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Isle of Lewis, October -- Mad adventure or just mad?

Paolo

New Member
Hi, everyone. Thank you for letting me sign up to the site!

My partner and I are spending the first half of October in the UK. We initially planned to spend the first week of the month in Scotland, and then go down to London for tourist stuff. Truly, aside from the hard dates (1st thru 15th October), we have no set itinerary.

He has taken it in mind to see the Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis. They do seem lovely, but all the lovely photos he's shown me were clearly taken in high summer.

My troubles are that I've never been north of London and that I know nothing about Scotland. I'm finding it very daunting to work out the details of going up to see these rocks right beside the North Sea in October. I'm not keen at all on package tours, but it's instructive that the ones I've found cease visiting the northern islands in September.

Is it completely mad? Should I just fly him from Glasgow up to Stornoway one morning, drive him to the rocks, and then fly him back that evening? That seems madder, but I don't mind the expense and, really, Stornoway doesn't seem a prize.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Paolo
 
Hi Paolo! I don't know Scotland but I want to see those stones too. I think you should go for it. I don't think it will be snowing or anything then. Maybe a bit cold and wet. But in summer there are midges (bugs) in Scotland! Spend a week up there. Everyone I talk to loves Scotland.

@Kathy (Trekcapri) what time of year did you do your big trip to Scotland?
 
Isle of Lewis (and Harris as well are wonderful). With the British climate, you can never predict what the weather will be like. We usually went in Spring, but did go at the start of November one year and had wondered if we were being foolish, but we had a great week and really enjoyed ourselves. We'd gone prepared with waterproofs and plenty of layers. We were lucky with the weather and were out everyday and didn't need waterproofs . In early October you should be OK - Go for it! Trees will be changing colour. Thje sun will be lower than in summer and this makes the colours more vibrant. With the dark nights you may even be lucky and see Northern Lights. Even if you don't you will see stars gallore and the Milky Way.

There won't be many tourists around and you will need to check on accommodation as some places may be shut for the winter. You don't need a guided tour and it is very easy to do it yourself. There are few roads, so you can't get lost!

If you are going that far, try and give yourselves a few days on the islands. They are magic. As well as Callainais, there is the broch at Dun Carloway and the black house at Arnol. There are some beautiful sandy beaches on the west coast of Harris and the Golden Road along the east coast is dramatic ice scraped rocky scenery at its best. (The name is a reflection of how much the road took to build... drive it and you wil see what I mean. )

The Undiscovered Scotland website is a good source of ideas. Start here and then follow the links to the text pages with information and pictures. If it is of any help, our pictures are here.

If you want to be really adventurous, fly from Glasgow to Barra, a marvellous flight that lands on the beach.
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Then hire a car - information here and then catch the CalMac ferry from Barra to Eriskay. Drive up through the Uists and then catch CalMac ferry across to Harris (which is joined onto Lewis). Drop the car off in Stornoway and then fly back to either Inverness or Glasgow...

Alternativey CalMac run a ferry service either from Skye across to Harris or Ullapool to Stornoway. There website is here.
 
@Kathy (Trekcapri) what time of year did you do your big trip to Scotland?

Hi Pauline, I visited Scotland in November. The weather was a bit rainey, but it was also off season so there was very few other tourists.

Hi Paolo, I visited the Isle of Skye when I went to Scotland. I would second Eleanor's link. I used Undiscovered Scotland when planning my trip as well. Your situation may be different as you are going there from London. I am from California and the best way I found get to the Highlands (specifically the Isle of Skye) was to fly into Glasgow, take a train from Glasgow to Fort William (where I picked up a rental car) and then drive (Driving the Road to the Isles was high on my must see and do list) to Arisaig where I spent 4 days before taking the ferry (with my car) from Mallaig to the Isle of Skye). Returning I took the bridge so I could visit the Eilean Donan Castle. After returning my car in Fort William, I then took the train to Edinburgh where I stayed for a week before flying home to California.

I found the process to get to the Isle of Skye fairly easy and the only challenge I had was getting used to driving on the left side (which was easier to do than I thought) and backing my car onto the ferry boat. But for the Isle of Lewis, it looks like there is an airport option (Stornoway) for you as you mentioned. It took a bit of planning to get to the Isle of Skye but once I was there I found the effort very much worth it. I had a wonderful time exploring Scotland and loved seeing a part of the Highlands.

Whatever transportation decision you make, I wish you a wonderful trip.

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Hi, everyone! Thanks to Pauline and Eleanor and Kathy and Roz for your thoughts! I really appreciate them.

Eleanor -- thanks especially for the Undiscovered Scotland site but no thanks re: landing on the beach...I did that more than once while in the Army and I don't need to do it while on holiday. ;)

We shifted our plans just a bit -- padding time in the south so's we can have a cottage stay in Somerset.

As for Scotland, we'll fly up to Glasgow basically just to spend the night, then take an early train up to Fort William and catch the Jacobite for its journey to Mallaig. There, we'll pick up a car and take the CalMac over to Skye and spend a couple of days poking about. Then we'll take the CalMac up to Tarbert and drive up to Lewis, spending a few days at a hotel I found via Undiscovered Scotland. We'll see the stones (and some more stones and yet more stones, for my partner has pored over OS maps and strange books and found Every Single Rock on the island). I also want to go hiking around Harris, for the routes we've found on walkhighlands.co.uk are beautiful. Then we'll retrace our ferry steps back to Skye but then drive over to Kyle of Lochalsh. We'll drop the car there and take the Kyle line up to Inverness. After knocking around a couple of days there, we'll fly down to London for a week's of spin of our favorite museums and whatever music we can find, and then with the extra time we'll have a quiet week of country walks and generally lazily passing the time in the Mendip Hills.

Since reading people's trip reports is one of my favorite Slowtrav things, I'll try to post a coherent report once we're back. :)
 
There are some fantastic walks on Harris, but they are not for he faint hearted... One thing you may need to bear in mind is underfoot conditions, especially if there has been a lot of rain before you arrive. Harris is covered with peat and this can be very wet. We did the Coffin Road in May one year and were ankle deep in peat for most of the way. The way mark posts always seemed to be in the wettest places and we were having to try and work our way round them and still stay on the same route.

It is definitely worth trying to get copies of the OS 1:25000 Explorer maps for the area as they do have more detail than the maps on the Walk highlands site.

One of the nicest walks we discovered was off the B887 Huishnish road. Follow this until you reach Amhuinnsuidhe and find somewhere to park. There is an unmade track on the right which is the access track to Loch Chilostair. It takes you up past some small lochs and along the side of Loch Leosaid. At the footbridge, the map shows a track heading of to the left towards Huishnish. Ignore this as it is across bgland. Stay on the unmade track which takes you past a small power station to Loch Chilostair. The track crosses the dam and now continues as a beaters track (for shooting parties from Amhuinnsuidhe Castle) up Glen Uladal. It eventually peters out at Loch Uladal. It takes you up into the wilds of Harris. The track as far as Loch Chilstair is good. Beyond it is narrower but was origially a carefully made path and should be reasonably dry underfoot.

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Another suggestion if you find the peat to wet for walking is to walk the Golden Road which is the unclassified road running along the east coast of Harris. The name is supposed to reflect the cost of building the road. This is great to drive but even better to walk as the scnery is stunning. It is never that busy with traffic and there is always a bus to get you back to the car...

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You will also see tracks off which lead to settlements which have long been deserted. These also repay exploring.

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Dont miss the delightful small church at Rodel with the spendid tomb of Alexander MacLeod of Dunvegan.

The black house at Arnol on Lewis is also worth visiting. This was lived in until the 1960s and a fascinating glimpse into the way of life on the islands then. Make sure you take time to talk to the custodians who are a wealth of information. It might look primitive but was a more 'healthy' environment, than the later 'white houses'. The fire was kept burning all through the year as it was the main method of cooking as well as providing heat. The walls were thick and well insulated. The peat smoke was non carcinogenic and killed off bugs. The ammonia from the animals in the byre also killed off tuberculosis bugs. TB was rife in the white houses which were damp and cold being impossible to keep warm.
 
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