No, this is not the Greek islands, it's Harris in the Outer Hebrides


Ten days ago I gave a presentation at HUBB/UK on Orkney and the Outer Hebrides from a trip I did last year. I'm planning another visit this year encompassing Shetland and other islands in the Hebrides group, so I've been busy extending my research.

I've now uploaded a .gpx file that contains over 220 waypoints in Shetland, Orkney, northern Scotland and the Hebrides. The waypoints are mainly places to visit and accommodation options, and most of the waypoints include a link to websites describing the place. The .gpx file also includes ferry links and route suggestions.

This represents at least four man days of work, so please do not incorporate this into other works.

Ferries
Obviously ferry costs need to be considered. The cheapest ferries to the Hebrides—Ullapool to Stornaway (Lewis) or Uig (Isle of Skye) to Tarbert (Harris)—work out at about £65 return for motorbike and rider. A much longer route from Oban to Castlebay (Barra), then island hopping to Lewis and returning Stornaway to Ullapool is about £110 for bike and rider.

The cheapest ferry to Orkney from the tip of Scotland (Scrabster or Gills Bay) is about £60 return. If, instead of directly returning you take the overnight ferry from Orkney to Shetland and return on the overnight ferry to Aberdeen, the total cost rises to £150 return, plus cabin accommodation if you want it.

Accommodation
The Scottish islands are incredibly wild-camping-friendly so one option is to pitch up near a handy pub where you can use the toilets and wash basin, in exchange for buying food and drink. In Shetland there's a series of 'böds' which are basic huts costing £10 per night. These are self-catering and you need your own bedding. Elsewhere there's many inexpensive hostels ranging from £16 to £22 per night.

Ferries
Northlink Ferries (to Shetland, Orkney)
Pentland Ferries (to Orkney)
Orkney Ferries (between Orkney islands)
Calendonian MacBrayne (to Hebrides)

Low-cost accommodation
Independent Hostels Guide
Shetland Camping Böds
Hostel Scotland
Scotland Campsites

Places to visit
Undiscovered Scotland
Shetland Heritage
Visit Shetland
Orkneyjar
Visit Outer Hebrides
Scottish Monuments
Walk Highlands
Secret Scotland

Ask questions
TripAdvisor Shetlands
TripAdvisor Orkney
TripAdvisor Hebrides

The worst of the research has been done, all you need to do is to fine tune your routes and pack your bike. Enjoy!

.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Added quite a few more webpage links.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Thank you for taking the time to do this Tim.
People like you make the HUBB what it is.

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Regards Tim

Learning my craft for the big stuff, it won't be long now and it's not that far anyway

Great post I will download the gpx file and bookmark this thread. I am hoping to do a tour of the UK and Ireland in a few years time.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3.

Thanks for the info Tim. Looking at doing the Outer Hebrides myself so the info is most welcome

I did a comprehensive tour of the Outer Hebrides and Mull & Skye last year. It's worth noting that CalMac (Caledonian MacBrayne) do Island Hopscotch tickets which cover multiple crossings around the islands and are very good value for money. You only need to book the first crossing and can book the rest as you go. They also have a good smart phone app (I use Android - don't know about other operating systems) that shows the timetables and any delays etc. I was quite impressed with the service.

Just to say thanks very much for this very informative posting, and thank you also for your presentations at the Hubb.
Most appreciated.

thanks - I've also been looking at the Hopscotch tickets as they seem flexible and good value. Out of curiosity how long did u allow for your trip? I'm planning to do it in a week starting south of the Outer Hebrides then head North so hopefully it will be long enough to see and enjoy...

I took a day to get from home to Oban, then got the 6pm (ish) ferry over to Mull. Spent the following day on Mull then took the last ferry from Tobermory over to Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. From there I went to Mallaig and got the ferry to Skye and had a full day on Skye before taking the Uig ferry to Lochmaddy on North Uist. I toured around N and S Uist and Benbecula, before taking the ferry from Berneray over to Harris and Lewis. I left Lewis from Stornoway on the ferry to Ullapool. Altogether I had 4 days on the Western Isles plus a day each on Mull and Skye. It took me another day to get home from Ullapool, so my trip was 8 days total.

I tend to ride all day and have very long days when I am touring, typically 10 to 12 hours of riding with very few stops. This is probably why no-one wants to come with me! If you want a more leisurely pace then to see it all you may want to allow a bit more time. It's also important to know the ferry times and be aware that the services on a Sunday are often less frequent or may be non-existent. Many of the ferry routes only have 2 or 3 sailings per day and so if you miss your ferry then you will have a very long wait for the next one (even overnight) and this will spoil your plans.

My 2 Island Hopscotch tickets cost me a total of £127.30 last July for the 6 ferry crossings. The longest crossing is Stornoway to Ullapool which is 3 hours, so I didn't think it was bad value for money.

Enjoy!

Thanks for all the info Mate. I'll probably need a bit more than week by the sound of it as I don't plan on riding 10-12 hrs per day! well not on my Fazer anyway..

I'll probably leave Bristol and travel to Lake district on route as always wanted to do the Hard Knott and Wrynose pass on the bike so will probable camp there over night before travelling north to catch the ferry the following morning. Still looking at various Hopscotch tickets at mo. Plan to mix wild camping with the odd campsite / hostel to freshen up / recharge and mingle with others whilst on the islands.

Cheers
Steve

Hi Tim,

Many thanks for all the work you put into this!
I want to do a trip like that in the near future, and your info is inspiring!

Cheers from Namibia,

Gee

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Travels with Thimba
eBOOK!

Thanks for all the work on this Tim. I've done a couple of trips to the Hebrides and would highly recommend it to anyone thinking about a visit. The hopscotch tickets with Calmac are really good value.

A few years ago we went to Orkney thinking we would stay for 2 nights then continue back on the mainland around the north coast down the west to Fort William then home to Stonehaven.
It is only about 18 miles to the main camp site in Kirkwall from our door, that is if you take the ferry from Aberdeen, and it worked out cost effective for us to do that.
If you travel to Orkney and stay for any length of time I am sure you will want to go visit the ancient historic sites, we found it was cheaper to pay for a yearly membership to Historic Scotland, you get the discount in the gift shops/coffee shops & all entry fees are included.
Obviously you need to do your homework on the cost for yourselves but it has saved us a fortune. I think Skara Brae is one of the more expensive sites to visit.
It also helps if you want to visit other sites on the mainland, and we were told at Hadrians Wall which I think is English Heritage we would get a discount on the entry fee with our Historic Scotland card.

Historic Scotland - the official website

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Only dead fish go with the flow

All of the Independent Hostels web links have changed, so I've updated the waypoints to reflect this, added another 46 waypoints with more campsites, and created more routes.

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Mealt Waterfall (Kilt Rocks), Isle of Skye

More waypoints, more routes added to link on post #1

286 waypoints in total including 33 campsites and 67 hostels and bunkhouses

My most recent trip was from Oban to Barra in the Outer Hebrides, then island hopping north to Harris which has to be my favourite island, then over to Skye where (as ever) the skies opened and buckets of water were thrown at me.

Edit: you can no longer easily get to the viewpoint above which has been closed off due to cliff falls. There's a stopping place a little to the north where you can see the Kilt Rocks, but not the waterfall.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)