Scotland: Ancient Stones of the Outer Hebrides 5289

We depart from our designated pick-up points and head north, stopping en-route for refreshments.  We will continue to Ullapool in time to catch the early-evening Caledonian MacBrayne ferry to Stornoway, which takes approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes. Dinner will be served on board.  On arrival in Lewis we will transfer the short distance to our hotel, the 4-star Cabarfeidh Hotel.

This morning after breakfast we skirt round the head of East Loch Roag and cross to the island of Great Bernera, where we visit the Bosta Iron Age Village. These stone structures from the 7th – 8th century were uncovered in Bosta thanks to a period of heavy storms, in much the same way that Skara Brae on Orkney came to light. A replica Iron Age house gives an insight into an ancient way of life here on a particularly beautiful beach. We will also visit the nearby museum where artefacts found at the site are displayed.
From here we travel to the west coast of Lewis for a visit to Calanais II, an impressive site comprising of five standing stones and two fallen stones, forming an oval. A further, shorter stone lies pointing towards the centre. There may originally have been more stones in the ‘circle’. Its diameter of nearly 20 metres makes it almost twice as big as the circle at Calanais I (which is around 11–12m across). Inside the ‘circle’ is a low round cairn that was probably a later addition; it will have contained a burial chamber, but it has been badly damaged. When peat was first cleared away from this monument, shortly after 1857, people found traces of pebbles that had probably supported upright wooden posts inside the ‘circle’.
Please note that the primary Callanish Standing Stones site (Calanais I) is currently completely closed due to a major redevelopment of the visitor centre taking place until Spring 2026. The entire site is closed for construction during this time.
This afternoon we will visit St Columba’s Ui Church at Point, just outside Stornoway, one of the most important archaeological sites on the Isle of Lewis.  It was the main church during the medieval period and is a burial place for the Macleod chiefs and the Mackenzies who controlled the island in later years.

After breakfast this morning we travel south to Harris, which in contrast to the rolling moorland of Lewis is more mountainous and fringed by superb white sandy beaches. Here we visit St Clement’s Church at Rodel, built on top of an earlier structure in the 16th century by Alasdair Crotach, 8th chief of the Macleods of Harris and Dun Bheagan. The church tombs are among the most spectacular in Scotland. We then visit the Genealogy Centre at Northton, a chance to get to know some of the factors which have had an influence on the development of the various Island communities, while for the more serious student there is a vast resource of detailed source information from different parts of the Hebrides. We continue to the ancient standing stone known as Clach Mhic Leoid (MacLeod’s Stone) which enjoys a superb situation overlooking the Isle of Taransay, which was the setting for the BBC TV series ‘Castaway’.
We then return to Stornoway and visit Lews Castle, where we can meet the famous Lewis Chessmen and view the Outer Hebrides as never before in a wrap-around audio-visual presentation.

Today after enjoying your full Scottish breakfast, we will have a chance to discover the stunning scenery of Lewis as we take a journey through time from the Bronze and Iron Ages to the days of Norse settlement and the more recent past. Our visits include the exceptionally well-preserved and imposing Carloway Broch, a circular, dry-stone fortified tower, dating back some 2,000 years; the Black Houses at Gearannan and Arnol which are typical of the crofting settlements which until relatively recently were found throughout the Western Isles and give a special insight into island life; the Norse Mill at Shawbost, a recreation of the type of building where barley grain was ground into meal by Viking settlers and subsequent generations of crofters; and the standing stone Clach an Trushal, at over 6m one of the tallest in Scotland.

This morning we check out of the hotel and take the early morning Caledonian MacBrayne ferry from Stornoway to Ullapool which takes approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes (breakfast will be served on board).  We then continue our homeward journey, arriving back at our original pick-up points in the afternoon.