Accommodations on Isle of Harris ?

on your other thread I've suggested the Hebrides Hotel at Tarbert (sorry I meant the Hotel Hebrides)- even more expensive than Lingay House I see, but looks like fairly good availability.

There is also the Harris Hotel on Tarbert (who you have to e-mail or call)- https://www.harrishotel.com/book.html

(who have had a 15% rise in rates from last year)

I don't have specific knowledge of that particular B&B. I did a test booking in July and got rates of £135 for one room and £150 for the other. That is pretty average, although I have to say the rooms look somewhat basic. I'd expect a similar room on Skye to be about the same price, but most B&Bs would be a little more luxurious in terms of a double or king size bed rather than twin/bunk beds (which I always find very uncomfortable).

B&B accommodation is in short supply in Harris. There is Hotel Hebrides in Tarbert, but apart from that you will generally find a lot of holiday homes requiring week long stays.

Thank you both for the suggestion of Hotel Hebrides. I’ve reserved a room with them but may need to extend for another night if the St Kilda trip gets postponed a day. Hoping there is a taxi from Tarbert to Leverburgh. It will be a journey for sure.

I didn't realise you weren't going to have a hire car. In that case, by chance, Tarbert is the right choice to stay, rather than Leverburgh. Comparatively speaking Tarbert is the largest place on Harris (which isn't saying too much- population 500), but at least gives opportunities.

As regards a taxi I would contact Harris Taxis (by e-mail) and explain the situation to them, and have a provisional booking in place for morning and evening-
075 0045 0387 Email: [email protected]

And think about what you will do with the day if St Kilda doesn't happen. There is a good bus service runs up the spine road to Stornoway and down to the Berneray ferry at Leverburgh, but apart from that service is relatively fragmentary.

If it was me (and it's not) I would have 3 plans in my back packet- a- To Leverburgh for the CalMac ferry to Berneray and a day on North Uist/Benbecula on the connecting bus service [that route is possibly CalMac's most spectacular short route, the vessel is specially designed to cope with the winding channel]; b- the Isle of Scalpay on the bus from Tarbert; c- As you are at a ferry port anyway use that ferry over to Uig (Skye) and do the Trotternish Loop on the bus if you haven't before, and if the timetable works that day.

It is quite hard to cover the likes of the Black House and Callanish (both on Lewis) by bus as the once good services never recovered from Covid era reductions.

Other possibilities by bus include Luskentyre Beach and Rodel Church.

The other possibility to discuss with Harris Taxis is, if the St Kilda trip was cancelled, could they take you on a drive of The Golden Road (at a more civilised hour than for St Kilda).

Do come back to us with a Trip Report, and this would make a good topic for the new Seattle Travel Group.

I'm up at such a crazy hour as I'm waiting to go to Shrove Tuesday service in Seattle, and have got the time difference for 7pm PT wrong again. I got up for 2am UK, rather than 3am. Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras is not something we mark in the UK so the service is an annual treat for me.

Hi, Linda,

If you're struggling, try Luskentyre Lodge, which is on the road to the beach at Luskentyre. Even though they're mainly self catering, they have two rooms which they let out for B&B. Leona is a sweetheart! She is a transplanted Skye girl. She and Norman are wonderful hosts. They saved my tuchus a few years ago when I could find nothing else on South Harris.

011 44 1859 550 259

[email protected]

Good luck!

Mike (Auchterless)

p.s.: If you are able to find lodging with Leona and Norman, you may want to ask them about possibly getting a lift to Leverburgh for your St Kilda voyage.

p.p.s: As the Tarbert to Leverburgh bus does a turnabout at the end of the road in Northton, you should consider the previously mentioned hike out to the 15th century temple. The walk is low level, and passes by several beautiful beaches.

By the way a little bit of history I certainly didn't know until today about Leverburgh.

In 1919, the Islands of Lewis and Harris were bought by the industrial tycoon, Lord Leverhulme. He tried to modernise the economy of the islands. Part of that was to build a hotel (I think that is the Harris Hotel), roads, houses and cottages, improve the harbour of Tarbert, develop fish processing, and take ownership of the Bunavoneadar whaling station. The town of Obbe was renamed Leverburgh, and a model village built there- as a grand plan to develop Leverburgh as a major herring port.
He died suddenly in 1926, and with him his plans.

You can still see the whaling station, apparently the best preserved one in the UK.

There is more about his brief ownership of Lewis here- https://outerhebridesheritage.org.uk/discover/centenary-of-a-remarkable-gift-lord-leverhulme-and-the-stornoway-trust/

One of the legacies of that is the North Lewis Heritage Trail- a 14 mile walking route over a road that was never built (except the concrete bridge to nowhere at Garry)- from Ness to Tolsta (buses serve both ends of the route)

Do they have a well marked and signed footpath from the Bridge of Nowhere to Port of Ness? It is many years since we were there and the footpath degenerated into bog (very wet bog) with no obvious way across it....

Just to add a wee bit to Stuart's post, there is an excellent, well researched book by Roger Hutchinson. The Soap Man: Lewis, Harris, and Lord Leverhulme was originally published in 2003 by Birlinn Press. My copy is from the sixth reprinting of 2019.

Leverhulme had grand designs for Lewis and Harris. He envisioned an eventual population of 200,000 on the islands. Lewis was to have something similar to England's "Port Sunlight", which was designed by the Lever Brothers for their workers at the soap manufacturing plants in Wirral.

The Soap Man is a great read for anyone interested in the early 20th century history of Lewis, including living conditions and economic conditions.

Mike (Auchterless)

The path is supposed to be way marked with QR codes (no less) on the waymarked posts. What woke me up about this was a random facebook post on the subject this morning.
I have no idea when that happened.

The path is supposed to be way marked with QR codes

As well as the waymarking, I hope they have done something about crossing the peat - it was ankle deep and more when we thought about following the route...

Thanks again Stuart and Mike for the recommendations for a book, the taxi company contact and the research about Leverburgh. I had no idea it had a connection with the soap company, Lever Brothers. What a Fascinating character that Mr Leverhulme

Oh, I won’t be attempting to walk in boggy conditions but may take your suggestion for the Isle of Scalpay on the bus from Tarbert.

If I need to add another night, and Hotel Hebrides is not available, I will contact Leona and Norman

Linda

A little bit of digging finds that the hotel Lord Leverhulme built was actually at Leverburgh. By the time it was built Lord Leverhulme had died, so it never opened as a hotel- instead it became a school and is now Leverhulme Community Hub- which has a seasonal museum.

The Tarbert Hotel (the other hotel in Tarbert) was built by one of his predecessors as landowner- the 7th Earl of Dunmore- and actually has a minor link with Peter Pan. You can still see the Dunmore family home at Amhuinnsuidhe Castle, Harris.

The 3rd Earl was Colonial Governor of New York, Virginia and the Bahamas before the American Revolution. The 5th Earl bought Harris in 1834 and the 6th Earl was responsible for the Clearances of Harris with army assistance, he paid residents to emigrate (many to Australia). The 7th Earl travelled to North America to witness the American Civil War- so some quite interesting history.

For anyone who wants to deep dive into the history it is worth reading the Napier Report of 1884 (on line) into the condition of the crofters and cottars across the Highlands, but specifically the Harris Section- which takes you right back to the collapse of the Kelp industry (a former key part of the economy) after the Napoleonic Wars.

That background, and the empty promise of land for heroes (elsewhere in the UK jobs for heroes) after WW1 is why Lord Leverhulme faced some resistance to his plans. The islands had fared terribly in the war with a casualty rate of around twice the UK average- in some villages up to 40% and more of those who went to war never came home.
That is why, uniquely in the UK, the public war memorials across Harris and Lewis give home addresses of each casualty. Each is a terrible litany of a lost generation.

For another trip an interesting place to visit in connection with the Lever family business is Port Sunlight- on the Wirral across the River Mersey from Liverpool. A model workers village.

It is interesting that Tarbert (Loch Nevis, near Mallaig- a request call on the Inverie mail boat) and Tarbert (Loch Fyne) were once also major herring fishing ports. Tarbert (Loch Nevis) ultimately lost out to Mallaig after the railway was built to specifically serve the herring trade.

For another trip an interesting place to visit in connection with the Lever family business is Port Sunlight- on the Wirral across the River Mersey from Liverpool. A model workers village.

That is definitely worth a visit. I was there last year when I stayed with friends who live very near Port Sunlight on the Wirral. A lovely village with a fascinating history. I liked the Wirral a lot, and really enjoyed Liverpool, too.