Scottish islands

[Lallydallydune]

I really want to do a trip around some Scottish islands.

Has anyone been and do you have any recommendations on which ones to go to?.

Thanks

Place marking as I would like to do the same

I met a woman last month randomly at a bus station.

And she was telling me that she'd just done a tour round the Scottish islands, and it was the best thing she'd ever done.

She inspired me to go!

Western Isles for me, beautiful, peaceful, friendly people, great nature and swimming in the sea there is one of my favourite things to do. I find the more effort you put in to getting there the better it is.

Skye is heaving full of tourists and people that don't know the etiquette of driving a camper van.

I've not been to Orkney or Shetland or many of the southern Inner Hebrides but they're on the list.

What is it that you're looking for? Someone might be able to narrow it down for you.

I'm not really looking to see anything specific.

Just maybe the logistics of going. Like where is a good place to start from in Scotland. What islands are close to each other. How many could you see in a weekend?

I'm Scottish and I avoid Skye as it's over run with tourists.

I've been to Tiree, Islay and Mull.

Tiree is small and very nice ,

Mull was my favourite in particular Calgary bay and the village of Dervaig .
Tobermory (Balamory) interesting

Lewis and Harris have wonderful beaches.

Midges horrendous though. I took a spray for my skin that worked as creams no use .
We were camping and I would go to hotel or b& b in n future .

Thank you!

They sound lovely.

It’s beautiful but don’t go at this time of the year and avoid Skye. You can’t envisage how completely freezing it is and ferries can get cancelled. Spring is gorgeous on the inner Hebrides and up to the outer Hebrides. You can’t envisage fly onto the beach on Barra from Glasgow. Food is incredible! Beaches beautiful.

Ooh barra made me think of a documentary I saw.

Did anyone see the documentary where a little boy remembered a past life in Barra, and they brought him to Barra and he pointed out all the things he remembered.

I based myself in Inverness with a friend and we did some Rabbies tours none was to the Outer Hebrides. Gorgeous and a really easy way to do it. We went in May and had really good weather. Unbelievably beautiful and peaceful.

A lot depends on how much time you have and how you would be travelling. Your options are much more limited if you would be relying on public transport on the islands.

If you want to move from one island to another you will be very dependent on the ferry service, which can be affected by bad weather and sometimes by mechanical problems. Some islands have airports or airstrips. I would say avoid the winter months to minimise risk of ferry disruption. You'll generally need to book your ferries ahead if you're taking a vehicle, certainly for the longer journeys.

To get a taste of island life in a more compact form, you could try going to Arran in South-West Scotland (it's in the Firth of Clyde, basically where the Clyde meets the Irish Sea, but not in the open sea exactly because of the Kintyre peninsula to the west). Arran is 20 miles long and 10 miles wide. The northern half is like the Highlands, dramatic scenery with mountains and glens, and the southern half is like the Borders and the Lake District with lower hills and a lot of farmland. You get to Arran by ferry from Ayrshire (Ardrossan or Troon). It's not that far from Glasgow. You can also get a ferry from the north of the island (Lochranza) which goes over to Argyll and gives you a much quicker way to get up to the Hebrides than going round by land on the mainland.

You do need a bit of time to do Scottish islands. There are some - like Arran - where you could maybe do it in a weekend or a day.
As folk have said- Skye is beautiful but very touristy and busy. You can get there by driving over the Skye bridge , and imo the North of the Island is more spectacular than the South.
From North Skye you can get a ferry to Tarbet in Harris. The beaches on Harris have to be seen to be believed. It’s much quieter which does mean much fewer amenities. From the South of Harris you can go to the Uists . They are very quiet and very beautiful. We did drive from North to South and back in a day . But I wouldn’t do that again - you need at least a couple of days.
You can drive from Harris to Lewis, or get to Lewis from Ullapool. It has some very interesting sights including the Callanish standing stones .

Islay is quite quiet and a bit more “bleak” ( bleak in a lovely way) . You get to it from near Tarbert on the Scottish mainland and it’s a 2 hour ferry journey.

Mull is gorgeous and one of the easiest places to get to. There are several ferries a day there from Oban . Scenery is lovely. A trip to Iona and Fingals cave is probably a must if you visit Mull.

I think the beaches chefs on Tiree are beautiful, and it’s small and pretty quiet . I haven’t been but a friend goes regularly.

I haven’t been to Orkney or Shetland but they are a bit further away again.

The other thing to remember is that it can take you a while to get anywhere once you reach the Islands. There are a lot of winding single track roads , and they are bigger than you think. It’s worth it for the scenery !

Agree Western Isles.

And even a short crossing can put people off- Mull is so peaceful compared to Skye or the route 500. And it's gorgeous, kind of a bit of everything!

No- if you remember please post! I have a friend who this would be perfect for.

Yes, I found it!

It's called "the boy that lived before."

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nhGX1YCsvAM&pp=ygUPQmFycmEgcGFzdCBsaWZlBarra

We did an awesome self-drive tour of the Outer Hebrides organised by McKinlay Kidd last summer. They book all of your ferries to, from and between the islands (we sailed from Oban, went north from Barra to the Uists then Harris and Lewis and back to Ullapool) and accommodation in small hotels or B&Bs. They also gave us amazing tips on where to eat (we would have been lost if not booked well
In advance) and what to see. And it was very reasonably priced - cannot recommend highly enough!

There's a lovely series on BBC iplayer called Island Crossings which is a documentary filmed on Calmac (Caledonian Macbrayne) ferries all up and down the west coast. Two series, 6 x 1-hour episodes. Each one features different routes and ferries and a bit of island life. Might give you some ideas.

We went to Harris and Lewis last Easter. Absolutely loved it, stunningly beautiful, interesting and very friendly. Desperate to go back and visit the other outer Hebrides.

I had a fantastic trip to Orkney a few years ago. Stayed in a holiday cottage in Stromness. Irish islands are also wonderful. Clare Island has the most amazing beach.

Are you interested in that kind of stuff. I love past life documentaries. When I was a young child I kept remembering a past life too.

They say it's quite common in young children.

https://www.calmac.co.uk/en-gb/explore/island-hopping/hebridean-island-hopping-adventure/#/

We have done this previously which was great. It’s just the luck of the draw if you get good weather or not.

A word in for Oban, on the mainland where the ferries leave from, handsome Victorian town . The seafood there is the best in U.K.

Islands in the west for scenery, Orkney for prehistory.

How will you get there? How will you get around? These are key factors - look at the ferry times for starters. From Oban to Barra is over 5 hours. We were staying in Argyll recently, and I fancied a trip to Jura, which we could see from our cottage. Turned out it was 4 hrs one-way - 1 hr drive down the coast, 2 hr ferry to Islay, drive up through Islay, then ferry to Jura. If you aren't driving, it's even worse.

How many could you see in a weekend?

Depends which ones, obviously, but a weekend won't get you far.

Iona, Mull and Harris. All beautiful.

I have family on the Isle of Mull, so am a regular visitor. I would suggest doing Mull and taking day trips to Iona and Staffa because you have to cross Mull to get to them.

You can get to Mull from Oban, Lochaline or Kilchoan (but I believe that the latter ones are summer only crossings).
Mull gets very busy when they have the Motor rally and the Music Festival.
You haven't said where you would travelling from but allow plenty of time in case you get stuck behind a flock of sheep on a single track road!

The Lochaline and Kilchoan ferries run all year round, albeit with a much reduced timetable for the Kilchoan ferry in winter (and no Sunday crossings).