Western Isles

Scotland > Western Isles

40 miles west of the Scottish Mainland and in an arc of 130 miles from the Butt of Lewis in the north to Barra Head in the south, lie a string of islands known as The Hebrides or Western Isles. The Islands have a wealth of history combined with an unrivalled natural beauty. They all share the same culture, "Gaeldom", and the same language, Gaelic, and to many of the 28,000 population, English is a second language - their tenacity at keeping Gaeldom alive is admirable in the 21st century.

This strength of culture is one of the major draws of the Western Isles. Many visitors to Scotland make the mistake of assuming all island cultures are the same - Shetland and Orkney have a completely different culture and gaelic is not spoken there.

Lewis and Harris form the northernmost island but there the similarity ends. Lewis is, for the most part, fairly flat and treeless with enormous peat bogs and literally thousands of lochs (superb trout, sea tout and salmon fishing available in the Western Isles). About 100 villages are scattered over Lewis but Stornoway is the largest town (airport) and the administrative capital of the Western Isles.

Harris, on the other hand, is mountainous with some of the oldest rocks known to man. To the East it is rocky and to the west more fertile with some superb Atlantic beaches - a great place to surf and beachcomb and explore. Sea Angling and salmon and trout fishing is excellent. Tarbert is the main town in Harris and is also one of the main ports of entry - from Uig in Skye.

The middle inter-connected islands are North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Eriskay and Berneray (a favourite of Prince Charles) all linked by causeways. Ferry access from the Mainland is from Uig in Skye to Lochmaddy or Lochboisdale.

There are plenty of lochs around the east side of North Uist with beautiful empty sands facing the Atlantic. The southernmost island is Barra where Kisimul Castle stands proud in Castlebay. (Access to Barra is either by ferry from Oban or by air).