Outer Hebrides

[tim batten]

We have recently returned from 2 weeks touring in the California on Skye and the Outer Hebrides. We were very fortunate with the weather, which was glorious most of the time. The west coast of the Hebridean islands has incredible beaches - white sand, with clean turquoise water. When the weather is good, you would think you were in the West Indies or the Greek Islands. The only difference being that there is nobody else around! Wild camping is legal, and there are lots of superb locations to camp right by the beaches. When you need a campsite, there are several good ones. I know there is already some good information on the website about this area, but if anyone is heading there and would welcome some suggestions, please get in touch.

 

[PaulS]

:hello
R doo Tim
Sounds like a great time you had....very jealous.
We're off this summer hols for a few weeks and am thinking NW Scotland. I know the Glenshiel area, Kintail Lodge Hotel etc...as I go mountain walking...Seven Sisters of Kintail is an awesome ridge walk I'd reccomend. Falls of Glamoch is cool aswell as all around the area. But not been over to Skye properly and beach stop overs would be ideal so any tips, tried and tested would be great. We go North Wales a lot, Cornwall, Dartmoor, the Lakes and Peaks a lot too but fancy a change. Long way though...we live in Eastbourne.
Holmfirth is lovely by the way, used to cycle through a lot over Saddleworth.
I'm a 'Barnsley lad living darn sarth'
Cheers
Paul

 

[tim batten]

Hi Paul,
How do they understand what your saying down in that part of the country!
Re walking/climbing, Skye has the Cuillin Hills (slightly more than hills!!) which are popular with climbers. We bought a good book of walks: The Western Isles - Skye and the Small Isles Walks by Sephen Whitehorne (ISBN 1841582131). We also used the Cool Camping Scotland book (ISBN 978 1906889043) for campsites on the islands. As you will be aware, there are very few roads on the southern Hebrides islands (ie below Lewis) and very few people. On many occasions, we just used our OS maps, and followed a road down to the coast (normally west - the sandy side) where there would invariably be an amazing spot to wild camp. We bought a CalMac Island hopscotch ferry ticket, which was the best value for getting across from Malaig to Skye, from Skye to North Uist, then across to Harris, and back from Lewis to Ullapool. We only met 2 other 'real' Californias on our trip, but loads of T5 conversions. If you go, beware of midges! Cheers - Tim.

 

[PaulS]

R doo Tim
I'm bi lingual these days and I talk slower to help them understand....and lived darn here 16 years or so!!
Cheers for the info. Def always wanted to do the Mallaig to Inverie ferry and hike it around Knoydart - next on my wish list! Skye always looks amazing and will be a must for us I hope this year.
Cheers
Paul

 

[YorkshireHeathen]

Na Then,

Just wanted to say thanks for this info....and hello to my fellow tykes! :hello

I would very much welcome any suggestions by PM on the Isles as I will be heading up there hopefully this autumn. Anyone managed to see the northern lights?

It might be a good idea if the forum could get together a map/GPS co-ordinate combo style internet display thingy, so people could drop placemarks of good wild camping spots they've found... but there's always a conflict of interest I guess, if you want to go back there and have it to yourself again later.

(Tim, are there still a lot of people called 'Hellawell' around the Homfirth area? It seems that's where we all originated from - my Gran was from Slathwaite.)

Cheers for the tips.

Paul

 

[Martin]

Na Then,


It might be a good idea if the forum could get together a map/GPS co-ordinate combo style internet display thingy, so people could drop placemarks of good wild camping spots they've found... but there's always a conflict of interest I guess, if you want to go back there and have it to yourself again later.

Paul

Great idea Paul, does anyone know a way we can do this where we all have access to input our own plots, we could use this also for reviews of campsites etc ...

 

[coordinated]

Great idea Paul, does anyone know a way we can do this where we all have access to input our own plots, we could use this also for reviews of campsites etc ...

Agreed - a great idea.

I'll set up a shared Google map and write instructions about how to update it...

Steve

 

[coordinated]

Thanks for the idea, Paul :clap

Our new shared map is now available.

Contributions welcomed

Best wishes,
Steve

 

[YorkshireHeathen]

Excellent!

 

[JockMacMad]

We are thinking of the Outer Hebrides this September if we ever get a Cali in time.

Trip from London, where I work, via Yorkshire, where I grew up and parents live to Skye where home is and family is from . Then on to the islands as the wife has never been.

Now just need to find a new Cali and close the deal. :headwall

 

[Bigbud]

We'll be in the outter heb sometime in Sept I've been to Tiree a few times and love the island so much but its time for a change. So much water to kitesurf over :clap

 

[JockMacMad]

Eh up

From Skye, grew up outside Bratford so I'm trilingual as I'm in London for work every two weeks :mrgreen:

If you park in Portree or especially the COOP car park there have your forum window sticker in your van or you might find a forum card stuck on your van.

I always stick one on a Cali when I see one.

If your heading through Portree let me know I'll put the kettle on.

EDIT: or in Applecross as we have a house there as well. Good to see the Applecross Campsite on the map. As the owner is from Holmfirth you will feel right at home

 

[Aidy P]

We're thinking of a road trip for two weeks to the Outer Hebrides with the kids (6&8) and dog. Any advice appreciated. We'll be starting in North Yorkshire...thinking of a big day driving up to Oban and overnighting there before getting a ferry over to Barra.

How long would people suggest to work our way up to Lewis and then what route would you suggest getting back to Yorkshire?

 

[Skylark2.0]

Check out the beaches on Vatersay, they're beautiful.
There are some lovely deserted beaches if you walk.
Benbecula is a bit special as is North Uist. Little island of the north us worth a walk.
Haris is spectacular, luskentyre vast and moody.
Stones of Callanish great.
Take as long as you can, it's hatd to get back again.

 

[Aidy P]

Do you think 8 days working up from Barra to Lewis will give us enough time?

 

[motacyclist]

We're thinking of a road trip for two weeks to the Outer Hebrides with the kids (6&8) and dog. Any advice appreciated. We'll be starting in North Yorkshire...thinking of a big day driving up to Oban and overnighting there before getting a ferry over to Barra.

How long would people suggest to work our way up to Lewis and then what route would you suggest getting back to Yorkshire?

Hi Aidy

We booked an Island Hopscotch a few years back, sailed from Oban to Barra (memories of camping at the beach airport will stay with me forever!) and worked our way north. We only had a week and it was rushed so we never reached Stornaway, we had to head back to Tarbert for the ferry to Uig. The upshot of this was that we determined to go back as soon as possible, which we did the following year but this time we skipped the lower islands and sailed straight to Tarbert. Again only for a week, this is the problem when you have your own business.

I'd say two weeks would just about be enough (from our experience), longer would be better but if you only have two weeks it's fine. I'd say the two weeks would give you an idea of the best places to come back for a return visit, you will want to.

We travelled from Chester area, I think on the first occasion we stopped at Oban and caught the ferry next day. From North Yorkshire this is not a problem in a mile cruncher like the Cali. Take whichever route takes your fancy, there's plenty to see on the way.

There is a free motorhome parking spot outside Tesco in Oban, but we preferred to stay at a proper site. Oban, by the way, is well worth spending some time exploring.

Your dog will certainly enjoy it, there are few entertainments for the kids so hopefully they like walking and scenery!

The beaches on the islands are, I would say, the best in the UK but the whole time we were there on both occasions the wind never stopped blowing and we always had our full outdoor gear on (this in June!). If you're into wind or kite surfing this is the place! One advantage of the wind was no problem with midges!

Camping on the islands is not a problem and you could wild camp every night; however there are commercial sites where you can get a shower etc and the prices were reasonable. Some of the free camp areas are provided by the local community and have toilet and water facilities (it is customary to pay a donation into a box provided for the purpose).

We really enjoyed our time there and look forward to making another trip with a bit more time for a leisurely stay. Might see you there!

 

[Aidy P]

Thanks for the tips Skylark and Motacyclist.
The kids are used to walking and scenery. As long as it's not a wash out and we can all get out it will be fine.
I've been to Oban & scuba dived there for two days before working our way to Skye.
This was years ago, before kids and with a tent rather than van. I remember watching a ferry leave from Uig and thinking...I wish. We're finally getting to that stage where the kids are resilient enough to cope so we're going back ... & further.
We sea kayaked off north Skye for an hour with a 9ft basking shark last time.

Would you recommend any companies / places on the islands for activities such as kayaking?

Is it easy to stock up on food / supplies / diesel or do you just have to plan a bit more? With four of us and the dog, space is limited ( and the dog eats like a horse!)

 

[motacyclist]

Thanks for the tips Skylark and Motacyclist.
The kids are used to walking and scenery. As long as it's not a wash out and we can all get out it will be fine.
I've been to Oban & scuba dived there for two days before working our way to Skye.
This was years ago, before kids and with a tent rather than van. I remember watching a ferry leave from Uig and thinking...I wish. We're finally getting to that stage where the kids are resilient enough to cope so we're going back ... & further.
We sea kayaked off north Skye for an hour with a 9ft basking shark last time.

Would you recommend any companies / places on the islands for activities such as kayaking?

Is it easy to stock up on food / supplies / diesel or do you just have to plan a bit more? With four of us and the dog, space is limited ( and the dog eats like a horse!)

Hi Aidy

As I recall, the camp site we stayed at near Oban was very close to a scuba diving centre, so that might ring a bell?

No problem with supplies, each community has a general store, usually inside a corrugated tin shack, which seems to stock just about everything. These stores fascinate me, they are all different and this makes a change to the corporate stores we are used to.

I would suggest you fill up before you leave the mainland, mainly to avoid paying the higher price on the islands, as there are no shortage of filling stations. By the way, we where in the more remote parts of Scotland last year and noticed that some communities have clubbed together to install their own filling stations (Applecross springs to mind). These were run on a non-profit making basis and the fuel prices were actually cheaper than where I live, which is within a few miles of the Stanlow oil refinery .... visitors were encouraged to buy in order to keep down the cost of bulk buying the fuel, great idea.

Sorry, I can't help with the kayaking; but I do recall there is a well know kite surfing school near Barra airport so if you have time that would be fun

 

[Aidy P]

Hi Aidy

As I recall, the camp site we stayed at near Oban was very close to a scuba diving centre, so that might ring a bell?

No problem with supplies, each community has a general store, usually inside a corrugated tin shack, which seems to stock just about everything. These stores fascinate me, they are all different and this makes a change to the corporate stores we are used to.

I would suggest you fill up before you leave the mainland, mainly to avoid paying the higher price on the islands, as there are no shortage of filling stations. By the way, we where in the more remote parts of Scotland last year and noticed that some communities have clubbed together to install their own filling stations (Applecross springs to mind). These were run on a non-profit making basis and the fuel prices were actually cheaper than where I live, which is within a few miles of the Stanlow oil refinery .... visitors were encouraged to buy in order to keep down the cost of bulk buying the fuel, great idea.

Sorry, I can't help with the kayaking; but I do recall there is a well know kite surfing school near Barra airport so if you have time that would be fun

The dive centre was called Puffin but I can't remembered where we stayed though (it was about ten years ago). Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Skylark2.0]

Thanks for the tips Skylark and Motacyclist.
The kids are used to walking and scenery. As long as it's not a wash out and we can all get out it will be fine.
I've been to Oban & scuba dived there for two days before working our way to Skye.
This was years ago, before kids and with a tent rather than van. I remember watching a ferry leave from Uig and thinking...I wish. We're finally getting to that stage where the kids are resilient enough to cope so we're going back ... & further.
We sea kayaked off north Skye for an hour with a 9ft basking shark last time.

Would you recommend any companies / places on the islands for activities such as kayaking?

Is it easy to stock up on food / supplies / diesel or do you just have to plan a bit more? With four of us and the dog, space is limited ( and the dog eats like a horse!)

There's a company on Barra that do sea kayak excursions along the coast and little islands off the bottom of Barra. Beautiful little gems. http://www.clearwaterpaddling.com
Lots of little shops around and supermarkets these days, often quite big distances between. Always have a couple of days scran in reserve in case you find somewhere fabulous and don't want to move!
We always book the ferries in the school hols as they can get full on key crossings but I like to research and book sites in advance.
We liked the bird reserve on North Uist.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/seenature/reserves/guide/b/balranald/about.aspx
We camped at the North Ledaig cc club site and reserved a pitch right on the loch shore. Fabulous sunset.

 

[Aidy P]

Thanks Skylark. Just watched the kayak companies video. Stunning photography!
Thanks for the tips. I'm loving this Christmas holiday time to do research and plan.

Did you see Puffins? I've read that you can go on a boat trip. I wonder if there is any way of doing it with a dog?

 

[dougal]

Aidy P, if you would like to see some Puffins you could stop off on your trip north at North Berwick. The Seafari tours run trips to the islands of the Forth and they have quite large Puffin populations from around May to late August (from memory).
Dougal

 

[MattBW]

I dived in the Sound of Mul many years ago, sounds similar to your description, they had one pub and you had to order food a week in advance to ensure they had some for you.

Wonderful views around there, mind blowing.

 

[TwentyOneThirtyFive]

Try the Treshnish Isles for Puffins. We got a boat from Tobermory on Mull.

Ahh, Puffin Dive Centre. Probably best I keep my views about them to myself Fantastic diving though. Hispania was always one of my favourites.

 

[Skylark2.0]

Do you think 8 days working up from Barra to Lewis will give us enough time?

Probably, you wouldn't want any less. You need to take time to enjoy the serenity of it all.