Touring the West coast Scottish Islands…

… any suggestions?

🙂

Do it

http://www.blog.scotroutes.com/p/barra-to-butt.html

Harris and Lewis are ace, some amazing wee beaches tucked away then the splendour of harris.

Tiree is tiny but i absolutely love the place.

Thinking of copying this one over 5 ish days- credit card touring, so just need to find B&B’s/Hostels/Hotels…

Lots of folk seem to miss out Lewis. That’s a bit of a shame. It’s true that there are large sections of mostly open moor, but the various Callanish stone rings are worth repeat visits. the broch at Carloway is still probably the best preserved of all and there’s a view of not-so-ancient island life at the Arnol Blackhouse. You also getthe amazing cliffs and seascape at the Butt of Lewis. Of course to get there you need to tackle the Clisham…..

Edit: I see that TJ has already posted a link to my blog/ride report 🙂

Sorry to steal your thunder Druidh 🙂

See

http://mcalisterium.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/the-outer-hebrides-the-uists-benbecula-and-berneray/

http://mcalisterium.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/the-outer-hebrides-harris-and-lewis/

and

http://mcalisterium.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/western-isles-2011-harris-and-lewis/

for ideas.

mactheknife – Member

Harris and Lewis are ace, some amazing wee beaches tucked away then the splendour of harris.

Harris and Lewis is ace!!! Pendant mode off.

No experience of cycling there, but I did spend a couple of days on Harris/Lewis a couple of years back. Absolutely stunning, and from memory the roads were pretty quiet even during the summer.

Make sure you visit Luskentyre beach. Stunning.

stevewhyte – Member

Harris and Lewis is are ace!!! Pendant mode off.Sorry. It may be one island but it is two communities.

They may be but doesnt change that fact that the discussion was about the island. Sorry but there you are! Hence why it should be ‘is’. Cheer up you dont have to be right all the time.

FFS

We did a wee trip recently
fatties on the beach

Tootall ,did your route anticlockwise a year ago , started at Oban ,West coast of Mull,Ardnamurchan ,Mallaig then the same as you .Had to miss Barra though – beware ferry options back to Oban !

I’ve just got back from a few days riding around The Outer Hebrides. We sailed to Barra from Oban (leaving the car at the Lonsdale Road car park by the Leisure Centre which is free long-stay) then rode up through the Uists and up to Harris before turning round and coming back down again.

I can hugely recommend staying at http://www.lochedge.co.uk/ A superb B+B that also does very good evening meals, has a wonderful location and very friendly owners. We also got a free, and very tasty, packed lunch for the next day due to arriving under our own steam.

The Lionacleit Guesthouse on Benbecula was also very good.

I’d also second a trip to Luskentyre beach. We camped there and it was stunning. Also make sure that you ride the Golden Road along Harris’ eastern shore as there are some simply stunning views.

Recommended cafes are the Skoon Art Cafe at Geocrab on Harris, the Temple Cafe at Northton on the south-western corner of Harris, the cafe at the Claddach Kirkibost centre on North Uist and the food at the Orasay Inn on South Uist was amazing (just don’t judge the book by the cover)

Hope that helps a bit

Got a similar trip planned but intending to go as far north as we can before coming back through Skye but then to mainland at Glenelg, down the road to Arnisdale, rough stuff to Kinlcoh Hourn then back to Fort Bill and down to Oban. Camping generally and about 10 days which is too short for real fun.