Scottish Tour Guide's Blog

Snow Capped Mountains, Harris, Scotland

 This morning, we departed our lodgings at Tarbert, Harris and headed north to Isle of Lewis passing en-route through some stunning scenery entailing mountains topped with an overnight covering snow which reflected nicely in the sunlight. The tour progressed as follows:

• First destination was the new (founded 2008) whisky distillery known as Abhainn Dearg at Carnish on the west of Lewis which is at the end of a long and narrow road with no obvious signage. We eventually found the site and on second attempt were provided with a visit to the distillery operations and a sample of the new, three year old single malt.Interestingly, this distillery is close to the site where the set of famous Viking era carved chessmen were found buried on the beach area. We made some purchases of this unique and limited availability single malt.
• Next to the famous prehistoric, standing stone site at Callanish.
• Next to the Gearrannan Black Houses, a former community of traditionally built stone houses with thatched roofs. This site provides a tangible link with traditional island lifestyle of fairly recent times.
• Next to the Carloway Broch, a former high status dwelling with a history dating back perhaps some 2000 years.
• Next to Shawbost and a water powered mill and kiln dating from the Norse or Viking era, about 1200 years ago.
• Next to the Blackhouse Museum (former island house) where we learned more about the use of peat for fuel and toured the museum with authentic sights and smells from a bygone era.
• Finally, we returned to Tarbert in readiness for our departure for Skye in the morning. 

Dram of Whisky at Abhainn Dearg Distillery, Scotland

Inside Abhainn Dearg Distillery, Isle of Lewis, Scotland

Outdoor Boy Band, Isle of Lewis, Scotland

Prehistoric Stone Circle at Callanish, Scotland

Gearrannan Black House Village, Isle of Lewis, Scotland

Carloway Broch, Lewis, Scotland

Norse Mill and Kiln, Lewis, Scotland

Seascape, Isle of Skye, Scotland

This morning, we commenced our tour by departing our Broadford lodgings and then drove for about 1 hour to the island capital of Portree. Here we explored the town including the pretty harbour, indulged in some shopping and refreshed ourselves with coffee before moving on to the north of the island.

Portree Harbour, Skye, Scotland

Taking a narrow road north from Portree we went past peat diggings and then to Kilt Rock and the waterfall. This was a good viewpoint for some interesting coastal and sea views offering good photo opportunities.

Kilt Rock and Waterfall, Skye

Next we continued north and then turned off up a very steep and narrow road to view the stunning landscape known as the Quiraing  which has volcanic origins.

Quiraing, Skye, Scotland

Quiraing, Skye, Scotland

At the Quiraing a small car departed from the road which resulted in many visitors joining in to rectify the position.

Car Rescue, Quiraing, Skye

Next we drove across the top of the island to the ferry port of Uig.  Here we had a pleasant lunch close to then harbour after which the Lewis ferry came in just as were leaving.

Uig Harbour, Skye

Next, about a 50 min drive to Dunvegan Castle, home to the Chief of Clan Macleod. However, our main objective was to join a seal watching  trip by boat which proved most enjoyable, We also saw a heron and other birdlife. After the seal trip guests explored the castle’s well kept gardens.

Dunvegan Castle, Skye, Scotland

Seal Watching, Dunvegan, Skye

Common Seal at Dunvegan, Scotland

Heron at Dunvegan, Skye

Exotic Fungi at Dunvegan Castle, Skye

Finally we continued to follow the coast round and back to our Broadford lodgings for the evening.

Late afternoon we experienced rain but, other than that, we benefited from a relatively dry day, albeit somewhat overcast.