Skye/Harris/Lewis Questions

[devarae]

Hello folks! My husband and I are trying to get plans together for a vacation this summer (ten nights sometime between July 22-Aug 4) we still aren't entirely sure we will be able to manage this trip (and where we end up going may change depending on the price of plane tickets in two weeks when we should know for sure). But if we can go, and if the airfare works out, our leading option at the moment is a trip to Scotland, focusing on the Isle of Skye and the Isle of Lewis and Harris.

My current dream itinerary is to arrive Inverness on Day 1, get the rental car, and drive part of the way to Skye. It isn't a terribly long drive but given jetlag etc I don't want to push too far. There appear to be two main options for the drive, one more southern and longer that goes near Loch Ness, and another that is faster (according to Google) and more northern. I don't particularly need to see Loch Ness but we might be interested in seeing the Eilean Donan Castle, though I guess even if we went the northern route we could swing down to see that.

Then stay four nights on Skye. Not sure if it would be better to stay in one place, or to split them between north/south or east/west to avoid some driving. Thoughts?

Then take the ferry from Uig to Tarbert on Isle of Lewis and Harris, and stay on IoLaH for four nights, probably based near Stornoway.

Then ferry from Stornoway to Ullapool and drive from there back to Inverness, where we'd stay somewhere convenient to the airport for our final night before flying home.

Does this seem reasonable? I am a little worried about it being high season and having the sights be overcrowded and the roads slow with traffic. Our other main contender for this vacation is completely different: five nights in Vienna and five in Prague! Also crowded but it seems like that will be the case anywhere at this time of year. I am still wondering if maybe we should do V/P instead and save Skye and Harris/Lewis for a September or May trip...

 

[Pauline]

We have only been to Scotland once, 30 years ago, and we did not get to the northern part. I made a map of the towns you mentioned, so that I can visualize where you are going (to help me figure out where we should go).

and stay on IoLaH for four nights

What does this mean?


View on Google Maps.View: https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1CSpRgr0joEF8KTMskh6Nm45ogdF2TAnn

 

[devarae]

Thank you for adding the map!

<and stay on IoLaH for four nights>>

What does this mean?

It was me trying not to write out "Isle of Lewis and Harris"

 

[Pauline]

Well, that didn't save you any time! But now I know what it means.

 

[Pauline]

I put a marker for the Callenish Standing Stones because that is what I really want to see up there.

 

[devarae]

Me too on the Callenish Standing Stones!

If I could afford it I would also love to take the boat trip to St Kilda's but it's probably outside our budget right now...

 

[Eleanor]

We’ve had several holidays on Lewis and Harris. Although these have been spring and autumn, I don’t think the islands are going to get that busy even in the summer months. Visitor numbers are going to be limited by accommodation. You will need to get this booked fairly quickly as there isn’t that much, especially out of Stornoway. The island is sufficiently small to be able to get to all of it from a base in Stornoway. Four nights will give you a flavour for the island.

Harris is much wilder than Lewis. The west side has glorious sandy beaches.

The east side is bare rock with very little settlement. The road running along it is called the Golden Road, allegedly because of the amount of money it took to build it.

You can still follow some of the grassy tracks off the road which lead to now log deserted settlements. Life was tough here and many crofts failed.

Don’t miss the tiny St Clements Church at Rodel at the southernmost tip of the island with its impressive tombs of the Macloeds.

On Lewis, the standing stones of Calanais (Callanish) are a must see. There are open all hours and you can wander freely around the site. There is a charge to visit the visitor centre.

Near then is the remains of Dun Carloway Broch which is worth a quick look.

We also liked the Norse Millsa short walk from the road at Shawbost. Again these are open daylight hours.

Arnol Black House is a blast of the past and it seems amazing that people were living here as late as the 1950s/60s. Allow plenty of time and do talk to the custodians who are full of stories about the house and what it was like to live here.

Be warned your clothes will smell of peat smoke afterwards...

Actually it was a lot healthier than you might think. The fire had to be kept going all year to keep the roof in good condition. Peat gives off a lot of heat and even in the depths of winter, the house kept warm and snug. Peat fumes are also non carcinogenic but better still they have a preservative effect and discouraged bugs. Animals lived under the same roof and the ammonia from their urine helped prevent TB.

Compare the black house with the later ‘white’ house across the road. This feels cold and damp. When families moved into white houses, TB became rife.

You will see the remains of black houses as you drive around the island. The village of Gearrannan is a ‘tourist attraction’ as many of the old blackhouses have been restored and offer self catering accommodation. It is worth stopping off to have a look at as this will give you an idea of what the landscape was like 100 years ago.

Lewis up to the lovely small beach of Tolsta and the Road to Nowhere.

Lord Leverhulme owned Lewis from 1918-1923 and intended to build a new road up the east side of the island. His plans were thwarted by the locals and the road was never built. All that is left is the bridge. There is a pleasant grassy track across the bridge which can be followed for about a mile before it disappears into the bog.

We’ve never been to St Kilda - it is somewhere I’d love to go, but I understand the boat trips are very much dependent on weather ...

One of the best websites I've found for information on Scotland is Undiscovered Scotland. I start with the map pages and follow the links from them onto the text pages which have lots of information and pictures.

 

[Eleanor]

Having posted a detailed reply about the Western Isles,I realise I haven’t answered your question about Skye. Looking at the ferry timetable between Uig and Tarbet,may determine where you are planning to stop on your last night. If you are planning on catching the morning sailing you will need to base yourself in Uig the previous night.. If planning on the afternoon or evening ferry then Portree may be better as there is a larger choice of accommodation.

Uig is a small place again with limited accommodation so you will need to book up quickly. It is also a good centre for exploring Trotternish which is one of my favourite parts of the island. However it is not a good base if you want to explore the south and particularly the south west part of the island. Driving on Sky is slow and roads are narrow. It is also a lot busier than the western isles.

Two bases does make sense - start with to nights in the southern part of the island followed by two nights in or around Uig.

 

[devarae]

Wow, thank you Eleanor for all those enticing photos and details. And for the thoughts on where to base in Skye.

I am definitely concerned about lodging. It may end up that we have to push this vacation to another year if I can't find decent lodging that fit our budget once I can commit to going. I have been looking and am indeed finding only a handful of places that would work.

Unfortunately this year the vacation schedule was just not conducive to planning far ahead! Usually we go on vacation in September or October which gives us more time to get the lodging we'd prefer. But I want to believe this trip will happen some year, so even if it's not 2018 the research is time well-spent!

 

[Eleanor]

Think positive - if you push the holiday back then you might be able to extend it and spend more time in the Western Isles - you could also include the Uists as well as Harris and Lewis. They are very different. May to early June is a good month to visit as all the wild flowers will be coming into bloom on the Machair (the areas of flat sandy grassland especially on the west coast behind the beaches.)

You could catch the ferry from either Mallaig or Oban to Lochboisdale and work your way up to Stornoway before catching the ferry back to Ullapool.

 

[devarae]

Oh, I didn't actually realize you could get from Oban to the Outer Hebrides! I would love to visit Mull too...

Thank you for putting a positive spin on it Eleanor! We've really wanted to do this trip but I'd rather do it "right" than end up cutting things short or staying in places we don't really enjoy.

 

[Eleanor]

Wow a spring holiday to include Mull and the Western Isles really would be wonderful...
We've never did the ferry from Oban but it looks as if it would be a stunning trip.