Outer Hebrides summer 2014

[jurjan]

Hey people,
we are in the planning stages of our summer holidays.
This year we'll be visiting Scotland, to be somewhat more precise: the Outer Hebrides.

For some background info before the questions:
Seeing as we're from the Netherlands we'll be arriving on the ferry from IJmuiden to Newcastle.
Then we will probably be taking the train to Oban, from where we will take the ferry across to either Barra or South Uist.
We'll cycle from there to Stornoway, take the ferry and cycle back to ... before taking the ferry home (ie Newcastle / IJmuiden).
We have already visited Scotland's western side (including Shetlands and Orkneys), so our preference is finding a route that stays more easterly on the mainland.
We will have about four weeks total.
Our bikes are no mountain bikes, but we do not fear some off roading.

Now the questions:
We would like to see puffins, I've read somewhere the season is from june to halway in july, is this correct?
What would be THE best place to find them in the Hebrides?
What are THE places / sights one MUST see on the islands (we like lots of things, good food, culture, nature, history etc., less so overly touristy stuff).
I think that a week and a half would be a goodly amount of time, or would you people advice more time spend on the islands?
What would be a good, as carfree as possible (but scenic is more important), route from Ullapool to Newcastle, possibly visiting Skye / Mull.
What routes / places are best avoided?
Any other good info, websites to visit, books to read, maps to stare at?

Thanks a lot for your inputs(s)

 

[Rasmus]

Can't help much with the Outer Hebrides, as I sadly have yet to visit.

I can very much recommend Mull, though, it is a fabulous place. Go via the Ardnamurchan peninsula and take the ferry to Tobermory.

Not many roads from Oban towards the east. One option is to head for Tarbet on Loch Lomond and take the ferry to Inversnaid, from where more quiet roads are available southeastwards. Aim for the Innerleithen either via Edinburgh or through the quiter roads south from Falkirk

 

[iandg]

Will try to add some info when I'm away from work

Ian

 

[format]

If you're taking the train to or from Oban, make sure to book in advance otherwise they might not let you on the train with your bikes!

 

[Will1962]

You don't tend to get puffins in the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles) due to the terrain not being suitable for their burrows. The largest puffin colony is on St. Kilda, but it is about 90km out into the Atlantic Ocean from the Western Isles (which is a bit of a long haul for a day trip).

If you want to see puffins then you will need to take a whole day out and go on a boat trip.

If you are going to Oban, then you can see puffins on the Treshnish Isles (which are to the west of Mull). You can do boat trips from Mull (Tobermory or Fionnphort), or trips from Oban that I believe includes transport by road from Oban to Fionnphort (Mull), where you then join the boat.

See http://www.staffatours.com/boat-tou...dlife-cruise-treshnish-isles-and-staffa-tour/

Another option for seeing puffins if you are going by train from Newcastle to Oban (via Edinburgh and Glasgow Queen Street) is to go to the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth. Some of the trains from Newcastle to Edinburgh stop at Dunbar. North Berwick is about 20km along the coast from Dunbar. There is a seabird centre at North Berwick, and from there you can take a boat trip out to the seabird colony on the Isle of May. You would probably need to spend two nights in North Berwick.

http://www.nnr-scotland.org.uk/isle-of-may/visiting/
http://www.seabird.org/index.php

If you go to the Isle of May, then you can get a train to Edinburgh from North Berwick (which is not on the same line as Dunbar), and hence to Glasgow Queen Street to pick up the Oban train. Note: The train from Glasgow Queen Street to Oban splits in two at Crianlarich, with one half going to Oban and the other half to Mallaig, so make sure you are on the right half.

Will

 

[jurjan]

Rasmus, Ian, 'Format' and Will,
thanks for your responses.

We have taken trains in Scotland /UK before, so we will definitely be making reservations.
Biggest 'problem' is that they don't allow booking bike spots this long in advance, so one can buy tickets (about four months in advance), but in order to book a bike you would have to wait (I seem to remember) until two months before the travel date.
So there is a risk that the bike spots will already be taken.

Oooh, I just reread my post: please read East where I say West and vice versa...

Concerning puffins: thanks, we were under the impression that there were lots of puffins on the Outer Hebrides.
We'll look into this some more.

Thanks all so far,
Jurjan

edit: typo

 

[Will1962]

Jurjan

Train tickets in the UK are usually available 12 weeks in advance. Bike reservations become available at the same time that the tickets become available.

You can sign up to get an e-mail alert when your tickets go on sale at: http://www.thetrainline.com/ticketalert/

I usually find that the cheapest advanced tickets are not available until a few hours after the tickets go on sale, so I wait a few hours before booking. You can get a rough idea of the cheap ticket prices by checking the price for travelling the week before.

Although we have a number of different rail companies in the UK, you can use any of their websites to book your train tickets. A few of the rail company websites have the option to make a bike reservation at the same time you buy your ticket.

I usually use the East Coast website to book rail tickets (http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/). Once you have selected your train and clicked 'Buy Now' you are taken to the 'Journey Details' screen (where you reserve your seat). That screen also has a link for 'bicycle space' (it is really small text and is easy to miss). Clicking on the 'bicycle space' link results in a drop down box appearing that allows you to book the number of bike spaces you require (up to a maximum of the number spaces available and the number of tickets you are buying). If it is not possible to book a bike space on the journey then you will not see a 'bicycle space' link. If you book Newcastle to Oban, you will probably get a warning: 'it is not possible to reserve your bicycle on all sections of your journey' - This is because the trains between Edinburgh and Glasgow do not have spaces that you can reserve. Once you click on the 'Continue' button your journey details will include your seat number(s) and your bike reservations.

Will

 

[Rasmus]

Scotrail upgraded their website about a year ago and now use the same system as East Coast, so you can book bike space on their website, too.

About half of the East Coast services, and a number of CrossCountry ones, continue from Newcastle through Edinburgh to Glasgow. Saves you a train change in Edinburgh, but you arrive at Glasgow Central and will need a short walk/ride to Queen Street for the train to Oban.

@jurjan, if I read your correction correctly, you would be looking for a west coast route down from Ullapool? In that case I very much suggest you hug the coast down to Kyle, head over to Skye, ferry to Mallaig, down to Kilchoan, across to Mull, round the back via Calgary Bay to Craignure and Ferry to Oban. From there a number of routes are available. You could go via Arran, via Bute, or via Loch Lomond. If you have tons of time, you could even use the Tayvallich ferry to divert via Jura and Islay.

 

[Bodhbh]

Hey people,
we are in the planning stages of our summer holidays.
This year we'll be visiting Scotland, to be somewhat more precise: the Outer Hebrides.

For some background info before the questions:
Seeing as we're from the Netherlands we'll be arriving on the ferry from IJmuiden to Newcastle.
Then we will probably be taking the train to Oban, from where we will take the ferry across to either Barra or South Uist.
We'll cycle from there to Stornoway, take the ferry and cycle back to ... before taking the ferry home (ie Newcastle / IJmuiden).
We have already visited Scotland's western side (including Shetlands and Orkneys), so our preference is finding a route that stays more easterly on the mainland.
We will have about four weeks total.
Our bikes are no mountain bikes, but we do not fear some off roading.

Now the questions:
We would like to see puffins, I've read somewhere the season is from june to halway in july, is this correct?
What would be THE best place to find them in the Hebrides?
What are THE places / sights one MUST see on the islands (we like lots of things, good food, culture, nature, history etc., less so overly touristy stuff).
I think that a week and a half would be a goodly amount of time, or would you people advice more time spend on the islands?
What would be a good, as carfree as possible (but scenic is more important), route from Ullapool to Newcastle, possibly visiting Skye / Mull.
What routes / places are best avoided?
Any other good info, websites to visit, books to read, maps to stare at?

Thanks a lot for your inputs(s)

I've only been out there once...but a few random points.

Barra is definately worth visiting, but if you have to take the ferry to South Uist for some logistical reason (I seem to remember we did), it's an easy ride south to catch the ferry over. It'll only take a day out your trip to head over and cycle round.

The wind was something else when we were there. It tends to come from the SW, so at you're back, but you could be unlucky. Being dutch you will be ninja's at cycling into headwinds tho!

I actually struggle to think of specific MUST SEE sights. We had a great time just cycling and hanging about. A major plus is wild camping is legal and the islands have some of the most scenic spots I've every wild camped in. Only boxes we went out our way to 'tick' where the standing stones at Callanish and the Butt of Lewis. The Butt of Lewis is only the northernmost tip and marked the end of the cycling (bus back and beers in Stornaway, wa-hey!).

We had a week, we could have spent more time tho, week and a half sounds perfect.

If you're a map fan, bit pricey, but personally I'd get the OS landranger maps for the islands. They're too detailed for long tours, but if you're spending 10 days on the islands and possibly doing some walking and other outdoor stuff they are worth it. Shows you want map numbers you'll need here.

 

[jurjan]

Will and Rasmus: thanks for the heads up on the rail issue.
We were planning on taking a train that would take us direct to Glasgow, we're not big fans of changing trains with both bicycle AND luggage.
At this stage it's possible we will even stay the night in Glasgow (depending on planning, boat / train schedules etc.)

Rasmus: you read my correction correctly...
Thanks for the route advice, Mull sounds good (visit Tobermory distillery), Islay is an option for sure, we visited there once (by car), but all depends on timing, ferries tend to constrain you a bit.

'Bodhbh':
not only are we dutch, but we visited Patagonia a few years ago, after that we swore we'd never complain about headwinds again.
And that while we planned for the wind and had mostly tailwinds...
Thanks for the suggestions (sights, maps etc.)

At this time we think we'll 'just' enjoy the scenery, and see what crosses our path when we're there.

thanks again,
Jurjan

 

[Will1962]

Jurjan

The direct trains from Newcastle to Glasgow run about every 2 hours. The earliest train you could get would be the 11:36.

There are usually about two or three trains per hour from Newcastle to Edinburgh.

There is a frequent service between Edinburgh and Glasgow. The 'express' train runs every 15 minutes Monday to Friday and every 30 minutes on a Sunday. There are also many slower trains that means that there can be up to 10 trains an hour on this route.

The overall journey time changing at Edinburgh is about the same as going direct to Glasgow.

Will

 

[jurjan]

Will,
good to hear there are many options.

We'll take a train slightly later in all probability though, the ship arrives at 9 (officially) and then you have to get from North Shields to Newcastle station, and, most importantly: we're not in a hurry.

Jurjan

 

[Will1962]

Jurjan,

You didn't mention when you were planning on travelling. One thing to be aware of is the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow between 23rd July and 3 August. When the Olympic Games were on in London during 2012, some of the rail companies banned bikes on trains in/out of London. There is always the possibility that bikes would be banned on trains to/from Glasgow - It is worth keeping an eye out for any announcements if you are planning on travelling through Glasgow when the games are on.

Will

 

[jurjan]

Good catch...
we were aware of the music festival on Lewis mid july (http://www.hebceltfest.com/), but somehow missed the Games.

Our plan at the moment is four weeks, starting second week of june, so we'll miss both events.
However, final planning depends on co-workers as well.

Thanks!

 

[steveindenmark]

If you look on iBooks. There is a free iBook by Darren Butterfield called Outer Hebrides Charity Cycle ride June 2012.

I enjoyed reading it and looking at the great photos. It may give you some ideas.

Steve