Outer Hebrides – an introduction

On Thursday 18th July 2013, my wife Sandra and I went on a self-drive tour of the Outer Hebrides. The seven night holiday started with two nights in Barra, at the southern end of the islands, followed by two nights on North Uist and concluding with three nights in Stornoway in the north of the islands.

Blank map showing the location of the Outer Hebrides in relation to the Scottish mainland. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The holiday was arranged by Hebridean Hopscotch, a company based in Stornoway, and specialising in holidays in the Outer Hebrides. The company chose and booked the hotels, booked the ferries necessary to travel between the islands and arranged for a hire car to meet us at the airport.

In the three weeks before our holiday, the weather in the Hebrides had been almost constant drizzle, while at home, the weather had been glorious. Little did we know when we left Selston that the sunny weather was to come with us, and the rain replaced the warmth at home.

I arranged the flights myself and we travelled from East Midlands Airport, via Glasgow International, to Barra. The return trip was from Stornoway, again via Glasgow. The flight operator was Flybe, with LoganAir, in association with Flybe, taking responsibility for the flights to and from the Hebrides.

This was a holiday that I had wanted to do for a couple of years and I was expecting magnificent scenery and some wet and windy weather. What we got over the next eight days was the best weather the islands had experienced in 2013, and landscapes that were out of this world.

Outer Hebrides: Barra & Vatersay | Eriskay to North Uist | Harris and Lewis

Related articles

• Outer Hebrides – Our Trip to The Edge (Part 1) (juniperandjane.wordpress.com)
• Come rain or shine, the Outer Hebrides, are Scotland’s natural gems, according to Cat Harvey (dailyrecord.co.uk)
• 2013 HebCelt Festival most successful in history (scotsman.com)