Scottish Western Isles

[mikebeaches]

We travel using single tickets rather than Hopscotch - much greater freedom and flexibility. Our last trip was in April and there was plenty of availability on all of the ferries. The only bookings we made was when we'd arrived at the departure points, either into the office or by phone whilst parked on the ramp awaiting an inter-island ferry. Once you have purchased your first ticket you are then 'on the system' and it is dead easy to pay as you go.

Because we got onto Skye via the bridge, buying single fares to get to the Western Isles and between the islands, it actually worked out slightly cheaper (a few pounds) than a Hopscotch ticket in our case. But it was the flexibility that was key for us...

You can vary your route depending on what you are interested in and what the weather is doing.

Have a great trip in any case.

 

[Dave K]

We travel using single tickets rather than Hopscotch - much greater freedom and flexibility. Our last trip was in April and there was plenty of availability on all of the ferries. The only bookings we made was when we'd arrived at the departure points, either into the office or by phone whilst parked on the ramp awaiting an inter-island ferry. Once you have purchased your first ticket you are then 'on the system' and it is dead easy to pay as you go.

Because we got onto Skye via the bridge, buying single fares to get to the Western Isles and between the islands, it actually worked out slightly cheaper (a few pounds) than a Hopscotch ticket in our case. But it was the flexibility that was key for us...

You can vary your route depending on what you are interested in and what the weather is doing.

Have a great trip in any case.

Thanks Mike, I think we will just book as we go, how was the weather when you went in April?
Dave

 

[mikebeaches]

Thanks Mike, I think we will just book as we go, how was the weather when you'd went in April?
Dave

We had a bit of everything to be honest, which I think is quite normal for the islands. I don't think we had any days that were a wash out, if it was damp first thing it brightened up later. Sometimes it felt like all four seasons in a single day! But we had plenty of bright weather with sunshine - often breezy, but not too bad.

The only real weather disappointment was when we got to Barra (we'd travelled from north to south down the islands) the weather closed in with sea mist and fog. I'd been looking forward to seeing the airport in operation with planes landing on the beach - unfortunately, all flights were cancelled for a couple of days! I felt sorry for the islanders because they were bringing in all the Easter visitors.

And we caught the ferry back to Oban slightly sooner than anticipated because we couldn't really see very much there. So just one night on Barra on that occasion. But the whole trip was great.

Our strategy was predicated on the weather, and we only took the ferry from Skye out to Harris once we knew the forecast was reasonable. Had it been otherwise, we probably would have altered our plans and stayed longer on Skye or returned to the mainland.

If you are unsure whether to book in advance or not, try calling Cal Mac a few weeks before your planned travel date and ask how much availability they've got . We find them really helpful, and willing to advise when there would be plenty of space.

 

[WillH]

Go, you won't regret it. We went last year traveled south to north over three weeks. Absolutely sublime, beaches as good as Australia.