The Outer Hebrides has been named Scotland's "ultimate wellness escape" by business and finance website City AM. The island chain, also known as the Western Isles, sits off the Scottish mainland's western coast and was praised for its "lack of tourists, spectacular beaches and profound sense of calm".
Island chain's key features
The archipelago includes more than 100 islands, though fewer than 20 are permanently inhabited. The largest island by population is Lewis and Harris, home to approximately 20,000 people, with its main settlement at Stornoway, the biggest in the chain.
City AM singled out The Star Inn and McNeills as Stornoway's most notable pubs. The Star Inn claims to be the oldest bar in the Outer Hebrides, with a history dating back centuries, while McNeills was described as "where people go to drink shots chased with bottles of Smirnoff Ice".
Beaches and island highlights
The website also praised the archipelago's picturesque beaches, naming Garry Beach and Reef Beach on the Isle of Lewis as standouts. Garry Beach is renowned for its sea stacks rising from the sand, while Reef Beach is described as peaceful and unspoilt.
Horgabost Beach on the Isle of Harris earned praise for the wood-fired mobile barrel sauna at the bay. Saltbox Sauna offers beach-goers panoramic views of the coastline while they soak up the heat.
North Uist was noted for its seafood and boat tours, South Uist for wildlife-spotting opportunities, and Benbecula, home to around 1,250 people, was also included in the roundup.
Eriskay and the SS Politician
The final island praised by City AM is Eriskay, located between South Uist and Barra and reachable from the former via a causeway. It was singled out for the Am Politician pub, founded more than 30 years ago and named after a cargo ship that ran aground off the coast during World War Two.
City AM wrote: "Once you reach the most southerly island of Eriskay, go for a pint at the Am Politician pub, which houses some of the last remaining bottles of whisky saved from the SS Politician ship, which ran aground near the island in 1941. Islanders were drunk for years on the haul that came ashore, an event that inspired the film Whisky Galore!"
The article concludes: "Minke whales and dolphins show off as I take the ferry back from Lochboisdale to the Scottish mainland port of Mallaig, a fairly common sight in these parts. Then there's a whimsical drive through the Highlands as I head back south. With its lack of tourists, spectacular beaches and profound sense of calm, the Outer Hebrides truly stirred something in me."
More information can be found on the City AM website.
