Scotland trip report; the Highlands and Hebrides
 

Hiyeh,

Just back from a little under two weeks and here are some recommendations and thoughts. We were there from July 21-Aug 2 and had unexpectedly fine weather and no midges.

We flew in and out of Glasgow, staying at the Argyll Hotel across from the Kelvingrove Park and Museum. Sweet, small, hotel; very nice people and good food at the restaurant. Newly renovated museum was really great. Took a walking tour with a fellow named Douglas which was a hoot (www.bairdstravel.com). Willow Tea Room was a disappointment; go look at the room upstairs (third floor) and find food elsewhere IMO.

As others have said; do not underestimate the drive times; 100 miles will take about 4 hours. The road north of Tarbet at the top of Loch Lomand is windy, narrow and terrifying, even though the maps make it look just like the rest of the nicer, wider A82.
Drove up North toward Fort William, stayed at a nice B&B in Onish (really Upper Ballachulish) called Aultbeg. Nice views, very nice people, fantastic shellfish at Lochleven Seafood Café nearby.

While in the Fort William area, we took the diesel train to Mallaig; runs on the same rails as the Jacobite Steam Train and is 1/3 the price. Great trip. Glad I wasn't driving it.

From Ft William we headed to Skye, with a stop at Eileen Donan. Very, very glad I went in, because that was the only "castley" castle we saw for the rest of the trip. The only other one we explored was Dunvegan in Skye, which felt like a large historic house (though the gardens where AMAZING).

Skye was MUCH bigger than I thought; it took 1.5 hours to drive from Kyle of Lochalsh to Portree. We had two nights 10 miles north of Portree and we really didn't have enough time to explore Skye; it needs 3-4 days or more. The B&B we stayed in had nice views (Corran guest House). We had a good meal at "The Isles" in Portree town square. We also had a wonderful lunch at Loch Bay seafood restaurant on the Waternish peninsula; gorgeous food and views.

We took the ferry from Uig to Lewis, stayed one night each in Lewis and Harris and three nights in North Uist. We LOVED where we stayed in all three places; Crowberry B&B in Back, north of Stornaway in Lewis and Hirta House on Scalpay in Harris were both upscale very well appointed B&Bs with outstanding food, beautiful furniture and fixtures and very gracious hosts. In N. Uist we stayed at Temple View Hotel, which was sweet, warm and wonderful run by the nicest couple in the world who made us never want to leave. Their homemade meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) were huge and delicious.

While on Lewis and Harris we saw the Callanais Stones, the Arnol Black House, Lews Castle, saw amazing white sand beaches and weird moonscapes (the Jupiter scenes in 2001 were shot on Harris). St Clement's Church on the southern tip of Harris was magical.

On the Uists, we went on walks given by the RSPB (Royal Society for the protection on Birds) and did lots of driving around looking at scenery. We never got all the way down to the bottom of South Uist because the weather finally became typical and it wasn't fun to drive in the rain and wind.

After the islands we drove back down to Glasgow, stopping near Oban on the way and staying at an Inn/restaurant called The Wide Mouthed Frog; surprisingly nice lodgings! Good food! Nice views!

I appreciate the reports I read before I left. Hope this one is helpful.

Testing to see if this really posted this time...

Very nice report Ibecker!

You managed to get to some great places w/o 1-night-standing it all over.

You are definitely right. <"i>do not underestimate the drive times"

We keep trying to tell folks that but - oh well :)

(BTW, you posted your report twice)

we were posting the same time - yes both reports posted.

To find all your threads - click on your name.

Thanks janisj,

So how come it doesn't pop up on top when I type Scotland or Hebrides into the box?

Because the Fodors search function doesn't work. It is something they intend to fix - but it has been out of whack for a couple of years at least.

If you want to find something, it is best to either use the pull down menu of countries or click on your name . . . . .

Indexing on threads happens overnight. Your first post was today so you won't be able to search by a word until tomorrow.

It looks like you had a great time. I covered some of your ground in Scotland and found the same thing about driving. It was an experience to say the least. One of the most exciting parts was the cow that tried to put its head into the car window.

I envy you the train ride as I love trains.

&quot;<i>Indexing on threads happens overnight.</i>&quot;

That is the way it used to work - but the search function is really on its last legs. Katie (a Fodors editor) has started a few threads on various forums about their plans. But for now the search function doesn't work very well - and we can't even use google advance search like we used to. Something about the current programming means google can't index our threads either . . . . .

Glad you got over to Lewis, Harris and the Uists. Reading your trip report makes me realize how much I want to go back. I've made a special note of the Temple View Hotel...it sounds just like the kind of place where I'd enjoy spending some time.

I agree with your assessment of the Willow Tearoom, but it is a place where people need to visit at least once...a bit like Loch Ness I suppose. I did like the C. R. Mackintosh chairs.

A search on both &quot;hebrides&quot; and &quot;highlands&quot; brought both your threads to the top.

That's great the midges stayed home. I was lucky to have booked myself -- ignorantly -- for a whole week on Skye once, and it turned out to be a perfect vacation of walking and relaxing and enjoying the stunning scenery. Still, I never got south of Sutherlin, and never went to Dunvegan. I would have needed another week.

I did have four nights on Skye (3.5 days) on our trip, about a month before you went. We were also lucky in the absence of midges, and it is beautiful - we went some other places you did as well, such as Lewis and Harris :) How did you like the drive between the southern end of Harris and Tarbert? Called the Golden Road? That, to me, was the most terrifying road! :)

Hi GreenDragon,

I always enjoy your trip reports by the way.

We didn't find the golden road too terrifying because it was a bright sunny day with no other traffic. I kept waiting for the landscape to get really really weird, but it just seemed rocky. We did see our first broken down and abandoned car there, and my husband took a walk and found a strange ravine filled with junked cars...

Another note to those traveling to Lewis and Harris; if you are there on a Sunday, EVERYTHING is closed. We ran out of gas and couldn't find dinner (the Harris Inn was booked) We finally ended up eating dinner there at about 10pm, and we weren't the only stranded hungry folks.

Thanks, lbecker :)

Yeah, we knew that everything would close on Sunday, so I re-arranged my plans so our Sundays were on Orkney and Skye, on either 'side' of Lewis/Harris. One of the joys of being an over-zealous planner!

Took a walking tour with a fellow named Douglas which was a hoot (www.bairdstravel.com).

Hello from Glasgow,
It was a plesure showing you round my home city and hope you enjoyed the walk as much as I did.
Next time you over we can have a beer or three.
Cheers Dougie
www.bairdstravel.com

ADVERTISING - REPORTED.

Thanks for the report. Living in hope that one day one such will mention Tiree (Maclean grandfather). Have been to Skye (before the bridge - stayed at the Lochalsh hotel at Kyle) and Oban, Mull and Iona, but time and the weather didn't let me get to Tiree. One day perhaps.