The Outer Hebrides is an islands chain west of Scotland consisting of larger and smaller islands, each unique in landscape, habitats and culture.

The Outer Hebrides are made up of more than 70 islands of which 13 islands are occupied.

The Outer Hebrides has a population of just over 26,222 people which is spread across 13 islands with the largest portion of the population-based in the Isle of Lewis

The best time to visit the Outer Hebrides is from mid-April to the end of September for those seeking summer vacations. The weather can be unpredictable but long daylight hours make one end of the day good.

Depending on your holiday time you can stay from three days to two weeks. The biggest issue in summer is finding accommodation and availability on ferries.

All parts of the Outer Hebrides are beautiful and there is such a wide variety of landscapes to see but in brief, lewis is more moorland and rugged coastlines, harris is high hills and has beautiful beaches and Uist and Barra are low lying with beautiful beaches and endless machair.

Gaelic is still spoken widely across the islands but today most people speak English and are bilingual.

The region of Scotland is a former Norwegian colony thanks to the Viking settlements in the 8th century AD. in 1098, Edgar the King of Scotland formally gave Norse control of the Hebrides to Magnus III of Norway.

The Outer Hebrides is famous for its stunning scenery, Harris tweed, the Lewis chessmen, Harris Gin, Stornoway Black pudding and its amazing shellfish.

Any visit to the Outer Hebrides will make you feel like you are in another world and with these islands closer to London it is hard to imagine they are a part of Scotland.

MIdges are present across the Hebrides but tend to be more prevalent on the east coast where there is heather and bracken although on still nights they could be anywhere if there is a breeze they are less of a problem.

The summer months from June to August see promising numbers of minke whales common and bottlenosed dolphins around the coastlines and as summer progresses basking sharks can be seen close to the shore. Orca is seen fairly frequently from July onwrds. On the east coast, Risso dolphins are often seen along with porpoises.

There are some great museums in the Outer Hebrides with Museum Nan Eilean in Stornoway and throughout the islands, there are other smaller museums all the way to the Isle of Barra. Every island has its own museum with fascinating artefacts and local history.

Stornoway in the Isle of Lewis is the largest town and with the biggest population. 

At the height of summer from June to August, there are 18 hours of daylight in the Outer Hebrides but it seldom gets totally dark. 

It is always advisable to come prepared for all seasons therefore layers, waterproof jackets and clothing, good walking boots, wellingtons, jumpers and casual wear including believe it or not flip flops.

St Kilda lies 41miles of the coastline of  North Uist and is visible on clear days. It can be reached through boat trips from the isle of Harris

Over the past few years there has been a development of new distilleries across the islands with Abhain Dearg, Harris Gin, Uist Gin and Barra Gin .

Machair flowers begin to show in abundance from May to August with the months of June and July the most vibrant.