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Single-track road winding through rocky moorland dotted with small lochs towards the sea
Outer Hebrides

The Golden Road

The single-track road of 1897 along the rocky east coast of South Harris, through a string of tiny townships.

Welcome

The Golden Road is the single-track road that winds along the east coast of South Harris, a coast so deeply cut by sea lochs and so rocky that for most of history its tiny settlements could only be reached by sea.

The road was built in 1897 to link them. Its north-eastern stretch is known as the Golden Road, it is said for the great cost of carving it through such hard ground, and the south-western stretch is the Bays Road.

It is one of the strangest landscapes in Scotland: bare grey rock relieved only by patches of green and countless small lochs, so that it feels like driving across a mountain plateau rather than along a coast. The road twists through a string of townships with Gaelic names, past the head of Loch Stocinis and the Harris Tweed weaving at Plocrapol. Drive it from Rodel northwards, so that on a fine day the sun is behind you and the scenery is in its best light. Take it slowly, and use the passing places.

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The Daily for 14 November, from Scotland with love. A red kayak beached on a loch shore beneath sunlit rocky hills, Sutherland
Not farThe Lookout BothyA coastguard watch room of 1928 on the cliffs above Rubha Hunish, now a free bothy looking out over the Minch.19 milesSee itThe Lookout Bothy

Before you go

The road runs along the east coast of South Harris between Tarbert and Rodel.

It is single track and demanding: drive it from Rodel, use the passing places, and allow plenty of time.

Getting there
CalMac ferry from Uig on Skye to Tarbert, or from North Uist to Leverburgh.
Road
Single track, with passing places.
Best
From Rodel northwards.

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Where it is

The east coast of South Harris, between Tarbert and Rodel.

Close byOn the east coast of South Harris.
  1. Harris Tweed Isle of Harris, TarbertHarris Tweed Isle of Harris, Tarbert5 miles 7 min by road
  2. A bedroom at Hotel Hebrides: a white bed under a tall paisley headboard, tartan curtains and timber-effect walls, a window onto Tarbert.Hotel HebridesA hotel on the pier road in Tarbert, by the ferry from Uig, with twenty-one bedrooms, four suites and the Pierhouse Restaurant.6 miles 8 min by road
  3. Essence of Harris, TarbertEssence of Harris, Tarbert6 miles 8 min by road
  4. The Harris Hotel in Tarbert, a long white building with gables and dormers, above a garden of purple flowers under a blue sky.Harris HotelTarbert's hotel since 1865, white-fronted above its garden, with twenty-three rooms, a restaurant open to all and nearly a hundred malts.6 miles 8 min by road
  5. Seilebost's curve of white sand and turquoise surf below a conical hill, from above.Seilebost Beach, HarrisA white beach on the south side of Luskentyre Bay, looking over the water to Taransay and Ben Luskentyre.8 miles 11 min by road
  6. The red and white tower of Eilean Glas lighthouse and its white buildings on a rocky point above a blue sea.Eilean Glas LighthouseThe first lighthouse in the Hebrides, lit in 1789, a red and white tower on the east coast of Scalpay.14 miles 22 min by road
Directions
A plate at North Harbour Bistro: a langoustine laid over fish on toast, with sauces and crisp seaweed on a dark plate.RestaurantsNorth Harbour Bistro4.7 miles as the crow flies
Sweeping sands and dunes curve beside turquoise sea, hills rising beyondAttractionsLuskentyre Beach, Harris8.7 miles
Nisabost beach from the rocks, white sand and turquoise water below green dunes.AttractionsNisabost Beach & MacLeod’s Stone9.8 miles
Chris plating lobster on blue plates in the Flavour kitchen, a row of dishes ready on the counter.RestaurantsFlavour10 miles
The deck at Talla na Mara, picnic benches looking out over turquoise water and white sand to the hills of Harris under a blue sky.CafeTalla na Mara Community Café10 miles
Scarista House, a white Georgian manse with tall chimneys, lit gold by the evening sun behind a stone wall.HotelScarista House13 miles
St Clement's Church at Rodel, its square tower rising above the churchyard under a blue sky.AttractionsSt Clement’s Church, Rodel14 miles
A curved timber-roofed house glows with lit windows at dusk, chairs set on the gravel and decking outside.CliasmolHarris HideawaySleeps 2 · 15 miles
Tweed scarves, "Love, Faith, Hope" boxes and Harris Tweed eggs on a shop counterAttractionsGrannie Annie's, South Harris15 miles

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the road, and when each is next free.

A curved timber-roofed house glows with lit windows at dusk, chairs set on the gravel and decking outside.Harris Hideaway
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Cliasmol
  • 10 miles from the Golden Road
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in the Outer HebridesAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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