Driving from Southeast to the Outer Hebrides... anyone done it?

[starrynight123]

Hello,

My dh and I are thinking of driving from just outside NW London to the Outer Hebrides, and wondered if anyone else has done this trip and has any advice?

We've - obviously! - checked the distances, ferries etc and had the car serviced, so that's all fine. Also, we both enjoy driving and tend to swap every 2 hours or so.

It is just the sheer length of the journey and figuring out how far we will be able to drive so that we only need to do one hotel/b&b before we arrive at the Hebrides.

Any advice would be very welcome!

Hi everyone,

I have booked my hotels and ferries. We will drive to Glasgow stay overnight before travelling to Skye - via the Skye bridge which I've always wanted to drive across! - and taking the ferry from Uig to Tarbert, and then the drive to Stornoway.

On the return, it will be from Stornoway to Ullapool and then a night in Glasgow, before driving south the following day.

Very excited!!!! I have never been to Skye before, and I'm so looking forward to driving through the island. Still nervous of the long ferry ride from Stornoway to Ullapool, but the descriptions of the beauty of the journey will, hopefully, make it all okay.

Fingers crossed!!

Thank you all again for your helpful suggestions and comments - much appreciated!!

I was thinking of you! You have to say Ohhhhhhhhhh and Wheeeee! As you go over the Skye bridge, is the law. Refill car with fuel at Broadford as it's a lot dearer on the Long Isle. Have fun. We'll be en route on Friday via a Highland Games.

Fabulous. Skye is my ancestral homeland and I know it very well. It's my favourite place in the whole world. .

Just one more thought in case you're bothered by midges. Avon SkinSoSoft oil spray with pale blue artwork is very good at keeping them away. You can get it from Amazon.

Have a great trip.

How was your trip? We're in Harris now.

Hello!

We did the trip and it was FANTASTIC!!!! The scenery as we drove through the highlands and islands was breathtaking!! I'm so glad we broke up the journey in Glasgow and driving through Skye was so special. Portree was very busy - couldn't find any parking anywhere - so we drove on to Uig, which was much quieter, and my husband had a late lunch in the pub/restaurant while I sat and worried about going on the ferry.

As everyone said it would be, the ferry was fine. Some slight movement, but tolerable. I stopped in a pharmacy and stocked up on the strongest seasickness tablets I could find!

While we were in Harris, we went to Callanish and also saw the brock just down the road. Apart from that, I was working for a few days so the only other sightseeing we did was to look at Lews Castle and the museum there. Spent 5 mins dashing into the Harris Tweed shop in Stornoway to buy some gorgeous tweed, and that was it! Oh, I did get some 'fruit pudding' as well because I love it :-)

The ferry from Stornoway to Ullapool was magnificent. The views were spectacular and the sun was shining all the way. It was as still as a millpond - honestly, no movement at all, which must have been a first!!

We lunched in Inverness before pressing on. We were originally going to stop in Edinburgh for the night, but we decided to drive on as far as we could, and we somehow managed to drive all the way back home by 11.15pm. Miracle! Swapping regularly and stopping at services for a stretch and snack really helped. The last 70 miles or so were hard going but do-able.

Thank you all so much for all your advice - it really helped! I can honestly say that I would definitely do the journey again and can't wait to go back to the western isles and spend more time there the next time!!

I would aim to get further north than Glasgow on the first day. There's dual carriageway as far as Perth and even after that the A9 is part-dualled up to Inverness.

It depends where in the south east you are but you could probably get as far as Pitlochry in 10hrs (maybe a bit more with stops).

The A82 route is beautiful but not a quick drive.

Oh I just realised that this is an old thread!

Glad you had a good trip!

I've done it several times, albeit not for 25 years or more! We used to stop somewhere between Carlisle and Glasgow for the night on the way.

D'oh!

Glad to hear you had a great time. We've had a trip down to S. Uist for a couple of days and went to Barra and Vatersay today for first time in 19 years. I'd say that these islands are wonderful to visit too - different cultural nuances. Back to Harris tomorrow. Hurry ye back! Hope your marag (pudding) was from Charley Barley's.

Old thread but we've done South coast England to Fort William in a day with children!