Forget Skye (For Now). The Isle of Harris Was the Best Part of My Scotland Trip.
The first time I stood on Luskentyre Beach, the rain was coming at me sideways. My coat was plastered to me, my hood was useless, and I could barely keep my eyes open against the wind. I actually struggled to walk into it. And it was still one of the most beautiful places I have ever stood in my life.
The next day I went back, in sunshine, and I did not recognize it. Pale turquoise water (am I in Northern Michigan or Scotland?). White sand that went on and on. Mountains behind it. I have never seen anything like it, and I had already seen it, the day before, in the rain.
That is the Isle of Harris. I saw the same beach twice and got two entirely different beaches.
I planned two weeks in Scotland and I deliberately skipped Skye. Everyone does Skye, and I will get there one day, but I wanted the trip to feel like mine. So I took the Ullapool to Stornoway ferry out to the Outer Hebrides instead, and Harris turned out to be the best decision I made. I liked it so much that I spent both of my island exploring days there, reshuffling my whole plan around the weather to do it.
One thing that confused me before I went, so let me save you the Googling: Lewis and Harris are one island, not two. It's called the Isle of Lewis and Harris. But they feel like completely different places, and I'll get into that below.
If you want to see where this sits in the bigger picture, it was days seven through ten of my 14 day whisky and islands route. (Yes, I left out the "e." That's the Scottish spelling and I've decided to be insufferable about it.) But Harris deserves its own post, so here it is.
One thing to say up front. I am not an expert on Scotland. I don't live there, I'm not a guide, and I went once. What I can give you is an honest account of what I actually did, what I loved, what I skipped and what I'd do differently. Take what's useful and leave the rest, because your trip should end up being yours and not mine.
Why Harris and not Skye
I want to be fair here. Skye is stunning. It is also busy, it is on every Scotland itinerary ever written, and you will be sharing your view with a coach party.
That is not me. I like to go off the beaten path. I like to rebel in little ways and be a bit different. And it paid off here: I stood on a beach that would have a resort and a parking nightmare anywhere else in the world, and there were six of us on it.
If you want the version of Scotland that feels like you found it yourself, go west.
The ferry, and the day I spent worrying about it
Let me start with the part I actually stressed about, because I suspect you will too.
I spent my entire crossing day convinced the ferry would be cancelled. The rain was awful. I checked the forecast roughly a hundred times. The weather out here can turn on you and sailings do get cancelled, and I had a very vivid picture of myself stranded in Ullapool with no hotel room. Which was not an appealing thought, because I found Ullapool pretty underwhelming. I had already worked out exactly how the rest of my trip would unravel.
It ran.
And it was lovely. A proper comfortable boat with a restaurant, drinks, big windows and big views. I saw a dolphin. I sat there feeling faintly ridiculous about the previous eight hours of anxiety.
So here is my one piece of reassurance: the ferries usually run. Book your vehicle spot well ahead if you're traveling in July or August, because those fill up long before the foot passenger spaces do, and then stop refreshing the weather app. It will not help. I have tested this thoroughly on your behalf.
The five things worth your time on Harris
1. Luskentyre Beach, in whatever weather you
I've already told you I went twice, and I'd do it again. If you walk the northern stretch you're looking at around four miles, and it's easy, flat, gorgeous walking. Scan the sandbanks out in the estuary for seals. I didn't get any, but I also wasn't patient.
Two practical notes. Parking is minimal, so go early or be prepared to be flexible. And you'll see the lighthouse out there and want to get closer. I couldn't work out how, so if you crack it, tell me.
Go in the rain if the rain is what you get. In the sun it is dazzling, and in the rain it is hauntingly beautiful. I am not sure which one I would pick. But if you get one clear day on the islands, spend it here.
And if that clear day shows up, pack a lunch and bring it with you. There is nowhere out there to buy anything, and you are not going to want to leave. Sitting on that sand with something to eat and that view in front of me was one of my favorite hours of the entire trip.
2. The Isle of Harris Distillery in Tarbert
Harris Gin was my favorite thing I drank in Scotland, and I say that having spent two nights in Speyside doing whisky flights.
It's beautiful gin. The bottles are also ridiculously pretty, which I recognize is not a serious criterion, and I do not care. I brought one home.
For balance, I did try Barra gin later, which is flowery and a little like Monkey 47 if that means anything to you. That one came courtesy of the coolest and smartest bartender in Edinburgh, who spent a good while trying to convince me to go to Barra itself. Two ferries and six hours each way, which I did not have. Luckily Harris was my favorite anyway, and I was standing right there.
3. The Harris Tweed shop
This is the thing you actually bring home. Not a magnet, not a tea towel, an actual beautiful thing made about fifteen minutes from where you're standing.
I loved it in there and I would happily have stayed longer than was reasonable. I really want one of the bags, but choosing is like being asked to name your favorite child. They're all unique. They're all different. How does a person decide?
4. The drive north over the Clisham
One of the best drives in Scotland, and I say that as someone who also drove the Bealach na Bà in the pouring rain and aged four years doing it.
The difference is that the Clisham is spectacular without being frightening. Mostly. There are a few exceptions. But you get the drama and the views and you also get to enjoy them, because you're not white knuckling a hairpin with no guardrail. Do not rush it
5. Talla na Mara for lunch
Stunning setting, even in the rain, and genuinely great soup. Write this one down as your bad weather answer, because you will need a bad weather answer.
And two things I skipped
The North Harris Eagle Observatory, which I could not find and which was not going to be much fun in the rain anyway. And the Golden Road, which my host told me flatly to skip and described as the worst road in Scotland. I took his word for it, and I've never once regretted taking a local's word for it on this trip.
The honest bit: Lewis didn't land the same way for me
I had three nights on Lewis and Harris, and I want to be straight with you about how it actually shook out.
Lewis is the flatter end of the island, and Stornoway is the port town where I based myself. It's cute and small, and it has everything you actually need: gas station, grocery store, restaurants, and two laundromats, which I promise becomes relevant at some point on a two week trip. One warning, and it's a real one. The opening hours out here are their own thing. Places close early, some don't open at all on certain days, and the pattern is not what you're used to. Check before you drive anywhere.
Lewis also has real highlights and I don't want to undersell them:
The Calanais Standing Stones are breathtaking. They're older than Stonehenge and you can walk right up to them and into the avenue, no rope, no ticket booth. Calanais II, just down the road, is usually completely empty.
The Arnol Blackhouse is about £8 and it was one of the highlights of my entire trip. There is a peat fire burning in the middle of the floor, no chimney above it, and the smoke just finds its own way out through the roof. It is interesting and it is exciting and it is genuinely beautiful in there. Just be prepared to carry it with you afterward. The smoke is in your hair and your coat for the rest of the day, and honestly, I did not mind.
The walk from Traigh Mhòr at Tolsta out to the Bridge to Nowhere is around three miles and was exactly what I needed that day. Watch your footing on the jellyfish. I'm serious.
The Baltic Bookshop in Stornoway is tiny and cute and has a great Scottish section plus new releases. (Regular readers will not be surprised that I found the bookshop.)
Do this before you go, or on the drive out. Historic Scotland has a podcast episode called "Tales of the Blackhouse" about life inside one of these crofts in the Hebrides, and it is about thirty two minutes long, which is roughly the drive out from Stornoway. It is a story about community and resilience and a Gaelic tradition of storytelling and music that is still going. I listened to it in the car on the way, and it changed what I was looking at when I walked in. Peat fire, no chimney, and now some idea of the people who actually lived like that.
But next to Harris, Lewis felt smaller to me, and less memorable. I walked the Lews Castle grounds, which are pretty, and skipped the museum. It was fine. Fine is not what I came to the Outer Hebrides for.
So here's my actual advice. If you have two exploring days out here, give both of them to Harris, and pick off two or three Lewis stops as you pass. Calanais and the Blackhouse are the two I'd keep.
A few things I did not expect
The honesty boxes. Little unattended stands at the ends of driveways selling eggs, milk, and in one case mustard, with a box to leave your money in. No camera, nobody watching, nobody checking. I loved them, and they told me more about this place than any museum could have.
The art. There are handmade signs and posters for galleries and art shows all along these roads, and pulling over for them is worth your time. Watching people who actually live in this landscape try to catch this exact light and this exact water is a completely different experience from buying a Scottish landscape in a shop in Edinburgh.
The driving. I did not expect the driving itself to be one of the best parts, and it was. It is also work. Single track roads, oncoming cars, cliffs, and sheep with no intention whatsoever of moving. If you have a co-pilot, take turns, because whoever is driving does not get to look at any of it. And pull over wherever there is a safe spot and just sit and gaze. I did that over and over out here, and I felt grateful every single time.
Where I stayed, and the dram over the map
I stayed at the Wardicott near Stornoway, and it was one of the warmest welcomes of my entire trip.
My first night, my host Ron sat me down, poured me a dram, and talked me through the islands over a map. Where to go. What to skip. Which road not to bother with. He had maps and pamphlets everywhere, and that twenty minutes shaped my whole time on the islands more than any planning I'd done at home.
The rest of it lived up to that. My vegan breakfast was handled without any fuss at all, which is not always the case out here, and it was delicious and plentiful, with almond milk and endless coffee. There's an honesty bar. The suite had everything: bed, view, coffee, mini fridge, water, biscuits. Spotless and cozy, and a beautiful Victorian bathroom, though I did struggle a bit with the shower pressure. There's a stunning sitting room I was genuinely sad I never made time to use.
Five olives. And a reminder that the best part of the islands is the people, and no amount of planning is going to hand you that.
How long you need, and what to know before you go
Three nights and four days works. That is enough time, but only if the days are actually full ones, which brings me to my one real regret out here.
Book the ferry early and protect your daylight. I booked late and took whatever sailings were left. I landed around 9 p.m. and had to be at the terminal at 6:15 a.m. on my last morning, which cost me the better part of two days out of four. Book far enough ahead to choose an early arrival and a late departure, and you get four real days instead of two and a bit.
I'd change the base. I stayed near Stornoway on Lewis. Next time I'd base myself on Harris and drive over for the Lewis highlights.
Two exploring days is the minimum. And build them around the forecast, not around your itinerary. I swapped my whole plan when I saw the sun was coming, and it was the best call I made out there.
Check the hours on everything. Places close for a long lunch and reopen for dinner, and some don't open at all on certain days. The Deli in Tarbert stops at 3:30. Plan around it or you will be very hungry and very annoyed. Ask me how I know.
The weather is the whole game. Save the beaches and the Clisham for your clearest day. Save the distillery, the tweed shop and Talla na Mara for your worst one.
One last thing
The version of Luskentyre I keep coming back to isn't the sunny one. It's the first one. Rain sideways, absolutely nobody around, that enormous empty beach doing its thing whether anyone showed up to look at it or not
Go see it. In whatever weather you get.
Planning your own trip?
This was days seven to ten of a two week Scotland route that skipped Skye entirely. Here's the whole thing, including Speyside, the Highland passes and Edinburgh during the Fringe.
I have also put together a full downloadable 14 day Scotland itinerary, with every hotel, drive time, booking and honest "skip this, do that instead" note that doesn't fit in a blog post, along with my Scotland packing list.
And speaking of which: waterproofs are not optional here. I have stood on the most beautiful beach in Britain with rain running down the back of my neck, and I promise you the right jacket is what made it fun instead of miserable.
Been to Harris, or planning to? Tell me in the comments, I answer every one.
Have a question about the route, or planning your own Skye-free Scotland trip? Leave a comment, I answer every one.
