Skye offers Britain`s most dramatic mountains and a neat integration of the buildings into the landscape (it competes favourably even with the English Lake District in this respect). But you can find much more spectacular mountains and equally pleasing architecture in the Swiss Alps, which are about as close to London as Portree is. Most tourists coming this far north are instead looking for that remote island ambience, and I`m afraid Skye`s modern bridge to the mainland along with its fast roads have severely eroded that quality on this island. The west coasts of Lewis and Hoy on the other hand still give the jaded city-dweller that coveted escape-from-it-all feeling.
Accommodation is neither cheap nor plentiful in the Outer Hebrides but you could always take a tent like we did. Accommodation on Hoy in the Orkneys is a no-brainer - the Hoy Centre in the east of the island, though less scenically placed, is a) more likely to have free beds than the small establishments on the west coast and b) for £14 per head as of 2010, absolutely fabulous!


Cliffs at Ard More Mangersta, west Lewis

Sea-stack off Butt of Lewis,
north end of Lewis

Cliffs at Ard More Mangersta,
west Lewis

Sea cliffs by Butt of Lewis

Sea cliffs by Butt of Lewis

Eastern cliffs of the Quirang, Skye

Callanish stone circle, Lewis

Brough of Gurness, Mainland, Orkneys

Standing stones at Ring of Brodgar,
Mainland, Orkneys

"Structure 10" excavation, Ness of
Brodgar, Mainland, Orkneys

Archaeological excavation, Ness of
Brodgar, Mainland, Orkneys

Road to remote farmhouse,
Deerness, Mainland, Orkneys

Microwave oven serving as postbox,
farm, Orkneys

Microwave oven serving as postbox,
farm, Orkneys

Interior of Italian Chapel,
Mainland, Orkneys

Sandside Bay, Deerness, south end of
Mainland, Orkneys

Cliffs south of Old Man of Hoy,
Hoy, Orkneys

12th Century St Moluag Church, Lewis

Rusty naval wreckage, beach
at Marwick, Mainland, Orkneys

Cliffs at Ard More Mangersta,
west Lewis

Sea-stacks at Aird Feinis,
south of Uig, Lewis

Aird Feinis, Lewis

Kilt Rock, east coast of Skye

Flannan Islands from west coast
of Lewis

Road north of Uig Bay, Lewis

Inside a blackhouse, Arnol, Lewis

Old Man of Hoy, Hoy, Orkneys

Callanish stone circle, Lewis

St John`s Head,
north of Old Man of Hoy

Old Man of Hoy, Hoy, Orkneys

Old Man of Hoy, Hoy, Orkneys

Old Man of Hoy, Hoy, Orkneys

Bla Bheinn, Skye, from Torrin,
across Loch Slapin

Yesnaby sea-stacks, west Mainland,
Orkneys

Small river plain at Aird Uig, Lewis

Aird Feinis, Lewis

Highland cow or kyloe, Lewis

Red Cuillin from Pinnacle Ridge,
Sgurr nan Gillean, Skye

Standing stones Great Bernera, Lewis

Callanish stone circle, Lewis

Abseiling King`s Cave Chimney,
Am Basteir, Skye

Coire na Creiche from Glen Brittle road,
Skye

Abseiling King`s Cave Chimney,
Am Basteir, Skye

Puffin, Isle of Noss, Shetlands

Puffin, Isle of Noss, Shetlands

Remote grave of Betty Corrigall,
Hoy, Orkneys

End window, St Moluag Church, Lewis

The Basteir Tooth, Cuillin Ridge, Skye

Abseiling Pinnacle Ridge,
Sgurr nan Gillean, Skye

Island of Foula, Shetlands



Flowering lilly, freshwater lake,
west Lewis

Marion Taylor, one of Foula`s few
inhabitants, Shetlands

Blackhouse museum, Arnol, Lewis

Camping on Harris (Scadabhagh)

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