Bowmore

Compact Bowmore, on Islay, is about the same size (population 1,000) as Port Ellen, but it works slightly better as a base for touring because it's central to Islay's main routes. Sharing its name with the whisky made in the distillery by the shore, Bowmore is a tidy town, its grid pattern having been laid out in 1768 by the local landowner Daniel Campbell, of Shawfield. Main Street stretches from the pier head to the commanding parish church, built in 1767 in an unusual circular design—so the devil could not hide in a corner.