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Day One – Across the sea from Oban to Barra
Your holiday commences with the ferry-crossing, from the classic west coast fishing port of Oban, to Castlebay on the Isle of Barra. Threading its way through the Sound of Mull between the Ardnamurchan peninsula and the Isle of Mull, the route opens up in to the Atlantic, the ‘small isles’ of Egg, Rhum and Muck to the north, Coll and Tiree to the south, before arriving at your destination.
Your accommodation on Barra
Set in the west-facing village of Borve, within easy walking-distance of Neolithic standing stones and burial cairns, this family owned guest house is one of our recently discovered favourites and an ideal place to spend the first three nights of your trip. Built by the friendly lifelong Barra-resident owners just a few years ago, each of the four cosy and comfortable bedrooms feature solid oak floors and high-spec ensuite bathrooms. Guests are welcome to relax in the inviting lounge, and high-speed wifi is available throughout the house.
Don’t be surprised by the cries of ewes and lambs outside your bedroom window of an evening, or the sound of the Atlantic crashing on the shore just a few-hundred yards away.
What to See and Do on Barra
It takes around 30 minutes to circumnavigate Barra by car on the main island road, making this an easy island on which to find your bearings. Head to Northbay and take a stroll on the beach at Cockle Strand, watching for the flight arriving from Glasgow, landing on the sand; a quite unforgettable sight. The vantage point of Eoligarry is easily reached by car or bicycle, affording views across Springtime wildflower-strewn landscape towards Eriskay and South Uist. A trip across the short causeway to tiny Vatersay is a must, and you’re likely to have the beaches all to yourself, while a boat trip from Castlebay to Kisimul Castle is a fine way to spend an afternoon.
Barra features one or two good spots for evening dining, all within easy reach of your accommodation.
Day Four – North by Ferry to Eriskay
Wave goodbye to Barra from the jetty at Ardmhor as you take the short ferry-crossing to the tiny island of Eriskay, until 2001 reachable only by boat, but since then connected to the isle of South Uist by causeway, breathing a whole new era of life in to this enthralling island.
Your Accommodation on Eriskay
Built by the family just a few short months ago, your guest house on Eriskay oozes quality and comfort. Designed with the greatest care, sea-views present themselves from virtually every angle in the house, vast windows creating a sense of space throughout, while each of the ensuite bedrooms is simply and elegantly furnished, the most comfortable beds ensuring an epic night’s sleep. Local art adorns the walls around the house, and the laid-back guest lounge on the first floor is the kind of space in which you could easily spend an entire day should the weather be against you during your two-night stay.
What to See and Do on Eriskay
Perhaps most famous for the foundering of SS Politician on its rocky shores in 1941, giving birth to Compton MacKenzie’s Whisky Galore!, the Isle of Eriskay is also legendary as the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie first set foot on Scottish soil before heading for the mainland to lead the Jacobite rebellion in 1745. Today, behind the bar of Am Politician, you can see one of the 264,000 bottles of whisky that was the lost ship’s original precious cargo, some of which was ‘liberated’ by the island’s menfolk during a chronic wartime whisky shortage, while the ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ beach at Coileag a’ Prionnnsa is an atmospheric place for a stroll in the evening light, during a Hebridean sunset if you’re lucky.
From Eriskay, it’s a short distance to beautiful South Uist by causeway; here, on one of the Hebrides’ last Gaelic-speaking strongholds, you’ll find more fantastic beaches to the west, heather uplands to the east and some 20 miles of machair, home to the elusive corncrake, with red grouse and red deer waiting to be spotted on the island’s mountainous eastern side. The Cladh Hallan Roundhouses are unique in the UK as the only site where prehistoric mummies have been discovered, while the nature reserve at Loch Druidibeg is a must-see for wildlife lovers.
Day Six – Across the Causeways to North Uist
Set off from Eriskay this morning and make your way northwards across South Uist and the island of Benbecula – home to a single hill, Rueval, and whose landscape, in the right weather resembles the badlands of Texas. Take your time and discover Benbecula’s hidden beaches and the ruin of 14th-century Church of St Columba before arriving on North Uist and your base for the next two nights in the crofting township of Sollas on the island’s northern coast.
Your Accommodation on North Uist
Placed within walking distance of spectacular Traigh Iar beach and machair, your guest house on North Uist is a refreshingly simple and unassuming property, where the welcome is as warm as they come and the tranquillity difficult to match. The resident family owners take great care in ensuring guests’ comfort is front and centre, the ensuite bedrooms providing calm and solace after a long day’s exploration. The location is simply one of the most peaceful we’ve found.
What to See and Do on North Uist
A paradise for wildlife and beach lovers, North Uist features a unique ‘drowned landscape’ of peat bogs and lochans, where otters play without fear of human disturbance and the call of the male corncrake can be heard of an evening. The island is home to several prehistoric sites, including the chambered cairn of Barpa Langais, and birdwatchers will love the RSPB site at Balranald.
Day Eight– To the ‘Big Island’
Enjoy another fine, home-cooked breakfast this morning, before making your way back to Berneray to catch your ferry to Leverburgh on the Isle of Harris. You may have time for a bracing stroll on one of Berneray’s quite unbelievably beautiful beaches before taking to the ferry for the one-hour crossing through the Sound of Harris. This is one of Scotland’s most technically challenging ferry routes, the ship making some 90 changes in direction as it negotiates the islets and skerries of the sound.
From the ferry port at Leverburgh, it’s just a 10-minute drive to your next base, where you’ll spend three peaceful nights.
Your accommodation on Harris
Created from the school where the current proprietor’s mother attended classes in the mid-20th century, your accommodation on Harris is a wonderfully out-of-the-way property, where the wildness of the island has time and space to seep in to the soul. Just three quiet and comfortable ensuite rooms are available here, so overcrowding is unheard of, while dinner is the main event: your host is an accomplished chef and makes use of abundant natural produce from both land and sea to create the most mouth-watering meals, enjoyed around the table accompanied by fine wine, with perhaps the odd after-dinner dram making an appearance.
What to See and Do on Harris
On the doorstep of your accommodation near the island’s isolated eastern coast, you’ll find some of Earth’s oldest rocks, dated to around three-thousand-million years, littered across the landscape here at ‘the Bays’, whose inlets host villages and hamlets each of unique character. The western side of Harris is where you’ll find some of the world’s most spectacular beaches stretched all along the coast, with white sands of one seeming to melt into another. Further north, the Harris landscape turns mountainous, with an eerie, almost lunar feel as it reaches the border with the isle of Lewis – actually part of the same landmass.
The village of Tarbert is home to Harris Distillery, a beautifully designed facility, for now producing one of Scotland’s most acclaimed gins. And no visit to the island would be complete without a browse around the Harris Tweed shop, the perfect place to pick up a handmade bargain. Indeed, it’s possible to see this most famous island craft being created at some of the home-set mills dotted around Harris and Lewis.
Take the twisting, slithering road from Tarbert, traversing the Kyles of Scalpay, and cross the bridge to the tiny island of Scalpay, home to unique twin harbours and the distinctive Eilean Glas Lighthouse.
Day Eleven – Pushing Further North to Lewis
Bid farewell to Harris this morning and cross the ‘border’ to Lewis, location of the Hebrides’ most famous town, Stornoway. The island is home to craftsmen, crofters and fisherfolk, as well as a wealth of prehistoric sites, and you’re assured a welcome as big-hearted as anywhere in the world.
Your Accommodation on Lewis
On the outskirts of Stornoway, your guest house near the Hebrides’ main town is a peaceful and welcoming place, whose owner has garnered a reputation second to none for the quality of accommodation. With just two beautifully presented ensuite rooms, there’s no overcrowding to worry about, and home-cooked breakfast of the best local produce, served in the sunny garden-facing dining room, is one of the islands’ best.
What to See and Do on Lewis
You’ll notice the dramatic contrast in landscape here, with mountains, rugged plateaux, meadow, moorland and rocky coastline all in abundance. Of the wealth of must-see features, the otherworldly standing stones at Callanish are at the top of most lists, with the many iron-age brochs and cairns, and 17th-century blackhouses also featuring. A drive to the Butt of Lewis – the island’s northernmost point – to experience sunset at the foot of dramatic Butt of Lewis Lighthouse, with often just the birds for company while the wild Atlantic crashes dramatically on the rocks below, is one of our favourite activities.
The western shores of the island feature many remnants of the island’s strategic placement during World War II, perched atop soaring cliffs leading to more golden beaches of scarcely believable beauty.
Stornoway itself is a fine place to while away an afternoon, and features one or two excellent eateries for evening dining.
Day 13 – Home via Ferry to Ullapool
Your homeward ferry departs Stornoway for the mainland at Ullapool, one of Sutherland’s prettiest fishing villages, from where you have a dramatic route south to savour.
