we had this idea to cycle the outer hebrides since summer 2016. at that time we grew very enthusiastic about cycling and explored isle of arran and bute on bikes, loved it. we thought, why not, let's have an adventure and a challenge, let's cycle the outer hebrides.
it was decided then, but still seemed so far away in the future.. when the time finally came we felt very unprepared haha
the plan was to take bikes only, no cars.
so the journey involved taking a train from edinburgh to glasgow, then glasgow to oban. finally a ferry from oban to castlebay would take us to the islands. way back was planned from stornoway to ullapool and then inverness by taxi and edinburgh by train. unfortunately train journeys with bikes might be tricky as, on average, on a train there is a place for only 6 bicycles. booking well in advance are necessary, which we were not aware of and as a result had to modify the plans a bit and take a train from fort william rather than inverness.
anyway, ferry crossing from oban to castlebay was relatively calm. this part of sea is known to be rough, but not that day. it was table-flat most of the time. what is more, while crossing we passed a large pod of dolphins. oh, they were everywhere, lots of them, jumping out of water. mindblowing!
after almost 6 hours we arrived to castlebay, in the evening. rain and wind greeted us on barra. we hoped to wildcamp on vatersay that night but after all decided against it and booked b&b near borve. nobody wants to get wet and cold on the first night :)
next morning we left very early to catch 9am ferry from barra to eriskay.
weather also improved and our first proper cycling day was gorgeous!
it takes just over 1 hour to reach aird mhor ferry pier from castlebay, the road was quiet (early morning on sunday) and picturesque
ferry crossing takes less than an hour and we landed on eriskay in no time :)
immediately we liked it - day was brightening up, sun out, reasonable wind. oh and the route profile was good - google said 'mostly flat' :) later we discovered that there isnt such a thing as 'flat' anywhere in scotland, even the hebrides :) but yeah, south uist wasnt too bad, just not exactly flat :)
eriskay soon changed to south uist
the island was green, little traffic, sea birds everywhere and some deer too :)
air smelled of flowers and the sea...
we also wanted to make a stop at one of uist's famous beaches, decided to go for beach near howmore as it was closest to the main road. then we accidentally discovered one of the most beautiful hostels ever. very atmospheric, very cozy. a place to be :) and 5 mins walk from the beach :)
we left the bikes there and went for a walk.
nearby beach was really nice, white sand, some small dunes, the standard 'west coast beach', but it was very smelly. i'm not sure why but it was really proper dead seaweed smell, not too much of a dead seaweed to be seen thou.... ?
we enjoyed a small walk and then sunbathed on the rocks (just as smelly!) it was a shame to leave the place.
we cycled on, to benbecula -there is a campsite (near windmill) and a pub/restaurant (near windmill too) so it's a great combination - pint and a bed :)
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pomysl pojechania rowerami na hebrydy zewnetrzne zaswital nam juz latem 2016, wtedy to 'odkrylysmy' rowery, zachcialo nam sie jezdzic, zwiedzac rowerami. pierwsze podejejscia to byly wyspy arran oraz bute, bylo swietnie, dlatego pomyslalysmy -dlaczego nie, jedzmy na hebrydy!
wtedy juz zapadla decyzja, wyjazd zdawal sie byc oddalony o lata swietlne, ale kiedy nagle czas byl wyjezdzac na ta upragniowa przygode -czulysmy sie calkiem nieprzygotowane
plan zakladal podroz pociagiem z edynburga do glasgow i dalej do oban. potem promem do castlebay na wyspie barra i tu zaczyna sie rowerowa przygoda. przejazd wysp w okolo 6 dni i powrot do stornoway, dalej promem do ullapool, taksowka do inverness i w koncu pociagiem spowrotem do edynburga. niestety nie wzielysmy pod uwage ze zabranie 3 rowerow do pociagu moze byc klopotliwe -przecietny szkocki pociag ma miejsce tylko na 6 rowerow, ktore rozchodza sie jak cieple buleczki.. skonczylo sie tak ze pociag moglysmy zlapac tylko z fort william, a nie inverness..
rejs z oban do castlebay byl niesamowity- po pierwsze morze tutaj ma reputacje trudnego i burzliwego, nasz rejs byl spokojny, tafla wody jak stol. nic. do tego po drodze natknelisly sie na delfiny, duzo delfinow, robawionych delfinow skaczacych wszedzie w zasiegu wzroku. niesamowite :)
po prawie 6 godzinach rejsu dotarlismy na barre, ktora niestety przywitala nas ulewa!
pomimo ze planowalysmy spedzic pierwsza noc rozbijajac sie na dziko na wyspie vatersay, postanowilysmy zmienic plany i przespac sie w b&b (nieopodal borve).nikt nie chce zmarznac i przemoknac juz w pierwsza noc :)
nastepnego ranka zerwalysmy sie wczesnie by zlapac pierwszy prom z barry na eriskay. rowerem mozna przejechac barre w nieco ponad godzine, ponadto pogoda sie poprawila, wyszlo slonce i okolica byla bajeczna :) dobrze sie jechalo, drogi puste (niedziela rano)
rejs z barry na eriskay trwa mniej niz godzine wiec nie dluzylo nam sie
eriskay przywitalo nas juz sloncem i nie za duzym wiatrem, wiec wspaniale :)
aha, no i google powiedzial ze trasa tego dnia jest 'w wiekszosci plaska'. pozniej okazalo sie ze nie istnieje takie cos jak 'plaska' w szkocji, nawet na hebrydach
ale spoko, bylo bardzo przyjemnie, szczegolnie kiedy dojechalysmy juz do kolejnej wyspy -south uist. co za zielonosc, spokoj, sielskosc, tylko spiew ptakow, powietrze pachnialo kwiatami i morzem
postawilysmy sobie za punkt honoru odwiedzic chociaz jedna plaze na south uist, padlo na te w okolicy howmore, jako ze jest polozona niedaleko od glownej drogi. przy okazji odkrylysmy przemily hostelik w pieknej tradycyjnej chatce, bardzo klimatyczny.
zostawilysmy tu rowery i poszlysmy na spacer po plazy.
plaza taka typowa jak na szkockie zachodnie wybrzeze - sliczny bialy piasek, wydmy, piekny kolor wody. nie wiem tlyko dlaczego ale strasznie smierdziala :( jakby zdechlym wodorostem, ale bardzo intensywnie, mimo ze nie bylo w zasiegu wzroku zdechlych wodorostow.. poszlysmy wiec na maly spacer, potem nawet sie opalalysmy na skalach (tez smierdzialy!) i naprawe bylo nam przykro opuszczac to miejsce
ruszylysmy dalej, na wyspe benbecula. jest tam kamping i pub (kolo wiatraka) - doskonala kombinacja- lozko i piwko :)
there we go! / ruszamy!
oban, leaving for a ferry to barra
oban, zaraz bierzemy prom na barre
(by Lucka)
amazing calm water while crossing to barra
niesamowicie spokojne morze podczas rejsu na barre
a rather cold greeting from barra :(
raczej chlodne przywitanie na barze
20mins cycling from castlebay to borve and we're all wet...
20min pedalowania z castlebay to borve i jestesmy mokre..
next morning looked much better ;) / rano bylo duzo lepiej!
selfie with Lucka :)
towards aird mhor
eriskay, here we come!
eriskay, przybywamy!
eriskay
first thing we encountered on eriskay was a hill. and then i thought 'mostly flat?????'
pierwsze co kiedy ruszylysmy na eriskay -gorka. kurcze i pomyslalam, jak to 'prawie plasko'????
causeway to south uist
grobla do south uist
(by Lucka)
howmore hostel :)
let's have some lunch and then go to the beach!
zjedzmy cos i szybko na plaze
my super speedy rocket :)
howmore beach
(by Lucka)
relax :)
tide out sand patterns
szlaczki na piasku podczas odplywu
nice wee fluffy rock / fajna wlochata skalka
me and the two seals / selfie z dwiema fokami
benbecula!
i wish! / chcialabym!
liniclate beach
liniclate campsite
route castlebay - aird mhor
route eriskay to benbecula
route profile
50km / 33m
route profile
barra total 15km/10m
