the wife & I are off to the Outer Hebrides for a fortnight in September- we are taken our camper & I would like to hear from others on experiences they have had. Primarily I’d like to learn a bit more about how easy it is to island hop via the ferries, whether its ok for wild camping/parking & must see locations whilst over there.

Its a no bikes holiday but we are keen to surf.

many thanks

Getting between the islands on ferries is easy – have a look at the “hopscotch” tickets on the Calmac website.

the wife & I are off to the Outer Hebrides for a fortnight in September- we are taken our camper & I would like to hear from others on experiences they have had. Primarily I’d like to learn a bit more about how easy it is to island hop via the ferries, whether its ok for wild camping/parking & must see locations whilst over there.

Just did 3 1/2 weeks on the islands, great place to go!

Ferries are very easy, but be sure to book in advance as they get full and you won’t get on especially on Saturdays as that’s hand over day, also if you are late don’t expect to get on; If you haven’t booked your ferries yet you may struggle with Saturday crossings to Harris/Uists

Wild camping shouldn’t be a problem as there aren’t a lot of people there, personally I stayed in a blackhouse on Uist and Lewis.

You might find it quite hard though as it does rain a lot, and its a fair bit colder than down south (top temp when I was there was 14 compared to Bristol which was 24) good news is there aren’t a huge amount of midges as they get blown away!

As for things to do, Uists aren’t geared up for tourists so bear in mind everything is shut on Sundays last orders at restaurants (not there are are many!) are ~ 7pm and roads are dead after 9pm; the Coops are well stocked for food though.

If you are walking the 3 peaks overlooking lochmaddy are a good half day walk, although it is a bog to the top! Other than that when I went I used this book and aimed to do 2 or 3 of the walks in a day as they are quite short (the beaches are amazing!)
http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9781907025334?redirected=true&viewCountry=UK&selectCurrency=GBP&gclid=CIbylafutb8CFejHtAodxR8AMA

Also I did a boat trip with some fishermen out of loch maddy (leaflet in the tourist office) which was good.

Oh and fuel is expensive! and garages are few and far between so make sure you fill up before you get over there. The fish and chip shop with a petrol pump is amusing ……

I really liked it but there isn’t a huge amount to do other than walk, biking (other than road biking) would be a nightmare in most of the islands as its pretty much all bog with granite in it as there isn’t any soil and very very few trees (imagine dartmoor but much harder); oh and you will want to swim in the sea but its **** cold!

Odd place insofar as I really liked it, but its somewhere I would never want to live…. and would struggle to recommend to many people as you need to be happy with your own company.

We’ve just got back from South Uist, but not with a camper! Dunno what your plans are but I’d be going Oban-Barra (don’t miss Vatersay while youre there), Barra (Ardmhor)-Eriskay/South Uist/Benbecula/North Uist/Berneray, ferry to Leverburgh on Harris then Lewis.
Saw a few campers up there & there’s loads of good wild spots by the beach (keep to the defined tracks on the Machair obviously) There’s a nice little camp/camper site at Balranald by the nature reserve too.
Hope the weather’s as good for you as it was for us, wall to wall sunshine!
The fish and chip shop with a petrol pump is amusing ……
If thats the one in Daliburgh then the chips are ok as well.

Barra and Eriskay are great the walk out to the abandoned Village is worth doing; good point about the Machair if you wild camp and chew it up with your van expect to get some grief from the elderly crofters as its protected

Harris has great beaches on the west side, but as I dont surf Im not sure how good the waves are.
Lewis on the other hand has epic surfing up near Ness.
Walking is tremendous in North Harris, and I would recommend a circuit of the Clisham as the ridge on the back is fantastic. Wild camping shouldnt be a problem as Highland region had to remove all their “dont camp here” signs a few years back due to them being illegal.
If someone is being a dick about you camping, then go up the road a couple of miles and hopefully you wont have the same experience.
Tarbert has a small shop, as does Leverburgh, otherwise it will be off to the metropolis at Stornaway for goodies.

I preferred the Uist’s and that chain of islands over Harris and Lewis as they felt busy and a lot more touristy.

South Uist from Barra a couple of weeks ago…
[url=https://flic.kr/p/o6AoyP]Outer Hebrides[/url] by clarkpm4242, on Flickr

Oban>Barra>Uists>Harris 🙂

Magical place.

Last ferry I went on was in Cornwall in the middle of no-where.

The ferryman watched my tow bar drag all the way down the slip way and then helpfully suggested that on the other side he would let the cars off and leave me at the back so he could run the ferry further up. So if your camper is low and its a steep ramp ask them to before loading 🙂

Great windsurf and surf conditions on tiree. When we were there wild camping was fine but I believe there is now a code of practice in place as it was getting busier, worth a google.

We went in May and had no bother just turning up and getting on ferries. There are quite a few public showers around, especially near the harbours, and on the larger ferries you can have a shower on board too!

Don’t bother going to Stornoway unless you want to say you’ve been, it’s just an entirely ordinary town.

I’d love to go back, but it’s soooo far!

Went up for a couple of weeks a few years ago. Spent more time at Dalmore beach than anywhere else. Nice camping spot, which we had to ourselves apart from a good guy called Angus. Great waves.

Good sessions at Europie and Valtos/Clibhe too.

Down day actcities were climbing on the seacliffs north of Dalmore, paddling around headlands, swimming at Shawbost, Blackhouses at Garenin, Carlaway Broch and Calanish standing stones, beach golf with a 9 iron and some balls we bought from a charity shop in Stornoway. And drinking.

Just looking at google earth has got me thinking that although the camp spot on the west end of the beach is lovely, it’s a bit of a way from teh car park, which might not be quite as nice. Definitely worth a visit anyway, if it works to stay there in the van, great.

You can stay in the Garenin blackhouses too, but it’s not as great a surf spot as Dalmore, and you’ve got a van anyway!

Have fun, post pics when you get back!

We took the “fast” road up to Ullapool, ferry to Stornoway, messed about on Lewis, then down through Harris and ferried over to Skye, drove down the crinkly bits on the West which was beautiful, then back down from Stirling.

Depending how much you want to see and how much you want to surf (and how good the swell is!) that might be plenty of hopping for 2 weeks?

The beach ‘behind’ the ‘airport’ on Barra, a couple of weeks ago…

[url=https://flic.kr/p/nYi2Fe]P1040471[/url] by jimmyg352, on Flickr