Scotland Road Trip Part 3 - Isle of Harris

We were so sad to leave our awesome b&b in Lewis, but knew we had to venture on to the beautiful beaches of Harris. Harris and Lewis are actually connected to each other on the same island, but people refer to them separately and I could see why. The landscape of Harris is very mountainous with lots of rocks on the surface, sometimes we felt like we were on Mars! There is not much greenery, but when there is, it's beautiful. Especially when it's backed against the clear blue/turquoise waters and white sand. I felt like I wasn't in Scotland anymore, except that it was still cold and sheep were still everywhere. It was only about an hour and half drive from where we were in Lewis to Harris, so that was easy enough. Here's our first glimpse of the beach, heading to our b&b.

We arrived to our b&b Parcant-strath just in time for dinner. How's this for some Harris Tweed! All the rooms {and house} were decked out in Harris Tweed. It was quite adorable.



That night, we had dinner in the dining room downstairs and was greeted by a beautiful sunset. One of the other guest mentioned that there was series on the Hebrides on the BBC, so we stuck around and watched it with them. Amazing! You should watch it if you get the chance. We think Scotland weather is brutal; there is a whole different world out there for the animals!



The next morning, the sun was shining and the temperature was in the the 50's so we headed off to do the Northon Beach walk.

















Afterwards, we continued on with our "Made in the Outer Hebrides" book and headed towards the "Golden Road." The road was given the nickname because it cost so much to build. You're literally driving on rocks, but they somehow paved a road on it. Here are some of the places we visited:

The "Golden Road"



The Harris Tweed Knitwear Company







Skoon Art Cafe - cute cafe with great views but I somehow failed to take a picture

Holmasaig Gallery



The Mission House Studio



Ardbuidhe Cottage Gallery





Since the sun doesn't set until closer to 10 pm here, we still had time to drive out to Luskentyre and walk along the beach before heading out to dinner. I've decided, I want to live by the water and own a studio.  It's so calm and relaxing.













say hello to "Coffee" - her sister's name is "Toffee"



Dinner - Langoustines



The next day, we did another beach walk to visit the Macleod Stone, taking in one last view of Harris before heading off to Skye, where we would spend the next 4 days.







Last but not least, you can't come all the way to Harris without buying some Harris Tweed! We heard around town that Donald John Mackay, was one of the best weavers on the island so we went and paid him a visit. He still weaves in this little green shed and sells to the public at wholesale prices, as well as big names like Nike and Clarks.  That is, if you know where he is, signs are not posted in front of his house and it's not in the book. He's a word of mouth kind of guy. He was a very nice man and puts out some great tweed. We bought a few meters to makes some cushions; now to find someone to sew them for me.









Now, it's really time to say goodbye to Harris. I've really enjoyed the quietness of the place; it was like Gerald and I had a whole island to ourselves. We definitely want to come back and visit sometime in the future. We caught the 3 pm ferry to Uig, Skye. This time, the ride was 2 hours and we knocked out the entire way!

"a Panoramic View of the Magnificent Scenery of the Western Isles." - 1926 - i do agree with that!