Uist

Like Lewis and Harris, Uist is popular with walkers and cyclists. Only when you go 'off the beaten track' do you experience the true magic of the Uists. Here you will find beaches - broad, long and mostly empty, sheltered bays, and cliff walks along the coast.

Bordering the beaches is the machair - the wildflower meadows which grow on the fertile shell sand soil, and bring a burst of colour to the Islands during the summer months.

Rare and protected species of wildflower thrive here and the image of the meadows, white beaches and the sea beyond is one that will stay with you long after your visit. As you walk along the machair, you may hear the call of the rare corncrake - now all but vanished from mainland Britain.

North Uist

Uig - Lochmaddy

Berneray - Leverburgh

North Uist can be reached from Uig on Skye on board the ‘MV Hebrides’, or from Leverburgh on Harris.

The lochans and sealochs of the RSPB reserve on North Uist provide an ideal place for ornithologists to watch sea and land-based birds in their natural habitat.

Both North Uist and South contain thousands of freshwater lochs which are full with fish making them ideal locations for anglers.

South Uist

Oban - Lochboisdale

Barra-Eriskay

South Uist can be accessed from Oban and Barra by ferry and by road from Benbecula and North Uist. The ferry terminal is situated in Lochboisdale (South Uist's largest village on the east side).

South Uist is the larger of the two islands and is also the only one with hills of significant height. These are concentrated on the east side of the island, the west being beautiful machair land, which in the springtime, becomes a carpet of wild flowers lying above a beautiful sandy beach which runs more or less continuously from one end of the island to the other.

South Uist is a birdwatcher's paradise where countless varieties of waterfowl, seabirds, waders, and moorland birds can be spotted.