# Outer Hebrides



## mikebeaches (Oct 18, 2008)

Just back from a short trip around the Outer Hebrides and thought it might be of interest to post a note about ferry tickets.

Two of us travelled in our 5.99-metre MH (however, the CalMac MH price band is from 5m up to 8m - so it would have been the same cost for a larger van)

Our 4 ferry crossings - all single tickets:

Skye to Harris - £50.40

Harris to Berneray - £61.40

Eriskay to Barra - £47.50

Barra to Oban - £111.20

TOTAL - £270.50

This enables visiting: Lewis, Harris, Bernaray, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Eriskay, Barra and Vatersay. We did all except Lewis and wild camped as we went.

We didn't pre-book any tickets before the day of travel - in the case of the first and last ferries, we just walked into the local CalMac office and reserved and paid for the next ferry. With the inter-island ferries we turned up at the departure points to check sailings on the electronic boards, then telephoned to reserve space on the next ferry. Payment was made on board. When the first booking was made we were assigned a reference number, which we subsequently quoted for making the remaining bookings - ie we didn't have to keep providing all our details. Oh and although we were travelling over Easter, there was loads of availability - don't think any of the ships were half full.

There are a number of supposedly money-saving 'Hopscotch Tickets' available for a selection of routes, but in our case we found it was slightly cheaper to buy singles as we went. Additionally, and importantly, we had complete flexibility to decide our routes along the way.

The reason our tickets cost less than 'Hopscotch 23' £270.50 v £283), was because we chose to cross to Skye by the bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh, rather than the ferry from Mallaig to Armadale, which is automatically included in the packaged ticket. 

The crossings from the mainland to the islands are subsidised at the moment by the Scottish Government. However, the inter-island ferries are not, hence they are more expensive for the distance covered. One of the onboard staff suggested that in the future the inter-island ferries were going to be subsidised too. At the same time the Scottish Government is proposing to remove subsidies altogether for commercial traffic.


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## rolyk (Aug 24, 2007)

Thanks for the interesting post. Particularly interesting for us as we're planning a similar trip in June although we're going to Mull first and will probably only do Harris and Lewis of the outer islands from Skye. 

I wondered whether it was easy to book the ferries as you go along and it seems it is.

I must say I'm a bit concerned about the midges as I've heard that they can be a real nuisance.

Roly


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## mikebeaches (Oct 18, 2008)

Hi Roly

We found the CalMac staff friendly and helpful. And on a couple of occasions prior to our trip, I telephoned to make a general inquiry about availability on the routes we were interested in - they were happy to say 'we've got plenty of space at the moment'. I suspect the ferries might be a bit busier in June than April, but doubt you'll have too much difficulty.

There is no financial advantage to booking in advance, and returns tickets are double the price of singles. On the inter-island (ie unsubsidised) ferries there are slightly reduced-price 5-day returns available, but not on the crossings from the mainland.

If you take the route from Uig on Skye to Tarbert on Harris, I believe that's the cheapest way possible. It takes 1 hour 40 minutes.

Oh, and whilst I haven't been to the Outer Hebrides in June, the locals claim there's very little problem with midges because it's always breezy. Don't know how true that is? No doubt others on here with more experience will have a view.

Mike


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## rolyk (Aug 24, 2007)

Thanks again Mike. 

Yes, we were planning the Uig route to Tarbert. In fact the route I've planned is Oban - Craignure, Fishnish - Lochaline, Mallaig - Armadale, Uig - Tarbert, Tarbert - Uig and back across the bridge.

We've a month away and I suspect I'm being somewhat ambitious with my plans. It all depends how long we stay on Mull. I'm thinking perhaps a week there before moving on. I've read so much about the Fidden campsite and the beach at Calgary that visiting these is a must and there's also a load more places that I've got on my list that we probably won't have time to visit.

I really want to avoid too much driving as that's the trap we normally fall into whenever we cross the channel heading for the sun.

What was your opinion of the Outer Hebrides?

Roly


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## mikebeaches (Oct 18, 2008)

Roly - Looks like a good route you're planning and I'd certainly like to go to Mull and also to Mallaig.

I was keen to see the beaches, in particular, on the Outer Hebrides. Some of them are amazing, with extremely white sand and turquoise sea. South Harris has some beauties. 

Unfortunately, the weather was a bit against us. Although there were a few brighter interludes, lots of low heavy cloud and a fair bit of rain - though too be fair, much of it was overnight. Most times the weather improved somewhat as the day progressed, but by the time we got to Barra it was dull all day - the Easter flights to the island were cancelled because of poor visibility. June should be much better, but you must expect some showers at least. Oh, and very very long days too - which will be a bonus.

Everybody on the islands was friendly, and people at the roadside nearly always waved. Driving was easier than expected, given lots of single-track roads. There are few hedges and plenty of passing places which are marked with signs on posts, so you can see them and any oncoming traffic well in advance.

There were more people about and more vehicles than we'd anticipated - perhaps because it was Easter? Quite a lot of the crofts looked scruffy - making a living can't be easy for many, and removing scrap vehicles etc would be expensive. By the same token, there were also quite a few 'smart' properties too - with views to die for.

With a little thought wild camping was easy, though I think some of the local communities are not too keen on vans being parked willy-nilly everywhere. Most of the ferry terminals had chemical waste points specifically for emptying toilets. Official campsites are rather few and far between, though there are one or two - quite expensive I believe, circa £20 a night. 

As soon as I get a chance, will try to post a couple of pics if you like and show you where we stopped on Harris. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed the trip, which had been on our 'to-do' list for a long time. In all honesty, we would probably have stayed longer if the weather had been better - but we could see the forecast for the following four or five days was poor, so decided to head for home.

Mike


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## ptmike (Apr 25, 2010)

we went to the isles albeit on our motorbikes last early aug we only hit midge cloud getting off ferry at south uist , the weather was fantastic for over a week.uist has great set up for camper vans they have aleaflet showing all toilet dumps and water points so good for w camping.
harris beaches are brill , dont miss the trip from ullapool north to the cape at durness then over to j o groats.
enjoy


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

We have done all these islands and a lot more beside, such as Canna, Rum, Egg, Muck and St Kilda, except we have aways done them by live aboard dive boats so are consigned to the harbours and inlets so we have never explored the inner islands themselves.

It would be brilliant to do that, in fact we toured on the Isle of Skye a couple of years back for the first time in the van, as once again although we have been to the island on numerous occasions but only round the edge of the Island and staying in the main port, (Portree?) while sailing round it and diving..

ray.


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