Gearrannan Blackhouse Village
A village of nine restored thatched blackhouses by the sea at Garenin, lived in until 1974.
Gearrannan, Garenin in English, is a village of nine restored thatched blackhouses at the end of the road on the Atlantic coast of west Lewis, gathered by a small bay.
Blackhouses, with their thick stone walls and thatched roofs tied down against the wind, were once the common homes of the Hebrides, and these were the last group to be lived in: built in the late nineteenth century, they were left in 1974, and restored, and in some cases rebuilt, in the 1990s.
Today the village holds a museum and interpretation centre on crofting life, a shop and a café, and several of the houses are let as self-catering cottages and a hostel, so you can stay the night. It features in many of Peter May's Lewis thrillers. A marked path leads from the village over the hills to Dalmore, with wide views of the Atlantic, and is the start of the West Side Coastal Path to Shawbost. For atmospheric light, come in winter and look down on the village from the embankment on its north side.
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Gearrannan is at the end of the Garenin road, north of Carloway.
The museum, shop and café are seasonal; tickets can be booked online. Several blackhouses are let for self-catering and as a hostel.
- Getting there
- CalMac ferry from Ullapool to Stornoway, 2 hours 45 minutes; or from Skye to Harris and drive north.
- Where
- The end of the Garenin road.
- Stay
- Self-catering and a hostel.
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Add your reviewGarenin, Carloway, Isle of Lewis, HS2 9AL.
Dalmore BeachA sandy surf beach between cliffs on the west coast of Lewis, with sea stacks and an old cemetery above.4 miles 11 min by road
Hebridean Copper Kettle FudgeA roadside honesty box at Breasclete on Lewis selling fudge made in a copper kettle, along with home baking and eggs.7 miles 14 min by road
Callanish Alpacas8 miles 16 min by road
Whalebone ArchAn arch made of the jawbones of a blue whale that came ashore in 1920, in a garden by the road at Bragar.9 miles 16 min by road
Callanish StonesA cross-shaped setting of standing stones on a ridge above Loch Roag, raised 5,000 years ago, before Stonehenge.9 miles 18 min by road
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What we have written about it, the collections it is in and more in the Outer Hebrides.
For further reading, before you go. The details on this page were checked on .
- Gearrannan Blackhouse VillageThe village and the walk to Dalmore.visitouterhebrides.co.ukVisit Outer Hebrides↗
- Gearrannan Blackhouse VillageIts history and what is there.visitouterhebrides.co.ukVisit Outer Hebrides↗
- LewisThe ferry from Ullapool to Stornoway, or from Skye to Harris and north.calmac.co.ukCalMac↗