Gentle Rambles in the Outer Hebrides Tour

Thanks for posting. This looks like a tour that I would really enjoy.

That sounds really nice! How long was the tour? And did you just go to Lewis and Harris and Benbecula? I love that area—I stayed in Stornoway back in 2023, and have been wanting to go back ever since.

Thanks for writing and posting this review. This sounds really enticing !!

Thanks so much for this tour info! I loved Scotland on a Rick Steves tour several years ago and this easy ramble is very interesting to me. I like that the single supplement is not expensive at all. Definitely going on my list.

Thanks for the tip. We want to get to Lewis and Harris sometime soon. Loved Barra and Vatersay.

The tour comprised 7 days and 6 nights. The proposed itinerary is here. Looking back over it, I see that we did not visit every site mentioned, and there were some substitutions, like a different black house village, but overall, I felt we received an excellent introduction to the outer Hebrides islands. We visited Lewis, Harris, Scalpay, Berneray, Benbecula, Flodda, South Uist, Eriskay, Barra, and Vatersay.

The accommodations included 3 nights each in Stornoway (on Lewis) and Benbecula. The Stornoway accommodation, Hebridean Guest House, was like a large B&B or small inn, and it was good and very clean. The Benbecula accommodations were 2 separate B&Bs because of the number of rooms we needed; we had one couple rooming together and four single travelers with individual rooms. Borve Guest House, the Benbecula B&B where I stayed, was excellent. My room was clean and comfortable, the breakfasts and snacks were fantastic, and Mary, the proprietor, was amazing. She runs her small rural B&B like a world class 5 star hotel: she is warm, organized, efficient, and she stocks any supplies you may need. The individuals who stayed in the other B&B liked it, too.

We had two guides because the first day started on the mainland, and Emma, our first guide, was finishing up another tour and was in the right place at the right time (while our main guide, Eilidh, remained in the Hebrides). The first day started in Inverness and included a couple short walks in the Highlands on the way to Ullapool to catch the ferry to Stornoway. We arrived at night, and the next morning, Eilidh met us and commenced the main part of the tour.

I was the least fit person on this tour, but I felt good as long as I did not dawdle. Eilidh said she adjusts the tours to meet the abilities of all participants; last year's members, for example, did better with less demanding walks. I appreciated feeling a little challenged. I am used to walking 1-4 miles on flat, paved sidewalks. Walking on two walks per day, each 1-2 hours, on unpaved and hilly paths was a stretch for me, but I am glad I tried it. It made me realize, for example, that falling is not the worst thing in the world. I did fall once, towards the end of the tour, but I was unhurt and resumed walking quickly.

On a personal level (no fault of the tour operators, it is just the nature of this travel), I realized that I am unused to driving or riding in a car and have become a little sensitive to that. I did not become ill, but I did not enjoy the windy roads and closed space of a minivan. I think that the nature of these small islands is that you are better served seeing them by car, so I will take that into account next time I visit--and I do hope there will be a next time!

Thanks for your report!!!! Sounds like a great trip!

NYC Librarian, thanks so much for this review. Sounds like it was a wonderful tour. I’ve started looking at their website and they also have other tours that I’m interested in.

Thank you for your review of your trip with hidden hebrides, sounds just like what I am looking for. I see you were there at the time of year I am interested in as well.

Regarding the weather, how would you describe, cold?, rainy?, windy? Did you need rain jacket and pants?
Also, did you feel you spent enough time outside walking to really experience the areas visited?

Did you see much wildlife such as hairy coos, ponies, otters in addition to birds of course?

Carol, I felt that, yes, I gained an understanding and appreciation for the Outer Hebrides islands based on the amount of walking that I did. We had a morning walk plus an afternoon walk on most days, each about 1-2 hours. We walked on a lot of beaches, but I felt they had varied settings so the walks were not repetitious. You might also want to browse the company's web site, because they offer more challenging walking tours in the Outer Hebrides.

I would say that wildlife was one of the low points of the tour. We saw cattle (not Highland cows) and sheep grazing, of course--for me the high point was seeing cows on the beach in Vatersay--but not much else.

I believe the weather in the UK was colder than usual when I visited. For instance, my innkeeper in Nairn (before the tour) told me that it is usually warmer and less windy there in late May. In the Outer Hebrides, the weather was in the mid 40s to mid 50s. It rained almost every day, which I expected, and it was often windy--which is OK, I believe that keeps the midges away. Honestly I loved the cool Scottish weather--it was such a welcome contrast to the hot, humid, pungent NYC summer that I dread.

I wore my rain pants and my waterproof hooded rain jacket, with a thin wool beanie hat, every day. My other layers included a thin but warm wool hoody jacket, a long sleeved shirt, leggings, and a denim skirt. Next time I will also wear gloves (our wonderful guide Eilidh gave me a pair from her own stash when I told her my hands were cold). One of the tour members who wore eyeglasses used a brimmed hat to keep the glasses lenses dry when it rained.