Introduction

Welcome to the last page of my tour of the Isles of Lewis and Harris.

Isle of Harris

At the south end of the island is the Isle of Harris, which can only be reached by the main A859 from Stornoway. The journey down the Isles takes you past Loch Seaforth and over the hills. It's like the Scotland highlands compressed into an hours journey, which brings you out at Tarbert.

Tarbert is the Isles second biggest place, although in comparison to Stornoway, it still seems small. Also, just because it's the second largest place on the Isles, don't come expecting supermarkets or plenty of banks (although there is a cash machine here).

Tarbert is basically a town that exists because it's the place where the ferries from Uig on the Isle of Skye arrives, and it caters for the visitors with an array of craft shops through the town and a Tourist Information Office close to the ferry.

Eating in Tarbert gives a few choices, from the hotel by the ferry dock to the fish and chippy up the road.

However, we found the nicest place to eat was the Forest Fruits Tearoom opposite the Tourist Information, which opens most of the summer season (I think it shuts or has limited opening through the winter).

To the east of Tarbert, is the C78 road to the Isle of Scalpay (one of the few C-class roads in the UK. Sorry, geeky stuff I know!!). The Isle of Scalpay is now connected to Harris via a fairly new bridge allowing the villages an easy connection on the Isles. (The day we visited was very windy, which made the bridge which is fairly high a but scary to cross). Once on Scalpay, there didn't actually seem to be that much to see. The the village does have a few Bed and Breakfasts and the view of the pier is nice. Also, we were told the walk across the island to the Eilean Glas lighthouse is also worth making if you have the weather.

Carrying on down the road from Tarbert, you can now travel via the small country roads down the east coast, or the main road down the west cost towards Leverburgh (An t-ob).

Although the east coast country roads don't really have a lot to offer the visitor again other than the scenery and lovely villages (that was enough for us), what really made this interesting for us was spotting a seal colony in one of the bays along this route. It was nice just being able to get out of the car, get fairly close to the seals (who were just off the shore), and watch them being seals as only seals can.

At the bottom of the Isle of Harris, is the old port of Roghadal with it's church (St Clement's) dating from the 1520s, which is well worth a look if you get the time.

A mile or so up the road is Leverburgh, which is the departure point for the ferry to North Uist (another place we'd like to visit). However, as the ferry only runs 4 times a day, and the journey takes 1 hour and 10 minutes, this makes it difficult (although not impossible if you like early starts) to make a day trip to the Uists.

Leverburgh also has visitor centre with a tearoom and shop, so it's a good place to stock up for the journey back.

Heading up the west coast towards Tarbert again, it's worth calling at Taobh Tuath which has two visitor centres, although the Seallam visitor centre was shut by the time we drove past (http://www.seallam.com). The other visitor centre is the MacGillivray Centre, which is open at all times. With it's views across Traigh an Taoibh Thuath, Traigh Scarasta and the round topped hill of Chaipabhal, it's certainly worth stopping for a picnic here.

While the beaches here are lovely, it isn't easy to gain access to them. It's probably easier to carry on driving back up the road to Tarbert and calling at one of the numerous bays beside the road, which are a lot more accessible. The final stretch to Tarbert takes you back over the hills via a rocky barren landscape (that could have come straight out of a Doctor Who episode as an alien landscape).

Just north of Tarbert is the dead end road to Hushinish (Huisinis). You'll need a couple of hours return trip to visit this one, although it is worth the drive.

The first thing you'll spot at Bunavoneader (Bun Abhainn Eadarra), is a red brick chimney which does look out of place in this landscape. This is the site of the old Norwegian Whaling Station which operated from around 1905 to the 1950's. Plans for a visitor centre telling the story of the whaling station on the site are afoot, although they are still at an early stage from what we were told.

Further down the road is Amhuinnsuidhe Castle which is open to the public, but not as a visitor attraction (so don't try and stop there for a look around). The reason I say this is because the road actually travels through the grounds of the castle to the dismay of the occupants who have tried to get the road diverted. However, I better just say that you should respect the owners privacy (How would you feel if a road went through your garden).

If you have won the lottery or you are a film star, then the castle does actually offer accommodation and fishing in the grounds. See http://www.amhuinnsuidhe.com for more details.

Hushinish consists of a few houses at the end of the road. Don't expect to find a shop or tearoom though. The real reason you'll head here is once again the beach. While not quite up to the standard of the beaches near Uig, this is once again a fantastic beach. If your lucky, you might actually see a seal as well like us. (The thing with most seals is they don't stay around for you to get a camera ready to take a photo).

Don't forget to bring some food to feed the chickens who will nag you until you give them something. It just seems unusual to see chickens by a beach.

A short walk from the car park at Hushinish is the view across to the Isle of Scarp, which used to have self catering accommodation for those who really wanted to get away from it all (the crossing looked as though it would have been a little rough on the day we went though).

Conclusion

Well that concludes my tour of the Isles of Lewis and Harris, and brings me to the end of one of the most enjoyable weeks of my life.

Do the Isles deliver what they promise to? Of course they do. While I am biased as my heart belongs to Scotland, this has to be the ultimate Scottish Holiday. The only down side is it's the most expensive holiday we've ever been on (due to flights and car hire being added to the cost of the holiday). But it was worth every penny.

People have said that you can get a holiday abroad for a lot less. That's probably true, but we wouldn't have enjoyed it half as much. If you can live without the warm weather and you want to take a nice peaceful break, then you can't go wrong with the Isles of Lewis and Harris.

Would we return? Money permitting, without a doubt. Can it be topped? Probably not, although the Uists are still beckoning us.

We would like to thank all the businesses involved (BMI and Arnol Motors) and the places we stayed at (Ceol-Na-Mara B&B and Kabuis self-catering) for helping make this holiday so special for us. We hope we'll be back sometime in the future.

If you fell in love with the Isles enough to move there (or any other part of the Scottish Highlands), let us know how you made the move and what you did for an income after the move. We would love to hear from you.

And finally, I hope you'll return to my website for further updates in the future.

All the pictures on this page were taken by myself.. Larger versions of the photos are available if you wish to use them for a project or web page yourselves. You are free to do this, but please mention this web page as the source for the photos. Thanks for your cooperation..