Our trip to the Outer Hebrides in early 2016 was an absolutely magical adventure. We had taken a few days off work whilst doing a live-in job in the Scottish Highlands. I wrote about the experience on my personal blog (link below post) and you can also find a travel guide for the Highlands here on my Steemit blog.
We thought it was just a little bit windy the morning we drove to the ferry port in Ullapool, but by the time the ship had reached the open sea we were half wishing we’d never got on board as it was battling through high seas in force eight gales (Tom made good use of the paper sick bags that were readily available on the ferry. I’d always known I must have been a sailor in a previous life, still I almost wet myself every time the ship went over a wave and launched itself back into the water with a bone-chilling bang.)
It is safe to say I’d never been so happy to see land when we finally got to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.
We’d rented a cute little house with an open fireplace in South Dell and once the car was unloaded we explored the most Northern tip of the island, also called the Butt of Lewis. There’s a lighthouse up there, towering above rugged cliffs that were being battered by the sea this evening. If you have the chance to go during a storm - it’s well worth the views! We also explored Eoropie Beach with all its fantastic dunes and even though it was April and freezing we had an amazing time.
It wasn’t until the evening that I noticed my camera was out of battery and I’d forgotten to bring the charger (something that’s never happened to me before and surely never will again!), hence unfortunately all I’ve got of this incredible trip is pictures I took on my phone. Huge apologies at this point. Lesson learned!
Over the next few days we explored as much as we could and by the end of it I could not decide which I prefer, Harris with its stunning mountain scenery and pristine, tropical looking beaches which reminded me a lot of the mainland Highlands, or Lewis with its endless open plains that make you feel so free - I remember driving on those roads feeling like I was flying.
There’s a great roundtrip you can do from Stornoway, going up counter clockwise to Brue and following the ring road, in fact there’s so much to see on this stretch it easily filled a whole day for us. Our first stop was in Arnol to see an old blackhouse - a traditional cottage with thatched roof and complete with original furniture to give you an insight as to how life was for the islanders back in the day. The house is dark and filled with smoke from peat fires, yet strangely cosy. There’s also a blackhouse village in Gearrannan, both were really interesting! We also recommend stopping at Dalmore Beach for a little lunch break!
Next, we explored Carloway Broch (a broch is basically a ruined Iron Age fort or structure), which was built in the 1st century AD and is surprisingly well preserved for such an ancient building. All of these three sites have small visitor centres where you can learn more about them. Admission fees are reasonable, too.
Our final stop on this route were the Callanish Standing Stones. This was such an awe inspiring place, I actually visited Stonehenge earlier this year and personally think it doesn’t compare to Callanish in the slightest. We were wandering around the giant rocks, unlike Stonehenge, you can actually walk between them and touch them and they’re all still in their original spots, plus it’s not overrun by tourists anywhere near as much as the more famous stones in Wiltshire.
After a long day of adventuring, you can loop back around to Stornoway and enjoy dinner at Ann Lanntair, which is a café, arts centre, cinema and shop all in one, they serve delicious food and drinks!
The next day we made our way across the mountains to Harris (Harris and Lewis are one island, except the North and South have different names and one can only presume it's because of the completely different characters of landscape, much like two twin brothers who don’t look anything like eachother.)
One place I had seen on pictures and that had been on my list of places to see for almost a decade was Hushinish, close to the uninhabited island of Scarp, so we made our way down the long, meandering single track road to the bay where we followed lambs across the beach, collected seashells and sipped tea from our flasks in an attempt to keep warm despite the bitter wind.
We didn’t make it to Luskentyre and Uig Sands during our trip, but heard so much about the beauty of these white sand beaches that we have to come back to see them!
Instead we visited a great little gin distillery in Tarbert (if you’re into gin maybe you have heard of Isle of Harris Gin - it’s made with sugar kelp and was arguably the most popular gin at the restaurant we were working at!) The staff at the distillery were really cool and we even got a free V.I.P. distillery tour after mentioning where we worked. These tours are available to anyone for a small charge and are really informative. Obviously you get to sample the good stuff, too!
Possibly my favourite place we’ve visited was Bostadh Beach on the peninsula of Great Bernera. This secluded beach is sheltered by dunes and features the reconstruction of a small Iron Age hut which was originally located here. A large iron bell standing on a rock in the sea rings every time a wave hits and I couldn’t help but feel like the place had a very intense energy to it.
As per usual our list of places to see was more extensive than our time window available and I literally can’t wait to explore every nook and cranny of this windswept, wild island in the future, hopefully in our very own campervan!
If you fancy an escape to a place that feels like the end of the world, that is rugged and full of magic, versatile and beyond beautiful, go here and your eyes will never get bored of the scenery!
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