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CalMac, the Islands, holibobs, and the Demon Midge.

kebabking

kebabking

Not a Girly Swot, but I like them....
Yo! Scottish Urbs!

This summer we fancy a somewhat adventurous holiday - we want to travel by boat, perhaps even land on the beach runway at Barra, go to a Ceilidh, trapse the land looking for a Waterhorse, see Red Deer silouetted against the sea, watch Sea Eagles glide, paddle in clear waters with white sand...

So, a couple of questions that I'd be grateful for help with:

Is CalMac reliability as poor as we've heard on national news? We know the trick never to book the last ferry to anywhere, but is that sufficient?

Midges. Late July/August. Are my kids going to cruy for two weeks?

Is Sunday still closed on bits of the Western Isles?

Any particular hints, tips, experiences, dire warnings?

Cheers, most grateful.
 
Just off up to Glasgow myself for a few days, followed by a weeks hiking and wild camping on bute and arran. In August, which is peak midge season i would definitely be preparing for midges and ticks also - i bring a smidge headnet, use smidge spray and have also coated my clothes and tarp in lifesystems ex4 (deet free but still chemicals though). Even then, i'm just hopeful that the wind on the islands will keep them at bay because they can absolutely immiserate (as anyone who's experienced a scottish midge cloud will testify!) If it is windy, as it often is on the islands that will help a lot. Every night I carefully check my body for ticks, (which are becoming more prevelent due to climate change) and I often find some - I carry a little tick-remover or tweezers to remove them carefully. I'm wearing long trousers rather than shorts as well. Anecdotally, Calmac, ive always found fine tbh - was in Oban travelling round lots of the islands no bother last summer.

The Scottish Midge forecast might help with your planning, though i would be wary of solely relying on it:

The Scottish Midge Forecast
 
(This is all Outer Hebrides but sounds like that's where you're thinking of going.)

kebabking, I'd check there are still spaces on a ferry round the time you want to go. I know the ones to the Outer Hebrides get booked up fast, especially if you're taking a car. (You will need a car.) Likewise if you want to book accommodation as there's only a limited amount.

My sister goes most years (and admittedly this is based round the Scottish school holidays so may be different for the English ones) but they typically book next year's accommodation before they've even been that year and ferries in January as soon as booking opens. (This is for cottages, not camping or whatever which I've no idea about.)

I've been a couple of times and it's windy so midges are not really a problem.

And it's been a few years since I went but everything being closed on a Sunday depends on where you are. Essentially you move from hardcore Wee Frees/Church of Scotand (everything shut) in the north to Catholic (stuff being more open) as you move south. It's probably neutralish round Benbecula so if you plan to be southish on a Sunday, should be okay.

Looks like you won't be there for Hebcelt which is a shame as it's really fun but might make accommodation slightly easier.

Home :: HebCelt 24 :: Scottish Music Festival

www.hebceltfest.com www.hebceltfest.com

It's an absolutely beautiful place and I'd highly highly recommend it. Sasaferrato's originally from there IIRC so will have more/better info. :)

Eta The ferry crossings are also quite long (and you need to get to where they go from too which I'm guessing is very far from you) so might be better/easier to think about flying and picking up a hire car there. I've flown to Stornoway and Benbecula from Glasgow with no problems though no Barra beach landing alas.)
 
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What Sue said. I didn't find the midges on the outer Hebrides too bad in July, much worse on the mainland. And ferries are more problematic than usual this year so get booking now (if there's any car spaces left).
 
£750 for Glasgow to Barra flights, £250 for Oban to Castlebay car ferry.

FML.
 
Consider the small isles as well as the outer isles. Also - some bits of the far northwest mainland can give you some of the feel of the outer isles too. (get away from the NW500 route, the stupidest tourism initiative ever)

Consider arriving in the Highlands on the sleeper train, to Inverness or (I'd recommend) Fort William.

While midges can be awful, they are not as much a problem as some people make out - as long as you have some understanding of where and when they are likely to appear.

If you're planning on camping, then you should certainly take the midge threat seriously and could potentially traumatise your children for life. If you're not, then you mostly have the option of retreating inside if it gets bad. If you'll be doing long walks take midge repellent.
 
A bit hard to give specific advice without knowing exactly what you mean by "adventurous" - for example a lot more possibilities are opened up if you want to consider long distance walking, or camping out, or if you have the capability to hire a boat of some kind. I'd absolutely recommend trying to see the west coast and islands from the sea in some form, even if just from ferries or on various day trips. You can see a lot by kayak, something that's recently become more popular, and there are places you can go out with a guide, or get lessons, or whatever.

You could also consider Knoydart, which is on the mainland, but you can only get there by boat or by walking in. So it has a kind of island feel.

Another relatively low key but I'd say interesting island is Raasay.

Slightly more adventurous island-wise is St Kilda. You can't stay there (as far as I know) but you can now do it as a day trip by high speed boat (not an option when I were a lad).
 
Going in two weeks, will report back! Booked everything umm Friday? Taking a big battered old camper.

Going Oban to Barra, then day on Barra and Vatersay inc going sea kayaking. Then jumping over to Uist, doing a coastal walk to uninhibited island of Vallay. Nipping up to Harris for a day, then back to Uist to get the ferry to Skye. Walking The Quiraing. Then driving home via a walk up the Pap of Glencoe.

Leeds n back in 7 days. A few last ferry’s in there which didn’t occur to me to be a problem, but what’ll be will be :D
 
Edie said:
Going in two weeks, will report back! Booked everything umm Friday? Taking a big battered old camper.

Going Oban to Barra, then day on Barra and Vatersay inc going sea kayaking. Then jumping over to Uist, doing a coastal walk to uninhibited island of Vallay. Nipping up to Harris for a day, then back to Uist to get the ferry to Skye. Walking The Quiraing. Then driving home via a walk up the Pap of Glencoe.

Leeds n back in 7 days. A few last ferry’s in there which didn’t occur to me to be a problem, but what’ll be will be :D
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I'd highly recommend trying to see a beach or two while you're on Harris. They're really something.

ETA 6 Spectacular Beaches on Harris their locations and information for access
 
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I've been to Raasay, it was lovely and was extra interested as it's where my favourite poet came from. The massive main house built by the laird with earnings from the opium trade IIRC was part hostel part community centre then. We used to go to Achiltibuie and similar just north of Ullapool for the mainland suggestion and that was fantastic but it was many years ago.
Also, bold to unashamedly post the word "holibobs" here, but you seem to have gotten away with it.
 
JimW said:
The massive main house built by the laird with earnings from the opium trade IIRC was part hostel part community centre then.
Click to expand...
Used to stay there when I was a kid. Rambling old house with multiple stairs and creaky old rooms with bunks in. Sadly a lot of it was lost in a fire I think.
 
pogofish said:
This is one that does work - in theory.

However, you need to be eating in excess of two kilos of Marmite per day to produce any meaningful level of repellence!

Even the most ardent Marmite lover may find that one a little difficult, never mind the risk of salt poisoning.
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kebabking could smear marmite all over himself - that would avoid having to eat it. He might get some odd looks but it would entertain everyone else.

Remember getting bitten quite a bit by the little sods as a kid on holidays in Scotland, but think it seemed to stop after a certain point. Not sure if that was the increase in hormones at puberty or if I just started to smell off-putting to them. :hmm:
 
If you want something that does work, Smidge is an interesting product.

Its a p-Cardin based product, in a water-based/non irritant solution, which avoids all the skin and respiratory irritation and clothes/tents/glasses/cameras-dissolving/damaging issues issues of other products.

However, it isn't a repellent in the conventional sense. The midges cloud around you like you had nothing at all on but they lose all inclination to bite you, so if you can handle that, it is the best product out there.

Otherwise DEET is the next best stuff - A proper repellent that drives the beasties away from you. Personally I go for the Boots yellow or silver tin/bottle products which have an effective DEET content but don't have the more nasty/irritating secondaries/solvents that branded products like Jungle Formula have. Plus they are cheaper and often on BOGOFF.
 
Cheers all.

We've chinned it off for this summer - simply matching up flights/ferries, accommodation, and dog kennels this close to the school holidays has proved a bit much.

I think we'll do it the may half term next year - weather should be ok, midges shouldn't have gone full shit, and the various transport difficulties currently manifesting themselves should have been ironed out...

Drive to Glasgow, a couple of days airb'nb for the city centre, Kelvingrove/huntarian/west end, then fly to Barra, stay there for 4/5 days (hostel?), then back to Glasgow, and then home.

Most grateful.
 
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