2013 Euro Vacation: UK - Scotland and the Hebrides

A bonnie trip to the Hebrides

After a lengthy drive across North East England into Scotland, we headed towards the Isles of Skye and Harris-Lewis in the Hebrides. Along the way there and back we managed to tick off a visit to the original Perth (with T-shirt to prove it), and grab photos of Loch Ness and Loch Lomond complete with bonnie banks and braes, but sadly no monster.

Rather than speeding in a bonnie boat to Skye like Bonnie Prince Charlie, we drove from the mainland over the bridge at the Kyle of Lochalsh. We went to Harris by ferry, spent half a day driving around South Harris - very rocky, one lane roads providing excitement (i.e. stress) at every turn. Spent the next day driving around Lewis, which is separated from Harris only by a creek running across the island. Why the two names, I have no idea. We drove first to Stornaway, the main town of the Outer Hebrides, and then to the far north, the Butt of Lewis with its large lighthouse. The scenery is rocky, with very tough sheep dotting the landscape (including the roads) with rugged rocky coast on the east side and nice beaches on the west coast. It can look pretty bleak and windswept without the sun, but I found it strangely attractive – a bit like some parts of the Outback in Oz (Penny remains unconvinced). They call them the Misty Isles and they didn’t disappoint, with regular morning fogs throughout the islands.

At our excellent hotel in Tarbert (main town in Harris), two of our waitresses were imports, one Aussie, one Kiwi.

Due to very busy ferries, the only way we could get back to Skye and hence the mainland was via Uist, so took a ferry Harris to Uist in the morning, with half a day to fill in before another ferry Uist to Skye at 8 pm. To fill in the hours we drove around North Uist, then to the bottom of South Uist and back, and have the T-shirts to prove it.

Additional Notes by Pen below:

Left Bamburgh to head north and west towards the Hebrides, via Perth. Perth has surprisingly little with "Perth Scotland" written on it. Went into Dalwhinnie to buy whisky direct from the distillery, and into Ben Nevis national park to look at but not to climb Ben Nevis. We stayed at Spean Bridge, just north of Fort William.

Drove via Loch Ness to Skye, via the newish bridge at The Kyle of Lochalsh. This is an elegant fine arched bridge and makes access to Skye much simpler than the old ferries. While in Portree, we spent a while at the tourist information centre, organising our visit to the outer Hebrides. We bagged the last spot on a ferry over, but difficult to find a way back. The obvious ferries were booked, so we ended up booking via Uist, another island and therefore a long way back to Skye. Wonderful woman, Wendy, at the information centre.

Portree is a cute town, built on the hillside above a working waterfront with pier, fishing and tourist boats. We found an Indian restaurant for dinner, a change from fresh salmon, battered cod and the occasional roast. Good food, followed by a search for the pipers we could hear. The Isle of Skye pipe band is about 20 strong, led by a McDonald and a Mackenzie. They gathered a good following, both Japanese and Eastern Europeans among them. Also around: lots of rabbits. LOTS of rabbits, not at all threatened by people.

Next day we drove the long way to the ferry at Uig (Oo-igg), via some great scenery. Very dramatic rocks at The Storr, which look like they would be terrific climbing. First sight of the hairy highland cattle here, as well as sheep everywhere.

The ferry was big, with a mezzanine car deck, filled first, raised, then lowered again after everyone else is off at the other end. The excellent Hotel Hebrides in Tarbert on Harris was just a spit from the ferry, so we had time to see more of Harris. Quite dramatic rocky country, single lane roads built up on rocks, and more sheep. The west, Atlantic coast, is renowned for its wide sandy beaches, a bit of a surprise. Also home to Harris tweed, so Rob is now proud owner of a Harris tweed jacket, made and purchased on Harris. More good food - amuse bouch of scallop arriving before the entrees. Hot smoked salmon, zucchini soup, venison. and creme brûlée to cap it off.

Next day we spent exploring Lewis, which is north of and attached to Harris. The capital, Stornaway, is a significant town, though not a very pretty one. Still a fishing centre, and now the setting for a new series of murders written by an ex-local, Peter May. The northern tip of Lewis is interesting, with an unusual enclosed harbour and a lighthouse at the Butt of Lewis. Driving back down the Atlantic coast, we saw a few historic constructions: a Norse mill and Kiln (1000 AD); Carloway Broch, an Iron Age building of double drystone walls with staircases within them (2000 years old); and my favourite, the standing stones at Callanish (4000 - 5000 years old). This is a cross shape of 27 stones, with a stone circle in the middle and a small burial chamber. One old industry still going, is peat cutting. This has been in full swing, and the dried peat stacked, bagged and collected in trailers and by tractor. The same areas are also covered in heather which must be having the best year ever. The pink/ purple bell shaped flowers are everywhere, and very attractive.

Friday, we checked out and drove back to the south of Harris, to the ferry terminal at Leverburgh. From here, the ferry to Uist was late because of fog earlier in the day. This came and went, and made visibility very low on the ferry trip. We drove though the Uists to the south, where we have souvenir t -shirts from Loch Boisdale. The point of departure from North Uist, Lockmaddy, is probably the pick of the area. The 8 pm ferry was also late, so we got to the north of Skye about 10.30 pm, and zoomed through Skye to a hotel just over the Skye bridge.

Next day we left the highlands, drove via Fort William and stopped for lunch at Loch Lomond. Very busy, lots of young swimmers in the loch at Luss. Then via Locherbie and Gretna to Glasgow, Carlisle and Penrith, along Ullswater and over a summer- only pass, Kirkstone Pass, to our cottage in Ambleside.