An aspiration of mine since I was a student, this has been a trip in the making for a number of years and, whilst the internet is awash with ideas and advice for the some great spots, these are difuse and hard to put together. As with any trip, many of the lesser known events and locations will only be discovered by visiting and meeting people but this is where the magic comes from righ? Hopefully bringing some of these together into a single place will be of use to someone. All photos are our own.
Skye - A 30 minute ferry from Mallaig on the mainland to Armdale (Skye).
Storr
After checking in to our AirB&B eco shed thing near Portree we strike out North to the Trottenish ridge and the Old Mann of Storr. Following the track North of the Old Man of Storr grants, with a small amount of scrambling, access to the top of the sheer section of the ridge. From here we push on, as the weather worsens, to the summit of Storr (719m). Unfortunately the jaw-dropping parorama over Bearraraig bay is absent, replaced with thick fog and 50mph rain we had so hoped was a tale to keep the tourists away. Still, mountain climbed.
Portree
Later, feeling in need of some culture, we met up with a local lad, David, for an evening of "light and whisky". We met our guide, along with several others seeking travel tips from a local eye, in Portree where, over a circuit of Ben Chracaig, we visited local viewpoints including the Apothecary's Tower. As the evening progressed the promised hues of peachy evening light and secret woodland trails set a suitable venue for tales of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the warrior king Somerled who seized the Kingom of the Isles in the 12th Century. After an invigorating but not tiring walk we retired to the Portree Inn for a dram of Whisky and some dinner. David's "Evening Light and Whisky walk" is Ideal for getting to know Portree as well as getting travel tips for the whole of the Isles and can be arranged through the Experiences bit on AirB&B.
Coasteering at Kilmalaug Bay
The next day we met John and Sarah from SkyeAdventures in Portree along with a few other adventurous souls to try ourselves at coasteering. Both were lovely people, full of great stories and humour. All gear was provided, even an ancient pair of overlarge and overbright shorts to put over the wetsuits and, whilst the bigger drops were not for the faint hearted, even a landlubber with a bit of a fear of heights (me) was able to get right in there. This was a superb chance to explore the less accessible parts of the Aird, Skye's most northerly point from Kilmalaug Bay and, on the return trip to the Isles one day, is something we will make efforts to do again.
Our compact underwater camera was brilliant. It tucked inside my bouyancy aid and gave decent action shots. After some research we settled on a Fujifilm 16543913 XP120 for about £100. (Impulse buying 1 - 0 Bank account) but we had plans for this little guy.
Quiraing
This left us with the afternoon up the top of Skye to get immersed into the fairytale-like Quiraing. Sloping between the Northerly point of the Trottenish ridge down towards the sea and strewn with numerous rocky pinnacles, this landscape, known as the Sancturay, is a relic of Europe's messy break up with Greenland and North America. A choice of walking routes on good tracks or off-road can be accessed by parking just South of Flodigarry and following the track South West up dramatic ridges and past isolated upland tarns. The trottenish ridge itself can be accessed from hereabouts but requires a determined ascent of steep scree slopes and some difficult scrambling.
Dunvegan Castle and Claigan Coral Beach
Always up for visiting castles, I would say that whilst Dunvegan does has the looks of the more austere boarding school, thanks to a near total remodeling in the 19th Century, it does have a rich history from its place as the official seat of clan Mcleod. It does not take long to explore the interior but there is a wealth of information on the lineages of the clan as well as some artifacts including the drinking horn of Sir Rory Mor, that is still used in coming of age celebrations and the fairy flag of legend.
Further North than Dunvegan Castle lies Claigan Coral Beach. This populary walking spot is known for the ghostly white beaches made up of the fossilised and sun-bleached remains of seaweed. The water quality here, as with much of the Western Isles, is excellent and well worth braving a chilly dip. At low tide it is possible to walk to the tidal island of Lampay.
Loch Coruisk
The following day, basing ourselves at the Sligachan hotel carpark, we undertook the 20km round trek South through Glen Sligachan to Lock Coruisk. This stunning sea loch often comes up in recomendations but is otherwise only accessible by boat and so it was the solitude, combined with the imensity of the Black Cuilins ominous skyline to the right that I will remember. The outward journey finished with the almost magician like reveal of Loch Coruisk as we crested the ridge of Sgurr Hain and the first good sighting of a Golden Eagle of the trip.
Lewis and Harris - Uig (Skye) to Tarbet (Harris) by boat.
Callanish Stones and Doune Carloway Broch
Our beautiful AriB&B was perched overlooking Loch Rog an Ear, offering gorgeous evening walks to the waterfront. The nearest settlement, Callanish, is famous for the Callanish stones. These impressive stones, the largest standing 4.8m, have been claimed to be the petrified remnants of ancient giants who rebuked early Christian conversion. The more fringe theories claim them to be late stone age and more ceremonial in nature. It is certainly thought provoking, sitting amonst these towering megaliths, to consider the human endeavor and certainty of purpose to stand them as they seem today.
A little further North stands the remains of Doune Carloway Broch. This stark Iron Age structure sits proud on its rise. Though to have been constructed in the 1st century AD it is unusually undisturbed. The two layer, 3m thick walls are still present but the jury is still out on whether this was to keep out the chill or the neighbours.
Butt of Lewis
No trip to the Western Isles would be complete without the chance to stand right on the edge. Just outside the village of Port of Ness at the top of Lewis sits the Butt of Lewis Lighthouse which looks silently down onto the great dark stacks and the booming surf of this exposed headland. It is worthwhile bringing a pair of binoculars as this rugged spot provides sweeping views over a great area of sea and basking shark are reported occasionally. Tucked away on the tiny platforms high up from the thrashing waves you can spot a multitude of seabirds including Fulmar and keep a lookout for squadrons of Gannets on thier regular fly-by's.
Great Benera and Bosta beach
The North coast of Lewis is renowned for exposed headlands, inaccessible and rocky sea cliffs as well as secluded, white, sandy beaches. With this hard sell in mind one of our first stops was the islet of Great Benera. Situated with some prime beach-side real estate are the Bosta Iron Age roundhouses. First happened upon in 1993 after a storn exposed some ancient foundations, one of these structures has been rebuilt as archaeologists believe it would have looked. The adjacent sandy beach with its gentle rolers and quiet lapping tides offers an odd juxtaposition of a modern day villa. Bosta was one of the most sheltered beaches we visited so I recommend you bring swimware.
There is a conveniently waymarked walk from the Iron Age remains at Bosta leading South to the village of Tobson. About 1 mile as the bird flies, this route takes you to over Stiogna Chiap, a heady 70m up and offers a cracking panorama to the North and West over Gallan Head and out to sea. The torn and rocky sea cliffs offer unique wildlife spotitng opportunites, we startled a White-tailed sea eagle that quickly veered off the cliff and out to sea and nearby Mangersta Head is rated by the Visit Hebrides folks as a hotspot for spotting basking shark.
Hushinish Beach
A windy drive West of Tarbet, Hushinish is a small crofting settlement perched on some trully stunning beaches that are a part of the North Harris Snorkling Trail. It's exposed here however, a steady 40mph wind sent sand stinging into eyes and sent fins and gloves accross the beach if left unattended. Parking is limited but there are public loos, useful for suiting up.
The most sheltered part of the beach is the right hand side and so this is where marine life is most abundant, although in calmer conditions it would all be suitable for swimming. Although this was July/August we wore 5mm wetsuits with hoods. Strap-on fins that fit over boots would be a good shout. Mine aren't but numbness soon dulls the senses. A short walk over the peninsula, or a longer one round it, after lunch didn't show up any whales but gave us a great views of Gannets fishing like little missiles.
The Scottish Wildlife Trust do a good leaflet on a number of snorkling sites around North Harris;
https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Leaflet-for-website.compressed.pdf
The Shiant Islands
This 4 hour boat ride with Stonowayseafaris from Stornoway Marina takes you South along the exposed and craggy East Lewis coatline, past the high airies of Golden Eagles and into the ominously named Witches Pool before striking out for the Shiants, from the Scottish Gaelic Seunta or "Enchanted" islnds, about 5 miles into the Minch . This channel between the Outer Hebrides and mainland Scotland is as likely as it comes for seeing marine mammals such as bottlenose dolphin or whales. In August there were a great number of seabirds rafting on the sea and our approach to the Shiants was flanked by Puffins, Gannets, Razorbills, Fulmar and Great Skua. The islands themselves stand impressive, thier dark dolerite collumns erupt vertically for up to 120m on thier heighest side. Each small shelf or grassy precipice seems overfull with Guillemots and Razorbills, their high and constant calls, ceaseless squabbling landing frenzied upon the senses.
North Uist and Benbecula (Leverburgh to Berneray by boat)
Our accomodation, Flora's Sheilings on Noth Uist, was more spartan this time. The smell of the peat fire and dark wooden interior were certainly unique whilst the absence of mobile reception, a landline or the internet may not suit everyone. Despite this clear and total modern day poverty there was an old chest full of rough wool blankets, a working radio and a tonne of elderly books to work through of an evening.
Balranald Nature Reserve
A break in the weather cooincided with a day of wildlife watching with resident and ultra wildlife enthusiast Stephen Duffel. Total count = 47 birds species including Hen Harrier, Redpoll and Corn Bunting. We also had a far off view of a sea Otter. This is a useful way to begin any Island exploration odyssey as Stephen takes you to his personal catalogue of wildlife watching spots. This included sweeping panoramas of Loch Euphort, a coastal exploration Balranald nature reserve as well as slow meanders through the famous machair flower meadows that flank the shell sand beaches of the West coast of the Uists.
http://www.western-isles-wildlife.com/index.html
South Uist (connected to Noth Uist and Benbecula by road)
Loch Aineort
The inflatable kayak turned out to be a winner (Impulse buying 2 - 0 Bank account). The whole of the Western Isles is encolsed in a vast and rugged coastline studded with turquoise coves, flooded caves and sunny sea lochs. There is no better way to explore and quite a decent bit of kit can be found for under a hundred quid if you do your research. This was our best weather window during our time on the Uists but a strong Southerly wind made paddling hard wok at times. We were frequently on the ear-out for the quiet splashes that betrayed the Seals that followed us so closely and so curiously the whole time. Our cast-off point at Beinn Bheag Dheas would also serve as an approach route for some of the larger summits such as Beinn Mhor (620m) but, as we found out, the weather changes quickly and visibility beyond 100m elevation frequently drops to 20m or less without much warning.
Eriskay
Our much anticipated trip to St Kilda from Eriskay was unfornunately canceled due to the rough sea state but as it was only 50 minutes drive From North Uist we wnt anyway. Starting out from the small harbour at Acairseid Mhor, we found a reasonable walking track East that led past abandoned fisihing huts, deep ravines with waves like thunder and flotillas of Gannets out to sea. Eriskay, whilst small, has a wild feel to it and was more pleasant walking than much of the Uists with thier wide, low bogs.
Back to the mainland (Lochboisdale to Mallaig by boat)
Overall we greatly enjoyed Skye, with the incredible mountain scenery and the coasteering was awesome sun. There are a lot of tourists though but once you are literally a mile from the main roads there is virtually noone about. We would devote more time to Lewis and Harris as we found these the more diverse of all the Isles. The Uists are hard to rate as the weather was poor almost the entire time we were there, whole days of sideways rain at a time, but less likely to go back.
Useful bits of info
We bought a Hopscotch ferry ticket from the CalMac website. 2 people, a car and a bike rack came to about £150. During the summer certain sailings book up but if you're flexible (we had a few 5am wake ups for ferries) you can book right before you travel.
Things we'd do next time;
(Skye) Consider hiking part of the Cuilin ridge
(Skye) Do more coasteering
(Lewis) Hire some surfboards (www.surflewis.co.uk)
(Lewis) Visit the Golden Eagle viewing centre
(Harris) Climb some of the peaks
(Uists) Try again to get to St Kilda
https://www.uistseatours.com/stkilda-trip - Traveling from Eriskay and Berneray
Other tips for traveling in the Western Isles;
Make sure you have some reliable waterproofs. If you have the space, more than one set. Even as the rest of the UK was sweltering in the 2018 summer heatwave we saw but one day in more than 2 weeks where we did not wear ours.
Get some wellies you don't mind walking a couple of miles in. Brands like Grubb or Muckboot cost about £60 and are gamechangers. Leather boots just can't withstand being wet this much.
Comments