Outer Hebrides - Any tips?

[roxburd]

We're planning a bit of a drive later in the year - taking in the north, Hadrian's Wall and then wandering up into bonnie Scotland.

The Outer Hebrides is taking my eye and we fancy getting over there. Any tips from those who know the islands?

It looks like the ferry from Uist will be about £55 each way for 6m van plus 2 ppl. MHs banned from the standby queues!

I visited VisitOuterHebrides.co.uk and was a bit disappointed that the video wasn't much more than a lecture on what you shouldn't do. Just to be clear, we would plan to 'leave no trace'. Effectively, they say 'Don't come unless you have accommodation booked'. Then their providers advertise £5 a night stop-overs that cannot be booked. Spot the contradiction.

We would prefer to do what we do in the rest of the UK - 2 or 3 nights off-grid (including £5 stop-over sites) and a night on a 'proper' site to empty waste, do washing, etc. Also, I'd rather not book more than a week or so in advance - so we're not tied down to a schedule. That's really the whole point of the trip.

Can we do that on the islands? Or is there some weird blocker that makes off-grid impossible?

Any advice from experienced visitors very welcome!

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Gizmouk]

Thanks everyone, loads of great tips and pointers... there's a plane landing on a beach!? That's not what I was expecting but yeah, that's now on the list

I believe it's the only scheduled flight to land on a beach anywhere in the world.
Baggage collection is basically a bus shelter.

If you fancy treating yourself, the flights are from Glasgow Airport and cost around £80 each way. It's on my bucket list

 

[PaulC70]

I agree, the southern islands are much interesting than Lewis and Uist. BTW We met at a road junction and couldn't understand what you were waving at - it was the Funster sticker in our windscreen!

Funny as I've been on Harris / Lewis twice (bungalow and using car for day trips) and when we did our shakedown run did the Uists and Barra. While we enjoyed ourselves on the Uists/Barra I found Harris and Lewis much much more interesting.

 

[Kelsae2]

We have toured all the Outer Hebrides but mostly prefer Harris and the bottom end of Lewis. Still lots of places to find / visit.

 

[Puddleduck]

The west side of Lewis has some interesting archeology sites.
Google these:

The Whalebone Arch. OK not really archeology but sets you off on the right road.

The Viking Mill. Half a mile walk, take a torch and a pen.

The Black Houses.

Dun Carloway Broch.

The Calanais Standing Stones, a good coffee shop there so worth going there last.

So much to see and do.....

On Harris coming up from the southern tip (Rodel - if you can get parked St Clement's Church is interesting) take The Golden Road as an alternative to the west coast road. It's a bit narrow but worth it.

On the west coast there is a visitor centre which has a lot of family history information and when we were there an art exhibition and lots of information about St Kilda. Sorry I don't recall just where it was

Our daughter was based on Lewis for 2 years of her degree so we were there quite often.