Gearrannan – Thatched Blackhouses and Lunch at Calanais
A few hours.
The route
At the end of a road on the Atlantic coast of Lewis, nine thatched blackhouses run down to a small bay at Gearrannan, the last group of blackhouses in the islands to be lived in, until 1974.
One is a museum kept as a home of the 1950s, and lunch is at the Calanais Visitor Centre, a short drive south.
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, 18 miles away. Sleeps 2.
The day
Gearrannan
A wander through a crofting village of thatched houses on the Atlantic coast of west Lewis, and lunch beside the Calanais Stones, a short drive south.
About three hours
Gearrannan Blackhouse Village
An attraction
Gearrannan is at the end of the Garenin road, off the A858 at Carloway, above the sea. Nine stone houses under thatch line a lane down to the shore, restored in the 1990s after the last family left. One is a museum, kept as a home of the 1950s, where traditional crafts are shown, Harris Tweed weaving among them. The village is open Monday to Saturday, 9.30am to 5.30pm, and shut on Sundays. Its café and shop keep summer hours, so from October to March ring 01851 643416 before going. With an hour to spare, the marked path over the hill towards Dalmore beach has wide views of the Atlantic.
19 min by car
Calanais Visitor Centre café
Lunch
Lunch is 19 minutes' drive south down the A858 at the Calanais Visitor Centre café. It cooks seasonal dishes from local produce, bakes its own cakes and pours coffee roasted on Lewis, with hot food until 3pm, Monday to Saturday; it takes no bookings. Children can have a Bizzi Bag lunch, and dogs on leads are welcome. The stones are up the path from the centre, by ticket in its opening hours. From Thursday to Saturday, Crust's wood-fired pizza at Achmore is the other choice, further along the A858 to the east.
If it rains
The museum house and the café are under a roof; on a wet day keep the walk to the lane through the village and skip the hill path.
Worth a detour
- Dun Carloway broch
Dun Carloway is an Iron Age broch, a round tower of dry stone on a rocky knoll just off the A858 south of Carloway, and the best preserved in the Outer Hebrides. The story goes that a MacAulay once climbed its outer wall on his dirks to smoke out cattle thieves sheltering inside. The broch is open all year; its small visitor centre opens from April to September. It adds about 4 minutes to the drive, and twenty minutes there is plenty.
Where to stay