The following pictures are of our trip to Lewis.
I had little idea of what to expect as I had never visted a Scottish island. Indeed it had been 20 years since I had been in the Highlands.
Lewis and its other half --Harris are both wonderfully untouristed. The skys are large, and the scenary rugged and unspoilt. Most of the roads are single tracked and you rarely see another car. But if you do, there are passing places.
Stornoway is the main town and boasts of two supermarkets. It also has a fantastic butchers -- Charles MacLeod which produces some of the finest black pudding I have ever tasted. They also do a delicious hot smoked salmon.
We went self catering on Lewis and thus did not try any of the restaurants. There are very few restaurants but I understand from comments left in the house's vistiors book, the seafood is excellent.
Also excellent is the price for Harris tweed. As you may know Harris Tweed is still woven in cottages on the island. At the Lewis Loom Centre, there are an excellent selection of cloth. My husband purchased enough to have two suits made.
We also bought sweaters from the Isle of Harris Knitware. All sweaters were handmade by people on the island. We purchased machine knit rather than hand knit. Each sweater takes about a day to make. The money helps support the women on the island. The sweaters are made to last and are wonderfully warm. Mine is heather purple with a Celtic knot pattern across the front. The wool is the same wool they use for making Harris tweed.
For anyone looking for a quiet holiday in an unspoilt area of Britain, you could do a lot worse than looking at Lewis.
