Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
beach of
Traigh
, which is popular with surfers and has a kids' adventure playground
nearby.
ARNOL
One of Scotland's most evocative historic buildings, the
Arnol Blackhouse
(HS;
01851-710395; adult/child £3.25/free; 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Sat Apr-Sep, to 4.30pm
Mon-Sat Oct-Mar, last admission 30min before closing)
is not so much a museum as a
perfectly preserved fragment of a lost world. Built in 1885, this traditional blackhouse - a
combined byre, barn and home - was inhabited until 1964 and has not been changed since
the last inhabitant moved out. The staff faithfully rekindle the central peat fire every
morning so you can experience the distinctive peat-reek; there's no chimney, and the
smoke finds its own way out through the turf roof, windows and door - spend too long in-
side and you might feel like you've been kippered! The museum is just off the A858,
about 3 miles west of Barvas.
At nearby
Bragar
, a pair of whalebones forms an arch by the road, with the rusting har-
poon that killed the whale dangling from the centre.
GARENIN (NA GEARRANNAN)
The picturesque and fascinating
Gearrannan Blackhouse Village
is a cluster of nine re-
stored thatch-roofed blackhouses perched above the exposed Atlantic coast. One of the
cottages is home to the
Blackhouse Museum
(
01851-643416;
www.gearrannan.com
;
adult/child £2.70/1; 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Sat Apr-Sep)
, a traditional 1955 blackhouse
with displays on the village's history, while another houses the
Taigh an Chocair Cafe
(mains £3-6; 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Sat)
.
The other blackhouses in the village are let out as self-catering
holiday cottages
(
01851-643416;
www.gearrannan.com
;
2-person cottages £199 for 3 nights)
, offering the
chance to stay in a unique and luxurious modernised blackhouse with attached kitchen and
lounge. There's a minimum five-night stay from June to August.
CARLOWAY (CARLABAGH)
Dun Carloway
(Dun Charlabhaigh) is a 2000-year-old, dry-stone broch, perched defi-
antly above a beautiful loch with views to the mountains of North Harris. The site is
clearly signposted along a minor road off the A858, a mile southwest of Carloway village.
One of the best-preserved brochs in Scotland, its double walls (with internal staircase) still
stand to a height of 9m and testify to the engineering skills of its Iron Age architects.
