.png)
.png){kind=icon}
to add an item to your Itinerary basket.
You are here: Visitor Info > Getting to the Outer Hebrides
Getting to the Outer Hebrides
Search General & Tourist Information
***Visiting in 2020? Please see what is open and read our Visitor Guide here.***
Despite the fact that the name of our island chain is often used as a shorthand to describe places that are remote and inaccessible, getting to the Outer Hebrides is actually easier than ever before.
Though you won’t realise it once you are here, feeling a million miles from the pressures of your everyday existence and enjoying Life on the Edge, travelling to the Outer Hebrides is now much quicker and more convenient than it has been in the past.
Jetset travellers can choose from a range of direct scheduled flights to the Western Isles which leave daily from 4 UK airports.
You can fly from Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness to Stornoway (Isle of Lewis) and you can also fly to Benbecula from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness and Stornoway. Alternatively, begin your visit with an unforgettable bucket list experience and take a flight to the Outer Hebrides landing at Barra Airport – where use the cockle strand airstrip of Traigh Mhor beach, which is consistently voted one of the world’s top air approaches and where flight schedules are at the mercy of the tides.
You can also travel to the Outer Hebrides in the same way as the islands’ settlers have done down the centuries – over the seas. The Western Isles ferry services that connect our archipelago to the mainland and our island-groups to each other offer a great opportunity to ease yourself into an island-hopping holiday and really feel like you are getting away from it all at the start of something special. Our ferry journeys are great way to wildlife spot!
Daily (weather permitting) timetabled Outer Hebrides ferry services connect:
- Ullapool, Ross-shire – Stornoway, Isle of Lewis
- Uig, Isle of Skye – Lochmaddy, Isle of North Uist
- Uig, Isle of Skye - Tarbert, Isle of Harris
- Oban, Argyll – Castlebay, Isle of Barra
- Mallaig, Lochaber - Lochboisdale, Isle of South Uist
There are also daily ferry crossings with the Western Isles from Leverburgh, Isle of Harris to the Isle of Berneray and the Isle of Eriskay to Ardmhor, Isle of Barra.
If you are taking a car accross, you MUST book your ferry. We strongly advise that following booking accommodation, you then book your ferry. We also recommend both are booked as far in advance as possible, to avoid disapointment.
Ferries and accommodation book up very quickly!
If you want to sail to the Outer Hebrides, check out the Sail Hebrides page, for ports of arrival, anchorages and lots more.
button to add an item to your Itinerary basket.
