The Hebrides
A network of ferry routes from the mainland serves the Inner and Outer Hebrides. Many are also reachable by air. Among the inner islands are Islay (an important whiskey distilling location with six distilleries open to visitors) and Jura. Iona is Scotland’s Holy Island and first permanent British Christian site, as well as burial place of many Scottish kings and chiefs. A ferry from Oban serves Mull and the Western Isles. A little further from the mainland are Coll and Tiree, small communities in the windswept Atlantic.
The Sound of Sleat and the Inner Sound separate world-renowned Skye from the mainland. There are ferry links from Mallaig, while the Skye Bridge crosses from Kyle of Lochalsh. The Bright Water Visitor Centre on the Isle of Skye celebrates the history of the island. The island ‘capital’ is Portree, while major attractions include Talisker Distillery, Armadale Castle, and seal-watching boat trips past the Cuillin Mountains.
(Tourist Board website: www.visithebrides.com.) Settled for at least 5000 years, this chain stretches for 200km (130 miles) from north to south in a gentle arc. The northernmost, and largest, islands are that of Lewis and Harris, the former containing the Western Isles’ capital, Stornoway (Steornabhagh). The well-known tweed cloth comes from Harris, at the mountainous southern end of the island. Across the Sound of Harris lies North Uist (Uibhist a Tuath), further south are Benbecula (Beinn na Faoghua), South Uist (Uibhist a Deas) and Barra, where the ‘airport’ is the smooth sandy beach. Each island has its own strong character, and all have good beaches. Attractions include the 5000-year-old Calanais Standing Stones on Lewis; Barra’s Kisimul Castle and the Seallam Visitor Centre, Taobh Tuath, Harris.
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