Your Scottish island adventures start right here…

After a restful night in Glasgow, we’ll fly to the Isle of Barra and enjoy the only scheduled plane landing in the world that lands on a beach! Our accommodation overlooks Castlebay; from there we’ll spend the next day exploring the island. Then it’s northwards on the ferry to Eriskay and on into South Uist. 

North and South Uist and Benbecula are all connected by causeways. We’ll be sampling fresh seafood, testing a tipple or two, stopping off at island museums and, of course, meeting pioneering yarn producers.

A visit to Uist Wool awaits; they have achieved their mission to bring yarn and wool production back to the islands. Across another causeway to tiny Berneray, we’ll meet Meg at The Birlinn Yarn Co. 

Then it’s over the sea to Harris, famed for its tweed, of course, but also its glorious west coast beaches and now its own gin and whisky. On our final island, Lewis, we’ll head to the Callanish Stones, tour a tweed mill and fit in other spectacles to delight you.

We’ll fly down the west coast of Scotland to Glasgow for a last day on the mainland before departures.

To Register 

A Registration Form and a non-refundable $1000 deposit are required to join the trip. Once you submit your online registration and deposit payment is received, your spot on the tour is secure. See our Terms & Conditions HERE.

Have questions? Please contact us at info@rowantreetravel.com

This trip needs at least 9 participants in order to proceed (i.e. the trip is "guaranteed"). We strongly advise you to wait to purchase your flights until the trip is guaranteed by us to go forward.

Tour Activity Level

We would describe this trip as a Woolly Wander. If you'd like to review our trip activity levels, take a look here.

Mobility Comfort Level = Mobility Level 4+

Some walking of 1 - 4 miles over rough ground and seashore, some hotels with no elevator or ground floor rooms; One boat trip, two short ferries. If you'd like to review our mobility comfort levels, take a look here.

Unless otherwise stated, our regular Terms and Conditions apply to this trip and for any cancellations (click here to see our Terms and Conditions).

Travel Insurance 

Rowan Tree Travel highly recommends purchasing travel insurance. You may purchase through our preferred partner Arch RoamRight by clicking here or through your own provider.

Arranging Your Flights 

In order to gather easily for the tour, we provide an arrival and departure "window" at a major transportation hub - typically an international airport at your destination country. Flights scheduled outside the provided windows may result in additional transportation costs and missed tour activities. For this reason, we greatly appreciate your cooperation in booking travel that accommodates our specifications. Please do not purchase airfare until the tour is guaranteed by RTTF to go forward.

Please Note the Following 

Rowan Tree Travel reserves the right to alter any part of this itinerary in order to address weather conditions, unforeseen circumstances or to improve the participant experience.

GLASGOW

Arrive at Glasgow airport and make your way to the Voco Grand Central Hotel. We’ll gather in the early afternoon and head out for a little exploration followed by afternoon tea and introductions at The Butterfly and The Pig Tearooms! Thereafter, you can carry on exploring or retreat to your comfortable room and gentle slumber...zzz

BARRA

We’ll fly to the Island of Barra, landing on the beach and settling into our first island home which overlooks Castlebay. We’ll spend these days exploring Barra and the wee neighboring island of Vatersay by coach, on foot and by boat. In between, times of relaxation, chat, drams and a knitalong are all the order of the day! 

THE UISTS & BENBECULA

Off north we go, on the ferry to Eriskay, where the SS Politician complete with cargo of whisky ran aground in 1941, giving rise to the classic film Whisky Galore.  

Causeways connect the islands and we’ll wend our way through South Uist, Benbecula and North Uist, sampling freshly caught shellfish and a locally made tipple as we go. We’ll visit pioneering Uist Wool who have brought yarn and wool production back to the islands. 

Our home will be in Lochmaddy, North Uist, and across another causeway to the tiny island of Berneray we will meet fiber-champion Meg at The Birlinn Yarn Co and her seafaring sheep.

HARRIS

Over the sea to Harris, island of golden beaches and handwoven tweed. It’s obligatory to wander and take photos of the miles of sand and turquoise waters (weather permitting!) along the dramatic west coast of the island. Using our hotel by the harbor in Tarbert as a base, we’ll search out tweed and the much praised Harris Gin, fit in a wee walk on a another wee island and surely find more lush local seafood on our travels.

LEWIS

Our final island is Lewis, but it is firmly attached to Harris so we’ll simply drive north on a journey to the iconic Callanish Stones and Gearannan blackhouse village. Cue stunning photo opps! Still more to enjoy - a tweed mill tour and time to explore Stornoway including Lews Castle museum and grounds on our last day in the Hebrides. Will you try the world famous Stornoway black pudding at breakfast?

GLASGOW

Back on mainland Scotland, there’s a day to squeeze in more treats to round off our island-hopping journey, plus a little last-minute shopping time. 

HOMEWARD BOUND

Wake up refreshed in our city center hotel, and head off to the airport laden with island treasures and memories!

Lindsay Roberts, aka  “The Border Tart”, is a dyer, a stitcher, a maker and a lover of words. Inspired by color and pattern and passionate about Indian artisans and textiles, she values most highly all things made by hand. Lindsay uses both indigo and acid dyes to produce a full range of colors in her dye work. Her offerings are sometimes subtle, sometimes bold, but they seldom shout. She’s also a proponent of mindful stitching and hand work of all kinds. In her words, “Making with your own hands brings pleasure, calms the heart rate and imbues each piece with love.” Peruse her hand-dyed yarns and small edition stitching kits here. You’ll also find her images, thoughts and adventures on Instagram at @bordertart. We’re so pleased to collaborate with this wonderful Scottish artisan and teacher. 

Colleen is knitting multiple projects right now, spinning hand-blended fibers on her Lendrum DT, and has found it difficult but not impossible to knit and watch a South Korean show on Netflix with subtitles at the same time. She is curious about makers' stories of the lineage and evolution of their craft and where to find truly awesome pie.  Her professional background in outdoor tour guiding and small business ownership makes a great match with RTT. Colleen loves to drive a convertible, swim in natural waters and hula hoops. Does she talk to her plants? That’s what her friends want to know.