South Uist landscape VisitScotland/Paul Tomkins

A private tour of the Outer Hebrides

2410 | 31 August to 8 September | 9 days | maximum number 12

This tour visits the Outer Hebrides – the isles of Lewis, Harris, Berneray, North Uist, Grimsay, Benbecula, South Uist and Eriskay – and their various attractions, and includes incidental visits to Carnousie House, the Isle of Skye, Appin and Loch Earn

Please note that this is a private tour open only to invitees

Welcome to Na h-Eileanan Siar, welcome to another world…

Welcome to the Outer Hebrides, the Western Isles, Na h-Eileanan Siar – call it what you will, it is an enchanted and enchanting place, an archipelago of some sixty-plus islands separated from the Scottish mainland by the Minch.

Of its 15 inhabited islands, this tour visits Lewis and Harris, two distinctly different parts of the same island, and Berneray, North Uist, Grimsay, Benbecula, South Uist and Eriskay – six islands joined by causeways and united under the banner Uist.

It is unashamedly a sightseeing tour, taking in a veritable smörgåsbord of delights – from the world-famous standing stones at Calanais to a wildlife-watching boat trip. We learn about Harris Tweed, visit a gin distillery and explore the Machair, a unique and fagile coastal environment.

As always, we eat well – especially so if you enjoy seafood – and we sleep well too.

Finally, it is worth reading the Outer Hebrides website, here, it is packed with information.

Price

Per person, sharing

4,480 USD

Prices, per person, sharing a double or twin room

Prices, reservations & payments

Please read the Prices, reservations & payments section in the Information & FAQs page and the comments in the additional tour information below the tour itinerary.

RESERVE YOUR PLACE HERE

Itinerary

Scroll down to see Additional Tour Information – sleeping and eating, general information and a tour area map

D1 Saturday, 31 August

Tim will meet you at Aberdeen Airport, fresh from your morning flight, from Amsterdam or London or elsewhere, and whisk you away to Carnousie House for lunch with Tim and Sofia before a conducted tour of our garden, and an explanation of our plans.

Later in the afternoon, we’ll drive along the Moray Coast to Nairn, for the night at the Golf View Hotel, arriving in good time to check in and enjoy a stroll along the promenade for dinner at the Sun Dancer Restaurant.

Today’s driving is approx. 100 miles

D2 Sunday, 1 September

We set off across Scotland to the Kyle of Lochalsh, cross the bridge onto the Isle of Skye and continue the length of the island to Uig, for the early afternoon sailing to Tarbert on the Isle of Harris. We’ll stop along the way, possibly at Portree, Skye’s chief town, for lunch and to stretch our legs.

Our ferry arrives in Tarbet late in the afternoon and it’s just a few hundred yards to the Hotel Hebrides, our home for the next three nights, where we’ll arrive in good time to check in before a stroll around town and enjoy dinner at the hotel.

Today’s driving is approx. 150 miles

Lewis Chessmen at the Lews Castle Museum

D3 Monday, 2 September

Much of our day is in Stornoway, the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Outer Hebrides, starting at Lews Castle Museum for an introduction to the history and heritage of this archipelago and then to the Harris Tweed Authority, to visit the Story Room and learn about Harris Tweed.

After lunch, and a wander around Stornoway, we’ll return to Tarbert to visit Harris Tweed Isle of Harris, a family business specialising in Harris Tweed, and the Isle of Harris Distillery, distillers of whisky and fine gin, for a tasting before dinner at the North Harbour Bistro on nearby Scalpay.

Today’s driving is approx. 90 miles

Harris Tweed

Harris Tweed is the only fabric in the world governed by its own Act of Parliament and the only fabric produced in commercial quantities by truly traditional methods.

Unusually, the wool is dyed before being spun – dyed in the wool – allowing a multitude of colours to be blended into the yarn and creating a cloth of great depth and complexity. It is made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides, handwoven by islanders at home and finished in the Outer Hebrides. This definition and protection of the Harris Tweed name are enshrined in the Harris Tweed Act 1993.

D4 Tuesday, 3 September

The day is spent exploring the west coast of Lewis, starting at the world-famous Calanais Standing Stones and Visitor Centre. Erected some 5,000 years ago they, like many of Scotland’s Neolithic monuments, predate Stonehenge. The whole site was covered with peat sometime between 1000 and 500 BC and the stones weren’t fully revealed until 1857 – once the peat was cut for fuel!

We’ll have coffee in the visitor centre, before visiting Gearrannan Blackhouse Village, for a stark and very real glimpse into the life of a crofting community – right up until the 1970s – before continuing to the far north of Lewis, for lunch at Comunn Eachdraidh Nis, and to learn yet more about life in these remote communities. Our final visit is to the ancient church of St. Moluag, here since the 12th or the 13th century and quite possibly sited on or close to a 6th century foundation.

We return to Tarbert for drinks and dinner at our hotel.

Today’s driving is approx. 150 miles

D5 Wednesday, 4 September

Leaving Tarbert behind, we take the winding coastal road to St Clement’s Church, a beautiful church built as the burial place of the MacLeod Clan by Alasdair MacLeod of Dunvegan and Harris, the 8th Chief of MacLeod. The church contains an unparalleled collection of later-medieval and post-reformation sculptures, the finest of which is the MacLeod tomb.

From St Clements it’s not far to Northton, for our late morning visit to Rebecca Hutton, the woman behind Toabh Tuath Tweeds, for a weaving demonstration and much else besides! Visiting Rebecca was, quite possibly, everyone’s favourite visit of the 2023 inagural tour.

We double back on ourselves to Leverburgh, for the one-hour afternoon ferry crossing from the Isle of Harris to North Uist. It’s then another hour to Langass Lodge, our home for the next three nights, where we’ll arrive in good time to check in and relax before drinks and dinner at the Lodge.

Today’s driving is approx. 70 miles

Sunset from the Lady Anne Wildlife Cruise

D6 Thursday, 5 September

We will stay close to home today, starting with a circular walk on Beinn Langais, taking in two ancient monuments and expansive views across North Uist. The first monument, Barpa Langais, is the best preserved Neolithic chambered cairn in the Outer Hebrides and is typical of tombs built across the islands by Neolithic communities. The second monument is Sornach Coir'Fhinn, a stone circle of 24 upright stones and a similar number of recumbent stones, commanding wide views across Loch Langass.

We’ll then drive south to the neighbouring island of Grimsay, to visit Uist Wool for an introduction to what it takes to create yarn on the Outer Hebrides and, hopefully, have a demonstration. Around the corner from Uist Wool is the Café on the Pier, where we will have lunch, before embarking on the Lady Anne, moored up at the adjacent harbour, for an afternoon’s sightseeing and wildlife-watching before supper at the Westford Inn, en route back to Langass Lodge.

Today’s driving is approx. 40 miles

Machair

Machair is a Gaelic word meaning fertile low lying grassy plain, it describes one of the rarest habitats in Europe and the most extensive Hebridean areas are found on the west coast of Uist. We’ll explore the succession from dunes to grassland and the traditional arable cultivation worked in rotation.

See the Nature Scotland website for more information and the VisitHebrides website for information and an excellent explanatory video.

D7 Friday, 6 September

We’ll visit several attractions along the length of South Uist, starting with a brief visit to Our Lady of the Isles, built as an expression of the devotion of the people of South Uist to the Blessed Virgin Mary but also as a protest to the then proposals for a missile range on Benbecula.

We’ll bear this in mind as we visit the Kildonan Museum, which houses some 10,000 items related to the social, domestic and cultural history of South Uist, including the collection of the late Father John Morrison. We’ll stop to photograph Flora Macdonald's Birthplace and press on to Eriskay, for lunch at Am Politician, named for S.S Politician, which ran aground off Eriskay in 1941.

We return along the coast road, stopping at Ardmichael Cemetery, to explore the beach and surrounding Machair and Howmore and its ancient chapels – a Christian presence for some 1400 years.

We’ll wind our way back to Langass Lodge for dinner.

Today’s driving is approx. 100 miles

D8 Saturday, 7 September

The plan is to take the early morning ferry from nearby Lochmaddy, returning to Uig, on the Isle of Skye, from whence we came and have breakfast on the ferry!

This gives us all day to drive, at some leisure, to within touching distance of Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, ready for your onward journeys tomorrow.

We’ll cross Skye, returning to the mainland via the bridge at Lochalsh, and stop for coffee and to stretch our legs at Eilean Donan Castle, which you all know.

From Eliean Donan we continue east to the Great Glen, before turning south, through Fort William, for a drive along the shore of Loch Linnhe to Appin, for lunch and a visit to Kinlochlaich Garden & Plant Centre, before turning east, again, to Loch Earn and Achray House, our hotel for the night, where we’ll arrive in good time to check in and relax before our end of tour dinner.

Today’s driving is approx. 250 miles

NB. The alternative, to taking the early morning ferry, would mean arriving at our destination port too late in the evening to reach any decent accommodation and then leaving too great a distance to drive tomorrow.

D9 Sunday, 8 September

Achray House is some sixty miles from Glasgow Airport and Edinburgh Airport – about an hour and a half in the minibus – and, once I know everyone’s onward travel plans, I can plan this morning’s journey.

Of course, if you are staying in the UK and do not need to travel to either of the airports or if you wish to go elsewhere, then let me know and we will assist you in getting to your next destination.

Today’s driving is approx. 70 miles

Crofts and Crofting

Crofting is a system of landholding, unique to Scotland, and is an integral part of life in the Highlands & Islands. There are around 20,000 crofts and more than 750,000 hectares of land in crofting tenure, with approximately 33,000 people living in crofting households.

A croft is a relatively small agricultural holding, normally held in tenancy, and which may or may not have buildings or a house associated with it. Crofts range in size from less than 0.5 hectares to more than 50 hectares, but an average croft is nearer 5 hectares.

The Highland Clearances

The Highland Clearances were the forced evictions of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands in two phases from 1750 to 1860.

The first phase resulted from agricultural improvement and involved the enclosure of the open fields managed on the run rig system and shared grazing. The second phase involved overcrowded crofting communities from the first phase and this is when assisted passages became common. Some evictions were brutal.

Additional tour information

Sleeping & eating

We stay in four hotels, two on the mainland, on our first and final evening, and two on the Outer Hebrides, each for three nights, on the Isle of Harris and North Uist.

We spend our first night in Nairn at the Golf View Hotel, on the Moray Coast, dining locally at the Sun Dancer. On the Isle of Harris, we stay at the Hotel Hebrides for three nights, dining once at the North Harbour Bistro, and at Langass Lodge, on North Uist, also for three nights, dining once at the Westford Inn. Returning to the mainland, we’ll spend our final night overlooking Loch Earn at Achray House.

The attractions

We will visit a range of attractions, including natural attractions in our surroundings, with a focus on the heritage of the Outer Hebridean communities, and especially the importance – culturally and economically – of Harris Tweed, the history of crofting and the implications of The Highland Clearances and land reform, and early Christianity on the islands and its lasting impact, today.

The landscapes and seascapes are breathtaking and it is important that we take time to enjoy them.

Bedrooms & upgrades

We will generally book standard rooms (however described) for the group, although these may vary from room to room in the hotel.

Single travellers
Single travellers will have their own room, typically a ‘smaller’ double room or, very occasionally, a twin room.

Upgrades
If you would like to upgrade your room, please look at the hotel’s website and then contact us to enquire as to availability.

Sornach Coir'Fhinn with Langass Lodge behind

Good to know – the Hebrides

The Outer Hebrides comprises 15 inhabited islands and another 50 or so significant other, uninhabited islands. The population is about 27,000.

And, despite the fact that the Isle of Lewis and the Isle of Harris are, physically, one island, they are spoken of as if each is its own island – physically and culturally they are quite different.

Gaelic is widely spoken as a first language.

Good to know – ferries & driving

We will take three ferries and one boat trip, a wildlife cruise. The ferries between the mainland and the islands – crossing The Minch – are deepwater crossings and can be rough.

Additionally, there are one or two long drives, most notably on the penultimate day, when we drive from the northern tip of Skye to our final hotel at Loch Earn – a distance of about 250 miles. Moreover, much, if not most, of the driving on the Hebridean roads is on winding, single-carriageway roads, with passing places.

Joining instructions

The meeting arrangements, as outlined in Day 1 of the itinerary, above, will be confirmed by email some 8-weeks before the tour.

NB. Where we specify a hotel as the meeting point, it is because of the hotel’s location, the ease of access to it for the minibus and because it affords customers, who are not staying at the hotel, a comfortable and secure environment in which to wait. It is not because we endorse the hotel.

Useful links

Click here for some useful links to other websites, notably websites of our national and regional tourism, heritage, horticultural, cultural organisations, and travel and transport websites.

Please let us know if any website links are dysfunctional. Thank you.

Accuracy & faithfulness

We try to be as accurate as we can, when describing our itineraries, and as faithful to the itinerary as we can, when undertaking the tour, but changes do occur, either necessarily or unavoidably.

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the assistance of the many guide books and websites we use in planning our tours. Thank you.

“I keep thinking about the wonderful skyscapes, we were so lucky and we were so well looked after…”

— Sheila MacDermot, September 2023