Scotland

A few months ago I had call to visit the Isle of Skye for a couple of days. I have travelled acros Skye countless times but rarely spent more than a couple of hours exploring places such as Portree where we would often stop for a bite to eat before returning to our journey. This time my destination was the island itself so I had plenty of time to look around... Read More

It’s been a while since I posted here, it’s not that I have run out of things to say about Scotland and the UK, no, I have actually been rather busy building my new UK Hotels site SimplyTop.com. I have also been hard at work trying to make something of my front garden and although there is still a fair bit to do I have started to think about my other sites, especially those about the Isle of Harris and the Outer Hebrides. I’ve just completed a couple of sites dedicated to hotels on Skye after spending a wonderful couple of days there getting our car serviced and I have just revamped my site Virtual Skye with a view to expanding it considerably over the next year or so (yes there really is that much to see and do on Skye!).  The next islands I plan to visit are the Isle of Arran and, in the autumn, I plan to visit the Isle of Mull but for now I am happy enjoying the wonderful Isle of Harris... Read More

I have actually lost count of the amount of times I have been asked (in personal or via email) what is the best time of the year to visit the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles) and I really do have to admit that though many assume it to be the height of the tourist season many choose to visit the islands at various other times instead. Let me explain a couple of the reasons why I would consider this to be a very wise decision... Read More

Spending most of my summer vacation on the beach isn’t my idea of fun. Please do not get the wrong idea, at times I really do enjoy relaxing on a sandy beach, however, I also like to travel a little inland too. I love to soak in the atmosphere, which is often unique, I like to sample the local food and culture. If the truth is to be known I simply enjoy visiting new places each year and I try very hard attempting to find something totally different. Most probably this is why I so thoroughly enjoy visits to the island in the Hebrides known as the Isle of Harris and why I frequently choose to book a self catering cottage on Harris... Read More

The Western Isles are a group of islands which are found out in the Atlantic ocean off the west coast of Scotland. Rather strangely the Western Isles are also widely known as the Outer Hebrides. There are over 200 islands in the group but only a handful are populated with many becoming deserted in the last century. The main island is the Isle of Lewis to the north where you will find the regions main town and administrative center, Stornoway... Read More

In the never ending search for interesting vacation destination tourists continue to open up new areas to tourism. However there are plenty of highly fascinating areas of the world that have always had a small degree of tourism which more and more people are now discovering to their delight. Also there are a number of vacation destination which were in decline but are now experiencing renewed interest. One of the most interesting places in the world which are seeing a marked increase in tourism are the Western Isles of Scotland... Read More

More and more folk are looking to spend a vacation in more unusual surroundings than the many popular beach resorts that they usually visit annually. There are a great many reasons for this change ranging from the increased awareness of the risks of skin cancer developing if we expose ourselves to too much sun, to the massive increase in popularity of genealogy and the need to visit the birthplace of our ancestors. The later is one of the reasons why more and more people are choosing to take a vacation in the Hebrides of Scotland visiting islands such as the Isle of Harris and the Isle of Lewis... Read More

In the mid-seventies I went to Harris for the first time as a young teacher, and the island and its people cast a spell over me which will last for ever.  There is something about the quality of the air and the light and the pace of life which combines with the history and the dramatic scenery to enthral all visitors. It seems to have become my mission to introduce as many people as possible to the joys of island living, and so, to this end, we bought Kinnoull to run as a self-catering business... Read More