Isle of Lewis Travel Guide

The Isle of Lewis is the northern part of the main island of the Outer Hebrides. The southern part of this island is called Harris and both are treated as separate islands. The main settlement is Stornoway and you can reach it by taking a ferry from Ullapool on the mainland. There is also an airport with daily scheduled flights to the mainland. All of the villages on the Isle of Lewis are located near the coast and the northern and interior section is largely moorland, from which the early settlers cut peat to use as their source of heat.

The Isle of Lewis is steeped in history that dates back to prehistoric times. Visit the ancient site of Callanish with its standing stones. This historic site gets its name from the nearby village and archaeologists estimate that it dates back to about 2000 B.C. Here you will find 13 stones in a circle or about 13m in diameter. There are also rows of smaller stones leading to the four points of the compass. The overall layout resembles a Celtic cross and the stones themselves average about 4m each.

The Dun Carloway Broch is about 2 km from Carloway on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. This is really well preserved with parts of it standing 9m high. In the Carloway area you can also get a sense of what it was like to live in this part of the country when you visit Black House Village in Garenin These are 9 restored houses built with packed dry earth and have a thatched roof. You will notice that these houses do not have a chimney. The smoke from the fires inside escaped through the roof.

There are Iron Age houses near Bostadh that is connected to the Isle of Lewis by a bridge. Visit St. Columba’s Church in Aignish and the Teampull Mholuaidh in Ness as just a small sample of the historic sites on the Isle of Lewis.

In Stornoway, you can visit the Museum nan Eileen where you will learn about the exciting history of the Outer Hebrides all the way back to 9000 years ago. Learn about the famous Harris Tweed with a visit to the Lewis Loom Centre, where you can enjoy a 40 minute guided tour that includes spinning and weaving demonstrations. Lews Castle is a huge mansion across the harbour that is the site of the annual Isle of Lewis Hebridean Celtic Festival in July.

There is a wide range of caravan parks where you can park or pitch a tent as well as a wealth of bed and breakfasts, self-catering cottages and hotels for you to choose from for your accommodations. There is so much to see and do when you visit the Isle of Lewis, that you will probably have to plan several visits to get to see everything.

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