Callanish – Standing Stones and an Alpaca Croft
A day.
The route
Here's a day on the west side of Lewis that children and grown-ups both get something from.
The Calanais Stones come first, with an exhibition of films and hands-on displays and a steep path up to the great ring on its ridge. Then it's a few minutes along the road to Callanish Alpacas, a family-run charity where you wander among alpacas, pigs, peafowl and rare-breed hens for free, with lunch in a café and an old double-decker bus.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Harris Hideaway, 19 miles away. Sleeps 2.
Book a ticket for the stones and the exhibition on calanais.org before you go: it is good for a year, and the centre is open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm from October to March.
The day
Callanish
Five thousand years of stones in the morning, with films and things to touch before the climb to the ring. Then alpacas in bright coats, pigs and peacocks along the road, and soup and sandwiches on the top deck of a bus.
About four hours
Callanish Stones
An attraction
Park in the free car park at the Calanais Visitor Centre. The centre opens Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm from October to March and 9am to 5pm from April to September, and shuts on Sundays. A ticket covers the stones and the new exhibition and works as a pass for a year; book it on calanais.org before you go. Children can start inside with the exhibition's films, finds and hands-on displays, then it's a steep path up to the stones: a ring and long rows of tall grey stones on a ridge, put up about 5,000 years ago. Keep small ones close on the path. The centre has toilets with baby changing, and dogs on leads are welcome in the centre but not the exhibition.
Callanish Alpacas
An attraction
Callanish Alpacas is about four minutes' drive along the road through the village. It's a family-run charity and free to visit, with donations welcome, and there's no need to book: follow the Animals This Way sign along a path with information boards, past alpacas (many in bright coats), sheep, Kunekune pigs, peafowl and over 20 breeds of hens. About a third of the animals were rescued or rehomed. With a buggy or wheelchair, take the slope beside the shipping container instead. It opens Wednesday to Sunday from April to October, 11am to 2pm (until 5pm at weekends from June to August), and at weekends only in March; from November to February it's by arrangement only. Lunch is in the Alpacaccinos Café, with soup, sandwiches and cakes to eat in or take away, and tables on a turquoise double-decker bus (mind the stairs). If it's full, the visitor centre café back at the stones serves hot food until 3pm.
If it rains
The exhibition and both cafés are indoors, and you can eat on the alpacas' double-decker bus; the stones and the animals are out in the weather, so bring waterproofs and keep the walks short.
Where to stay
Photograph by Callanish Alpacas via Google