steve4kay
Guest
hi there sally...what time of year did you go and what was the midge situation like...stev4kay
Rhona
Guest
Western Isles
We are recently back from the western isles, this being our second trip. I looked at the site before we left and we used some of the info. We had our first night on Erisky and found a great spot just past the second cemetry, with a great view of the sea and South Uist and of course Barra. Bernary was lovely and we camped on the west side near a lovely beach that we had to ourselves, very stormy that night but we were well sheltered. Horgabost beach on Harris where we had stayed previously was very disappointing as the toilets had been knocked down and the area was littered with rubbish. Spoke to one of the locals and there are plans develop the site again. At the end of the road to Luskentyre we found new public toilets beside the new cemetry but ask about funerals as the road is very narrow. The beach was lovely and again no-one else in sight. The 10 days we had on the islands were so good and we felt very relaxed. Got caught out with the lack of shops again on the road from Butt of Lewis to Uig but the Uig community shop was open and we stocked up before settling for 3 days at Kneep. This was a great find and we really enjoyed the walks around this area, plus the luxury of a shower. Hope this helps for your trips to Outer Hebrides if you need more info about camping spots I will check map references. But you will never be short of a beautiful spot to camp overnight and the views are stunning, we have never seen the sea with such beautiful colours. Took ages to speed up to mainland life when we got home.
We are recently back from the western isles, this being our second trip. I looked at the site before we left and we used some of the info. We had our first night on Erisky and found a great spot just past the second cemetry, with a great view of the sea and South Uist and of course Barra. Bernary was lovely and we camped on the west side near a lovely beach that we had to ourselves, very stormy that night but we were well sheltered. Horgabost beach on Harris where we had stayed previously was very disappointing as the toilets had been knocked down and the area was littered with rubbish. Spoke to one of the locals and there are plans develop the site again. At the end of the road to Luskentyre we found new public toilets beside the new cemetry but ask about funerals as the road is very narrow. The beach was lovely and again no-one else in sight. The 10 days we had on the islands were so good and we felt very relaxed. Got caught out with the lack of shops again on the road from Butt of Lewis to Uig but the Uig community shop was open and we stocked up before settling for 3 days at Kneep. This was a great find and we really enjoyed the walks around this area, plus the luxury of a shower. Hope this helps for your trips to Outer Hebrides if you need more info about camping spots I will check map references. But you will never be short of a beautiful spot to camp overnight and the views are stunning, we have never seen the sea with such beautiful colours. Took ages to speed up to mainland life when we got home.
steve4kay
Guest
there will soon (october 19) be a new fare structure subsidised by the scottish government that will reduce the fares dramatically thereby opening up a lot of opportunities for camperer visits.
sagart
Guest
http://www.calmac.co.uk/ret-road-equivalent-tariff.html rather takes the edge off this.
To quote "All three of the mainland to Outer Hebrides routes will feature in the pilot exercise, which has been developed by consultants on behalf of the Scottish Government: from Stornoway to Ullapool (52 miles), from Uig to Tarbert (29miles) and Uig to Lochmaddy (29 miles), from Oban to Castlebay and Lochboisdale (89 miles) and the service from Oban to Coll and Tiree (59.7 miles).
The two inter-island services operated by CalMac across the Sounds of Harris and Barra in the Outer Hebrides will not feature in the pilot. The fares for the inter-island legs (between Castlebay and Lochboisdale and Tarbert to Lochmaddy) will not be at RET rates but will be set at the same level as the fares on the Sounds of Barra and Harris. The length of each route to be used in the calculation of the RET fare has been determined by the consultants. CalMac will calculate the new fares on the basis of the information and data supplied by the consultant.
Why have other island areas not been included in the pilot scheme?
There are two reasons. Firstly, the SNP manifesto commitment was to introduce a pilot scheme for routes to and from the Outer Hebrides. Second is the matter of affordability. The finance available (£22.5million in 2008-9, 9-10, 10-11) has been approved in the recent Scottish Government Spending Review and Budget".
Our "local" ferries, Skye-Raasay and Armadale to Mallaig are not involved while the first on cost per journey mile is probably the most expensive in the Calmac fleet.
Davesport
Guest
I'm at work & don't have an atlas here. Can anyone tell me how many driving miles it is from Loch Boisdale up to Stornoway please ?
Many thanks, Dave.
NB. Very usefull link & thanks for posting
Many thanks, Dave.
NB. Very usefull link & thanks for posting
Julie
Guest
I'm at work & don't have an atlas here. Can anyone tell me how many driving miles it is from Loch Boisdale up to Stornoway please ?
Many thanks, Dave.
NB. Very usefull link & thanks for posting
Just put this in multimap and it comes up with 110.46 miles
about 5 hours 7 minutes to travel, I'd add a bit more travel time due to single track roads.
Jules
Davesport
Guest
Thank you Jules.
I've got a short 4 day window of opportunity to get away soon. I suspect I won't have enough time to do the Western Isles justice. I might have a look at Arran instead.
Many thanks, Dave.
I've got a short 4 day window of opportunity to get away soon. I suspect I won't have enough time to do the Western Isles justice. I might have a look at Arran instead.
Many thanks, Dave.
Julie
Guest
Arran would be an excellent choice for a short break. It was one of our first trips to scotland.
we didn't wild camp as there were a couple of good campsites ( seal shore and Lochranza) and just enough to see in 4 days.
Jules
we didn't wild camp as there were a couple of good campsites ( seal shore and Lochranza) and just enough to see in 4 days.
Jules