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Hi all,
I realise this isn't about Edinburgh but the Leisure part hopefully fits. I plan to cycle around the Western Isles, Barra, Uists, Harris, then over to Skye.
Has anyone got any tips? Places to visit? Things to do. We're doing this at a very very leisurely pace so any thing you can add.
Also this will be my first long cycle holiday, 2 weeks, have got the panniers now!
Any tips would be awesome :)
Cheers
Spud
We did this a few years ago. Lovely holiday!
Train to Oban (book ahead with bikes to get them spaces), ferry to Barra. The ferry arrives quite late so we had a B&B not far away.
We had a quite tight timetable, with B&Bs booked in different places every night, although we had a couple of nights in Tarbet and then (shh) cheated by getting a bus to Stornoway and doing Callanish, Garenin black house village on public buses. Then we got a ferry to Uig and cycled over to Portree (most miserable day's cycling ever because of force 7 headwind and rain. Also after the peace of the outer Hebrides the two-lane roads were just so busty and uncaring by comparison! We then took another day to get to Broadford and another to get down to the ferry to mallaig and the train home.
People were lovely. Chatted to everyone. Kept meeting the same cyclists at ferries, and some of the B&Bs were the best I've ever stayed in.
Avoid trying to do anything on Lewis on a Sunday - closes down.
We had a super day cycling up the Golden Road on the East coast of Harris. Beaches everywhere were beautiful.
We went South to north to have the wind behind us, and mostly it was. It rained heavily on 2 days, was glorious for about 3 days, and pretty windy generally.
You might want to include berneray? Is ferry ride or maybe causeway now from north uist and if ferries running you can then go from there to Harris. Only small island with one hostel but where prince Charles went to be a Loon. As the headline ran. WESTFORD inn on north uist near benebecula described by poet Louis mcNiece in his amusingly named poem I crossed the Minch as A good place for a murder
Enjoy
Wife and I did very similar in 1996. Right about this time of year.
I know nothing about you so forgive me if I'm teaching my granny to suck eggs - but here goes...
2 days of dry weather in 14. We were unlucky. But we both remain glad we did it (just checked!)
Skip Skye - bridge means lots of traffic on limited road space (we swore afterwards never to go back on a bike - might be out of date).
Think about midges. Take a midge net, or plan not to stop...
Remember that in some places food and water are a long way away. Don't underestimate how serious it will be to misjudge this.
Travel as light as possible. Bikes can carry lots... but it takes energy. Lots of flat in parts of the Western Isles, but big hills can be found in some places and heavy bikes plus rain and hills aren't a fun combination.
Make sure you are confident with basic bike repair. Look up a site about how to keep the bike on the road... e.g. how to work with a torn tyre, how to select a particular gear if a gear cable breaks.
Not sure if you considered camping, but if you are doing so factor in some indoor stays too (for drying out).
Don't judge potential distances by what people say they have done on the internet. We were much slower.
Hope that's of some use, but ignore entirely as appropriate!
Berneray is linked by causeway to North Uist and to get the ferry between N. Uist and Harris you go via Berneray.
The Hostel on Berneray is more basic than the ones my partner and I stayed at earlier this year. We were at Oban (Jeremy Inglis Hostel) and in Castlebay, Barra. After them we stayed in a caravan at Kilbride, South Uist for a week. We thought a week wasn't long enough to spend there, but most visitors (often in campervans) were only staying a day or two per island and not getting to see much detail.
Scenery/atmosphere/wildlife/people all good. Highlights included Kisimul Castle in Castlebay including the boat there and back (as we're friends of Historic Scotland we didn't have to pay); Kisimul Cafe - good Indian and Italian food, Vatersay island (linked by causeway) with beaches including a monument for a big shipwreck and a memorial and wreckage from a plane crash in WWII, folk museums in Castlebay and Kildonan (S Uist), Barra Airport - watching the plane land on and take-off from the beach Traigh Mhor. We also managed some kayaking and a bit of snorkelling which was great. Walking on the paths at the end of the road along Loch Eynort (next sea loch north of Lochboisdale S Uist) was an unexpected treat seeing eagles, lots of herons, and seals.
We travelled the longer distances by car but used bikes or walked for the shorter journeys. As said above the road across Skye was busy and the bunch of traffic off the ferry wouldn't have been great to cycle amongst. We didn't have any bother with midges it was sunny and/or breezy enough to keep them away.
Our trip is smiliar to LivD, except we're driving to Oban - I hadn't thought about taking the train but I may look into this to see if it is viable.
Here is our route, each line a new day...
We plan on sailing to Barra where we overnight,
Ride to South Uist - ferry crossing over to Eriskay then causeway to South Uist
South Uist to Benbecula via west
Benbecula to North Uist - causeways
North Uist - west coast to Ferry across to Harris
Harris - west coast to Tartbet, ferry to Uig
Uig to Sligachan
Sligachan to Armadale, ferry to Mallaig
Mallaig to GlenUig
Glenuig to Salen
Salen to Kilchon, Ferry to tobermory
Tobermorey to Craignuire, ferry back to Oban
We average only 35kms per day point to point so we have plenty of time to visit and see things.
What would you guys recommend doing on each of the islands?
I'd thought cycling the west coasts but wondered if North Harris or Benbencula if the East coast was a better way?
I take your point on Skye, I do fear the main Uig to Portree road being fast and fuirous compared to the outer hebrides..
any stopping points, or interesting activites?
Not sure if you're camping or not, but there's an amazing stone bothy set into the Mangersta cliffs in Uig. Leaks when it's raining, but well worth a night. Took a while to find it, mind.
I didn't like the A87 on Skye much at all, and the stretch of the A851 from Harrapool to about Kinloch Lodge is quite amazingly desolate. I rode from Plockton to Armadale two years ago on my Dad's recommendation and on that section assumed his memory was faulty. It's the kind of place people go to die in downbeat independent films.
Buuut, from Kinloch Lodge down to Armadale is beautiful. The Clan Donald museum there is worth poking your head into, although that is perhaps my bias talking since I am a proper 'fficial MacDonald with the kilt in correct tartan and everyfink, so it's perhaps more relevant to me than you. Every picture there is of a grumpy looking ginger-bearded man, so it had a definite homecoming feel to it for me.
We did it the last week in May this year; the weather was beautiful for the 5 days, and it was too early-ish for the midges to be much of an issue.
We overnighted in Castlebay (Tigh na Mara B&B, very nice), Daliburgh (Uist Bunkhouse, decent), Lochmaddy (Uist Outdoor Centre, ok) Leverburgh (An Bothan bunkhouse, excellent), Loch Seaforth (Seaforth B&B, very nice) and Stornoway (Laxdale Bunkhouse, decent).
We booked ahead for everywhere as we had no plan b (decided against doing any camping), but nowhere seemed to be particularly busy.
We always ate out, and the food was never less than excellent. Maybe we just got lucky, but I think that's actually just how it is.
Getting there & back was awkward. As it turned out, train conductors always turned a blind eye to the max number of bikes allowed, but you certainly can't depend on that. Neither could we reserve bike space on the Edinburgh-Glasgow trains, which meant I bought advance tickets for the three of us for two different trains to Glasgow, in case we failed to get all of us plus bikes on the first one.
The home leg from Inverness was going to be an issue, as it was only a 2 bike train, and we had 3 ... so, the solution was to use Hebrides Haulage and send the bikes home from Stornoway. A little bit expensive, but worked well.
The roads were quiet, weather beautiful, food excellent ... we'll definitely be back (we had no time to see much of Lewis), but had it been raining and windy for the five days, our recollections might be a tad different!
2 route tips on Skye.
1/ we avoided a HILL by taking a slightly longer route around a headland just after Sconser. Also v quiet road - no cars at all.
2/ running beside the A851 for a few miles is the original road. It was a bit shabby and more undulating, but as it is completely blocked off there was just us on it. We had to carry bikes down a bank to get onto it when we spotted it, but it was awesome after that. This was a few years ago though, and it might have deteriorated too far to be safe now.
On Harris, our ride that day was (after arriving from Berneray), buy food at Leverburgh, turn left and go to Northton (beautiful beach), go back the way we had come and then carry on to Rodel (pretty church, and village) and up the East coast. It was a much wilder road than the west, but I think more interesting. I am not a fit person and it was a bit up and down for my liking, but the lack of traffic was a winner for me. Also pretty, but barren, landscape. Apparently some of 2001 was filmed there (Mars? Moon? I don't remember)
Harris, Western Isles, Scotland, UK and Monument Valley, USA!
Apparently some of 2001 was filmed there (Mars? Moon? I don't remember)
The Stargate sequence?
sweet thanks for the tips livd!
Hopefully this link works!
I cycled with a mate from Helensburgh through a variety of western islands up to Thurso a few years back. We had six days to get round (and no touring experience), so ended up with very long days. Great fun, but Lewis stands out in my memory as a desolate and tedious slog.
Most of this I'm sure is more from generous storytelling than any real hardship. We arrived in Tarbert in early afternoon and were told by the tourist office that there was nothing to do. So we pushed north (over a massive hill). I melted my trangia in a bus stop. Drizzle. The odd suicidal sheep. Lots and lots of nothing. No trees for the hammocks. Arrived in Stornoway in darkness to find nothing open. Planned to kip at the ferry terminal, but they put us on the 2am freight ferry to Ullapool where (for the princely sum of £7 each) we got a massive bown of corned beef hash and beans, sugary tea, and a cabin to snooze in for three hours. Wish I'd taken a photo of our two bikes lashed together in the middle of a lorry bay.
As we hadn't planned to cycle in darkness we had dire lights, so threw up the hammocks in Ullapool on the first trees we could find. Woke up to find ourselves camping on what was basically a large traffic island in the middle of an estate.
Highly recommended. You'll have stories to tell for years (like accidentally camping over a bees' hive on Skye)
I did something similar last summer - train to Oban then ferry to Barra, then cycled south pount of Vatersay to Butt of Lewis Lighthouse on the northern point of Lewis.
There's a good campsite just outside Castlebay on Barra (on the west shore).
One thing I hadn't factored in is how heavily crofted the machir parts of the islands are - this means it can actually be quite hard sometimes to find a spot of wild ground on which to camp as most of the flat coastal plains are partitioned up into active farm land - rather than distinct villages it's endless houses dotted here and there.
There's a good bacon roll bus in Leverburgh once you get off the ferry. Do stop in and have a chat with the owner, he cooks a mean breakfast roll and likes to chat about cycling. He wanted me to choose his new bike for him when I was there.
Buy your ferry tickets in Advance in Oban, you'll save a lot of money buying one of the Island Hopper deals over buying lots of single fares and won't be worrying about having to buy them.
The Uists are very flat.
The divide between Lewis and Harris isn't water, but some thumping great hill. Be prepared for some long, steep slogs out of Tarbert. The road at the top has a very alpine feel to it, with snowpoles on each side and a lot of gravelly substrate around. I couldn't see much because of low cloud when I was up there, but made it even more atmospheric.
Take the east coast road on Harris.
Make sure you go to Barra Airport and watch the planes land, then go to the little chapel and graveyard on the road beyond.
The people of Lewis drive like kamikazes, be prepared for this.
Be prepared for endless headwinds and beautiful views.
Shops can be far between but even the little ones are very well stocked. Call in at them all on your way past and make sure you carry extra food (especially if camping) as you may not pass somewhere for quite a while.
Stornoway, Schmornoway, didn't really have much to commend itself to me.
Make full use of the various power sockets on the Calmac ferries to charge your phone etc. Be first on the ferry and hunt out the table next to the socket and set up camp there.
I'm planning on a trip up to Berneray for a couple of days to see some friends, but my itinerary seems a bit tight. The ferry from Mallaig gets to Armadale at 1425 and the next ferry leaves Uig at 1900, so I have 4 hours 35 to cycle the 60-odd miles through Skye between the two. Is this do-able?
That sounds a bit tight if wind blowing and is raining
They don't usually leave bang on time but you never can tell
Also bit of a ride out of lochmaddy in gloaming/darkness at other end unless your friends coming to get you. Only even remotely possible now that there is a causeway to berneray
So I'll be roaming in the gloaming?
I'm optimistic that the weather will be more help than hindrance and that having spent 3 weeks riding a 20 stone bike, switching to a 1 stone bike will help me keep my average speed up high enough.
I did the ride from Armadale north, but only the 20 or so miles as far as Broadford where I was going to the hostel once. It was windy, rainy and misty and boy was it miserable. I was so glad to get to the hostel, even though the hot water was out and ended up with a cold shower!
Fully loaded it was a bit of a slog, particularly as I'd had to really push it the 80-or-so miles from Oban to Mallaig earlier in the day (in the rain again) to make the only Sunday ferry I could catch, which was also the last one of the day.
Sounds like it's going to be a "fun" ride. If I miss the 7pm ferry I can catch the next one at 2 the following afternoon.
Made it! 3hrs 50min from ferry to ferry.
The section from Portree to Uig was horrible, felt like it was all uphill.
Absolutely fantastic ride, Skye was beautiful. It's the 1st time I've been that it hasn't rained and I could see the hills, eagles and whales!
On the downside, Citylink coaches here give you just as much room as they do in Edinburgh (though every other vehicle gave me loads of room).
Good effort.
We had to floor it to catch the Harris ferry but knew we had made it when he overtook the citylink outside of Uig
There is at least one dicey B&B on Mull. Just make sure to read the reviews before committing your $$$ to one.
So I was watching "Hebrides: Islands on the edge" on BBC Scotland last night and Ewan McGregor convinced me to go for a cycle there this summer. I will be going on my own and planning to cycle through light (Audax-level light) and fairly quickly (Audax-level quickly), stay at B&Bs/bunkhouses.
So I sketched a little itinerary as follows:
Day 1, Wed
Wed night 00:00 - 12:30 Cycle Edinburgh-Oban ~130miles (may be too optimistic)
Oban-Barra ferry 13:30-18:15,
night at Castlebay
Day 2, Thu
Castlebay-Ardmbor cycle 9 miles
Barra-Eriskay ferry 07:00-07:40
Eriskay-Berneray cycle 54miles
Berneray-Leverburgh ferry 17:20-18:20
Night at Leverburgh bunkhouse
Day 3, Fri:
Leverburgh-Stornoway cycle 54 miles +extras
Night at Stornoway
Day 4, Sat:
Stornoway-Ullapool ferry 07:00-09:30
Ullapool-Inverness cycle 57miles
Inverness-Edinburgh train in the evening
Anyone has any suggestions what to do differently?
Oh, I have never done any cycle touring...
Things I would say;
1) Fantastic.
2) Account for the possibility that the weather will not play ball. A headwind on Na h-Eileanan Siar is a serious impediment and if you get one you are not going as far as you think. I have seen folk on the end to end crying in an icy north wind in June.
3) Slow down and make sure you ride the sandy machair trails, not just the tarmac. Especially in May.
Some thoughts - 4 days is quite tight. Ullapool you will come off the ferry - with the traffic. Fine let it go. The seafood shack is good for lunch and the ice cream shop is good.
You will need to take care on that road there are maniac drivers.
Berneray is beautiful. The stretch from leverburgh to tarbet is beautiful then lunar.
If you know where to look at the start of the causeway from north uist to bernaray there is a very ancient cross carved into the stone. You will cycle through Solas where i used to holiday in north uist.
Could stay at the Gatliff Trust hostel on Berneray. Views towards Harris. People kayaking.
Daughter of LB still rates as best tandem trip ever. Walk out the blackhouses and right on beach.
Assume it is still no advance booking and honesty box but was in early 2000s.
Mr & Mrs LB & daughter did same route but took two weeks stopping in Barra for a week to attend Barrafest.
Went to Callanish. Used bus once (they take bikes in hold).
Bailed out at Garve on way back to get direct train back to Edinburgh (ran one then and we had folding tandem and solo).
Is a brilliant journey and we want to do again 20 years later. (Daughter 12000 miles away now though)
i've done the same route as you @bill, albeit with an extra two days for scenic diversions and a hilleberg akto for flexible overnighting. you can camp anywhere over there, no stealth required
ullapool to inverness bad bad driving guaranteed
you can camp anywhere over there, no stealth required
Legally yes, however the family and I got chased off a field in Barra, and severely scowled at on the machar on South Uist. Apparently we were despoiling the landscape and depriving the hoteliers...
We cut the holiday short by 50%, although that was mostly due to poor weather rather than unfriendly locals.
Robert
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