Scotland guide
Our Scotland travel guide reveals a land full of wildlife, and mountainous and marine magnificence.
Western Isles travel guide
The Hebrides comprise dozens of islands, inhabited and uninhabited, just off the west coast of Scotland. Mull, is just 45 minutes by ferry from the mainland while others, including several small archipelagos, are far more remote. The wildlife on display, from whales and dolphins to puffins, deer, otters and seals, makes packing a camera a must, while the islands’ many prestigious distilleries mean it’s ‘Whisky Galore’ if that’s your tipple.
The Hebrides are the last stronghold of the Gaelic language in Scotland, and their beauty has inspired countless works of literature, art and music.![]()
Communities here have been in decline since the forced tenancy evictions of the Highland Clearances in the 19th century, but traditional ways of life survive in many picturesque, welcoming villages and towns. You might choose to focus either on the Inner Hebrides, closer to the mainland, or the Outer Hebrides just beyond, with small ship cruises that organise their itineraries daily according to the weather. But beware: these islands bewitch you – one trip is rarely enough.
Read on in our Hebrides travel guide for more details.
The Hebrides are…
remote, almost ludicrously picturesque, peaceful, and teeming with incredible wildlife. They also produce some of the world’s finest whiskies, which helps with the unreliable Scottish weather.
The Hebrides aren’t…
always explored with a cruise – you can spend a week on the Isle of Mull taking boat trips out for instance. But honestly, if ever a place lent itself to small ship cruise holidays it was this one.
Responsible tourism
Small communities and fragile environments such as you find around the Hebrides are immensely sensitive to the impacts of tourism. Travelling with a responsible operator, perhaps on a small ship cruise, means that these effects are kept to a minimum and also that they tend to be more positive, from encouraging travellers to eat and shop local, to picking plastic waste out of the sea, and helping to reduce congestion on popular islands such as Skye.Wildlife viewing is a big part of any Hebrides holiday, from whales and dolphins to puffins and seals. Some cruises or day trips by boat may be accompanied by marine biologists who can not only impart expert knowledge to you on what you’re seeing, but also use their sightings to inform their own research projects.
Hebrides wildlife
You’re practically falling over the wildlife in the Hebrides, which is one of the principal reasons that people choose to holiday here of course. Red, roe and fallow deer roam hillsides and woods; otters hunt and play on the shores of small lochs, and seals pull themselves up onto rocks completely undisturbed by the presence of humans. Island streams are full of trout and salmon, while it’s rare but not unknown to see Scottish wildcats and pine martens.
Seabirds nest in vast colonies in the Hebrides: gannets, sea eagles, kittiwakes, as well as merlins, hen harriers and corncrakes. The Shiant Islands are home to razorbills, reintroduced white-tailed eagles sweep over Mull, and on the remote, uninhabited Treshnish Isles puffins nest in spring and summer. Rural lanes echo to the sounds of cuckoos, thrushes and skylarks.
And out at sea dolphins and porpoises leap and dance in the wake of boats, and you may see minke whales, basking sharks hunting shoals of jellyfish, possible even the occasional orca. Cruises and boat trips are often accompanied by wildlife experts, even marine biologists, able to advise you on identification and behaviours, and your sightings may assist in conservation research projects.
St Kilda and the Outer Hebrides cruise, Scotland
Scottish Cruise to St Kilda and the Outer Hebrides
From
£5460
11 days
ex flights
Outer Hebrides wildlife holiday, Scotland
Western Isles whales, otters, eagles & machair magic
From
£3595
9 days
ex flights
Walking in Outer Hebrides & the Isle of Skye
Walking adventure to the wild Hebrides, Skye, Harris and Lewis
From
£3058 to £3145
7 days
ex flights
Skye and the Small Isles sailing holiday
Sail Scotland's Small Isles and visit spectacular Skye
From
£1640 to £2960
9 days
ex flights
Outer Hebrides and Shiant Isles cruise, Scotland
A magical cruise wandering through the Outer Hebrides
From
£3500 to £3800
11 days
ex flights
Lewis and Harris Outer Hebrides cruise, Scotland
A cruise to the Outer Hebrides, the edge of the Atlantic.
From
£2700
11 days
ex flights
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Practicalities
Holidays are usually small group trips, with fixed dates, lasting between seven and 11 days. In most cases, holidays in the Hebrides are small ship cruises that focus on a handful of islands and sounds in either the Inner or Outer Hebrides, departing from Oban on the mainland.There are some land based trips available, which usually see you accommodated in a small hotel in Tobermory, the picturesque capital of Mull, around 45 minutes from Oban by ferry. In most cases these itineraries will involve regular day trips out by boat in search of marine life.
Note that most Hebrides cruise holidays tend to be adults only, principally because you’re all in such close quarters the whole time. If you want to share the experience with kids then you can either charter an entire vessel, or look at a land based trip, since most wildlife viewing boat trips are fine with kids under 16.
Getting out to the Hebrides is easier than you might think. You’ll usually depart from the resort town of Oban, which is just three hours by train from Glasgow, so although it does have a small airport, there’s no real need to fly there.
More Western Isles (Outer Hebrides) articles
Head over between April and October, especially if you’re planning a cruise holiday.
Go on a small ship cruise, or base yourself on a single island, like Mull, for your holiday.
More relevant guides
