Best Things to do on the Isle of Lewis and Harris

This has been on Phoebe’s bucket list for years, so of course it had to be added into our honeymoon. We definitely want to come back here at some point and spend longer on the island. There was so much we missed.

Uig Sands

Uig is a remote region of Lewis, lying some 20-odd miles west of Stornoway on the island's rugged Atlantic coast.

The landscape here is hillier, and more dramatic than elsewhere on Lewis, with its combination of wild cliff scenery and patches of pristine golden sand. Uig beach is famous for being the site where the Lewis Chessmen, 12th century Viking chess pieces, were found (they are now in Edinburgh's National Museum of Scotland and the British Museum in London).

Uig sands is a long beach that wraps around the coastline, it was so windy when we went that we couldn’t stay on the beach, Phoebe and Barney were being pelted by the sand.

Mangersta Sands

Stroll along the beautiful white sands at Mangersta and admire the spectacular crashing Atlantic waves. This is one of the finest beaches on the Isle of Lewis. There are cliffs and a small promontory on the south side of the beach giving a good vantage point for photographs and also a small area of dunes at the back of the beach.

There are two ways to reach the beach, one is by taking the road into the vilage, turning left about a mile into the village and parking at the road end. A gate leads down to the beach. Or what we did was drive past the turn for the village and stop in a layby on the left side of the road if the sea is on the right. From here you cross the road, go through a gate and follow the path down to the beach.

Callanish Standing Stones

Shrouded in mystery, the stones have drawn visitors to this ancient and inspiring site in the Outer Hebredies for thousands of years. The 5000 year old site is a cruciform shaped stone circle that has weathered the storms of the Outer Hebridies and today you can get lost in the beautifully preserved landscape.

We visited through rain showers so it was a very quick visit not that you’d be able to tell.

Gearrannan Blackhouse Village

Gearrannan Blackhouse Village is a cross between open-air museum and holiday spot. The village consists of restored blackhouses – long stone cottages with thatched roofs – and offers up both vacation accommodation and historical demonstrations. We didn’t realise you had to pay to go here so we didn’t go in because we wanted to save the money.

Dalmore Bay

The beach faces out to the north west and large Atlantic rollers often crash onto the beach here. The bay is a favourite place for surfers. The beach is made of a good stretch of golden sand flanked by rugged cliffs. You park down by the cemetary and then follow a gate through to the beach.

Butt of Lewis Lighthouse

This is the most northern point of Lewis; it is an easy walk along the cliffs around the lighthouse but should not be done on a windy day. We got out of the car took some photos and left because it was just too windy.

Scarista Beach

Scarasta beach looks out into the open Atlantic Ocean. There is a wide expanse of sand and dunes between the main road and the beach. The instructions we had for parking have since been changed. There is a small parking area at one end of the beach.

Luskentyre Sands

Luskentyre is one of the largest and most spectacular beaches on Harris. Luskentyre sands boasts miles of white sand and stunning green-blue water. It’s also famous for being the setting of the BBC’s Castaway. Luskentyre Beach is situated close to the A859 on South Harris, and can be accessed via the minor road Losgaintir, which joins the A859 close to Loch Fincastle. A small, free car park is available at the end of Losgaintir, just yards from the beach. It was a bit wet when we visited here so we didn’t get the full sunny experience you see in the photos, but it was still a lovely walk.

Huisinis Beach

The white sand beach lies at the end of a 12-mile-long single-track road. The settlement of only four houses overlooking a white sand beach with views to the Atlantic. The beach is stunning, not too busy because of the distance from anything else. There are normally heilen coo on the way too as there were for us.

Crust Like That

This was the best pizza we had on our roadtrip round Scotland so I had to put it in this blog post. You have to make it a stop whilst on the island. You can even order online for pickup.

Open Tuesday to Saturday 12-7.30pm

Where we stayed

We struggles to find somewhere on Lewis/Harris that was affordable but still quality. Our choice was the only option we found that fit both and would accommodate Barney. They are on Airbnb but do also have a website which is where we booked to avoid Airbnbs service fee.