Beware of the beast (Outer Hebrides)

Member Name: charlhrdy

Product:	Outer Hebrides
Date:	07/05/07 (81 review reads)
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A unforgettable place which is like beauty and the beast. Once you have been you would never forget the expansive clean beaches, the remote moors and the loneliness of the place. But there is a twist and one which alters your perception altogether.

Only ever holiday there, as a tourist you will be treated like royality, everyone will speak to you and make your stay pleasant.

Never move to live there, no matter how many times you have been on holiday there you will never be accepted, your status will be incomer. In the local paper there was an obituary for a man who had lived there since he was a young boy. It read "Though he was a stranger in our midst...." He was in his eighties when he died. It can be an evil place which is such a shame as it is wonderful.

The Isle Of Lewis is the one I know well, having only one town to the east of the island the rest is remote. You have to cross the moors to get to most of it. But it is worth the journey. Along the west coast there are beaches which are miles long and marvellously clean. Nothing at all to compare in the UK, or anywhere else I have been.

There is the Port of Ness, obviously a small port, but again another beautiful beach, walk along to the Lighthouse from which you can see for miles. Uig has the best beach you cannot see the sea from the sand the sea is warm enough to paddle all day. Valto & Reef are both beautiful if a little dangerous with undercurrents. Best camping areas though.

Travel inwards and it is all moors and peat banks, a few rocky areas and lochs. All very remote and lonely. You can imagine Wuthering Heights being set there. Back out and towards the town you come to Stornoway.

The main town is pretty and seaside like, it's where the ferry comes in and the tourists go to shop. However, if you are into shopping Lewis is not the place to go, its most famous shop is Woolworths, though if you look round you can find some nice local shops.

Go out to the East and you come to almost a separate Island, it is joined by a very narrow strip of land by the airport.

You can fly there internally and you can get the ferry which is a three hour journey or you can get a shorter ferry to Harris and drive through, though the time difference is neglible.

I would recommend a visit to Lewis anytime, though summer is best as it tends to rain the rest of the time. Its wild in winter, with the winds whipping across the moors. I would never recommend anyone moves there unless you are a hermit.

Summary: Go see