to Durness situated in the extreme north western corner of Scotland where public transport is extremely limited – just one journey a day to and from Inverness with another once-a-week service across the top of Scotland to and from Thurso.

But, as I found when I undertook the journey in 2019, all that effort is well worth it as the Cape Wrath bus really is deserving of its title of being Britain’s Second Most Quirkiest Bus Route.

Since I travelled in 2019 information on the ‘Visit Cape Wrath’ website is now much more informative and helpful and warns of all the many pitfalls.

The only vehicle access possible to reach Cape Wrath is the minibus which runs this quirky service. The nearest classified road, the A838, which is part of the ‘North Coast 500’ route, is about a third of a mile from Keoldale jetty from where the passenger ferry departs. There’s no road access for general traffic to Cape Wrath. The minibuses are ferried over to West Ferry Point at the beginning and end of the summer season by the army as part of its logistical exercises.

The map below shows the context of the remote area between the A838, the Kyle of Durness and Cape Wrath.

When I made the journey I arrived at the jetty to find no ferry in sight and the tide out. The ferryman was spending the down time fishing in the Kyle waiting for the water to be deep enough to restart the ferry crossings.

Luckily that wasn’t too long to wait, but the next challenge was waiting for five other passengers to turn up before he’d set off. And again luck was on my side as it wasn’t long before others and a friendly dog arrived…

… and the ferryman came over from West Ferry jetty with returning passengers who made it over in the morning before the tide went out.

At one point as we crossed the Kyle we all had to reposition ourselves in the small boat to prevent it from grounding, such was the low level of the water…

… but we safely arrived on the other side where we met more passengers returning from their morning’s visit.

Two of our number announced they were going to walk rather than catch the minibus which I was worried would put the trip in jeopardy but the driver was kind enough to take just the four of us and we set off for the hour’s journey at 15 mph.

It’s an amazing track to ride along.

Not the most comfortable of journeys but the fascination of the scenery makes up for that, as does the commentary and explanations provided by the driver as the route progresses.

It passes evidence of the army’s use of the area including where the barrier comes down to prevent access and accommodation for those doing the training and manoeuvres…

… and their vehicles.

Luckily it was all quiet the day I visited and the track was open.

There are a number of challenging narrow bridges for the minibus to pass over, some of which have been installed in more recent times by the army as part of their exercises.

Sections of the track include some steep inclines while others are for miles without much steering effort required.

Stuart, one of the regular drivers on the route, pointed out many aspects of the scenery as the journey continued including small craters as a result of bombing exercises making you realise how important that barrier is to prevent access when needed.

But perhaps the scariest part comes after ten miles where the track is carved out of the valley side incoporating a sharp drop to the nearside along with a soft verge. This section is called the ‘Wall of Death’ but Stuart’s driving skills made it look easy, although I wouldn’t like to try it.

Just a mile further on from that, Cape Wrath and its famous lighthouse comes into view…

… and the terminus of the route.

It truly is Britain’s remotest bus terminus, and of course, the most northerly point on mainland Britain – even beating John O’Groats. But if you were expecting it to be deserted, you’d be wrong.

Although the lighthouse was automated back in 1998, John and his daughter still live in the rather ramshakle accommodation here.

Not only that, they run the Ozone café serving refreshments and souvenirs for visitors arriving on the bus, or even those who walk the eleven miles.

As I wrote back in 2019, you have to marvel at the logistics they surmount, having no mains water, gas, electricity or sewage connections, nor mobile phone signal yet run a commercial business reliant on the small number of tourists who make the journey and then buy something!

I’ve come across a few surprises on my travels over the last decade or so but this remarkable café truly was the most unusual thing I’ve ever seen. Supplies, including water, come from Durness once a week where any post is also kept for John and his daughter. Rainwater is harvested for the toilet and washing – there’s a notice in the bathroom to use sparingly!

We’d passed John’s daughter about four miles from the jetty along the track, where she can just pick up a mobile signal, so was spending the afternoon online shopping on the back seat of her car!

Around the lighthouse there are abandoned vehicles including John’s minibus which was awaiting a part when I visited. It looked as though it had been a long wait.

And the views are magnificent – out into the North Atlantic – and all so quiet and peaceful.

Luckily it was a lovely sunny day too as it wouldn’t be much fun here with the Shipping Forecast often predicting Storm Force 10 gales.

After an hour’s ‘layover’ it was time to get back on the minibus for the return journey back down the track to West Ferry Point for the ferry back across the Kyle of Durness.

It had been one of the most memorable bus journeys ever.

And definitely deserving of being awarded the accolade of Britain’s Second Most Quirkiest Bus Route.

But what could possibly be the top quirkiest bus route to beat even that?

All will be revealed next month, on Saturday 22nd November.

Roger French

Did you catch the previously featured Top 10 Quirky Bus Routes? 10: White Bus route 01, 9: Borders Buses route 477, 8: TfL/Transport UK route 969, 7: Tavistock Country Bus route 112, 6: Royal Parks route RP1, 5: Cumbria Classic Coaches route 572, 4: Stephensons route 14, 3 Imberbus route 23A.

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