UKC

Not looking for climbing, but thinking of taking the van and the dog and seeing some of the Islands next week. I have been to Lewis, and obviously Skye and Mull.

Good beaches that don't have sheep next to them would be good so the dog can run offlead. Other than that, just really looking for your favourite places! 

Raasay (not sure about beaches for the dog though) or Colonsay (plenty of beaches, and The Strand).

Any of them, they are all brilliant and all different. For me Jura and Rum stand out

Harris, stunning place - Huishnish a good option with a van

We are off to Barra for the first time in August, really looking forward to it. Van and mutt too.

Barra was one of my first thoughts. My hesitation is that the mutt has never been on a ferry before, and 5 hours seems like a long one if he doesn't settle!

Yes, it is a bit of a crossing, ours is quite happy asleep in the van, he's also water obsessed so up top would be a very bad idea and would stress him even more if he couldn't get in !

My instinct is that mine would be better up top with me. He used to be terrified of vehicles and was sick constantly when we first got him. He's now ok, but I wonder if all the strange noises and movement might freak him out. 

My worry with up top is that he is reactive to other dogs on lead and also a bit of a fidget! (Yes, we have a crazy dog. We rehomed him at 6 months and we have made huge progress on many issues, but not solved them all yet)

Yes sounds like he may be, ours is really impatient 12 year old cocker, what he can't see/sense wont unsettle him (he's also going deaf) so van best place for him.

We also looked at Jura, no major crossing and looks good but went with Barra as was recommended by friends who have been for the last 10 years or so.

in a piece of peak/peaks-type pedantry i can't restrain myself from indulging in, lots of people are giving suggestions that are in the inner hebrides, when the Western isles is generally taken to be the outer hebrides

... and with that out the way, i've only ever been to the outer hebrides once, to south uist. amazing, empty landscape. i remember seeing st Kilda on the horizon- felt like a very special place

my suggestion for the inner hebrides would be islay- varied landscape and  villages, good pubs, whisky, beaches, whisky, geese, and did i mention whisky?

but i think all are worth a visit- not been to colonsay or barra yet, but will do some day...

North or south uist, magnificent beaches: Eaval the best "small hill" walk I've done in Scotland depending on how you'd classify stac pollaidh, scenery reminiscent of blackmount from rannoch.

Plus one for Harris if beaches and mountains are your thing you won't go wrong and , in my opinion, the notion that loch hourn is Scotland's best fjord can only be sustained by people who've never travelled up loch reasort which has the additional benefit of a grand view of sron ulladale. Reliably excellent wildlife too if you reach the head of the loch.

Jura, Eigg and Rum also magnificent: singing sands at Cleadale as lovely a beach as you'll find on these islands ,  but no point in taking van over to the last two. Edited out predictive text correction to gaelic names.

Seeing St Kilda would be cool. Forecast is looking good so it may be visible.

I don't drink, and neither does the dog, so whisky not the biggest draw! A few others have suggested Islay though, and shorter ferry sounds good 

Yes, that's the problem, I do want to visit them all! Narrowing the options down to a couple for next week is tricky! Lol

Jura has also come highly recommended by a few other friends, so also on the list for consideration 

That certainly sounds appealing.

Also sounds good.

I want to go to all of them! Argh, I thought I'd narrow down the options by getting recommendations, but it's not working out like that! Lol

Another vote for Harris. It has a quite otherworldly beauty.

You'll obviously just have to do more than one trip.

Indeed, but the next one won't be for ages (I've been saying for years that I want to explore the islands and have only just got an empty week to do it!). Kinda tempted to try the mutt on the long ferry to Barra and just keep my fingers crossed for good behaviour!

If you're up for a road trip, have you compared the cost (and length) of that one big ferry crossing from Oban to Castlebay with a series of shorter ones?

Eg:
Uig (Skye) to Tarbet (Harris)   - a bit under 2hrs
Leverburgh (Harris) to Berneray (North Uist) - 1hr
Eriskay to Barra - half hr

Fares add up to about the same as the one big crossing, and you don't need to book much in advance.  (If you arrive early you can often get on as a standby on a fully booked boat anyway.)  So you could play it by ear, save later bits of your itinerary for another time and stay put if you fall in love with somewhere.

Maybe start by taking the Mallaig - Armadale ferry to get to Skye instead of going over the bridge. 

Also, while at Mallaig you could potentially leave the van there for a day or more and hop on the tiny ferry over to Inverie on the Knoydart peninsula.  There's a very good camp site there and the Knoydart Foundation bunkhouse is excellent, and dog-friendly.       

Edit to add: Ah, sorry, I see you said *a* week.  What I'm suggesting there is probably not a one week trip!

I am sure the hound will be fine, do it !

We have had a hell of a busy year so far and I am so looking forward to Barra, beaches, silence, hopefully sunshine, taking the CX bikes too, going to be ace.

With the exception of open-deck ferries, you can't leave your dog on the car-deck unaccompanied, but most of the ferries have dog-designated areas inside. We took their beds to put on the hard floors and they soon settled down. On most ferries there is a lift too which makes getting back to the car-deck easier - our elderly choccy lab doesn't like stairs much and at 30kg a fair lump to carry up and down stairs. We took our camper and 2 dogs around quite a few of the islands last year - we got some calming drugs from the vet, but didn't really need them. Our fave places were Knockvologan beach on Mull and Horgabost on Harris.

The Calmac website says they can stay in vehicles on all of them. It wouldn't be the best option for Benji though.

The stairs won't be a problem for him, he's a 2 year old mongrel who thinks he's part kangaroo, we can do stairs!! lol

It's his boredom levels and his reactivity to other dogs when onlead that concern me. I can play games with him and take him for wanders around the ferry to keep him amused as long as there aren't many other dogs, but if there are then we will need to find a quiet corner and hide!! His reactivity is getting better, we can now tolerate dogs being closer than we could before, but still a problem if they pass too close. He's a work in progress!! (He's a lovely dog really!!)

yes, sounds great for when I have a longer time to do it in! lol

Coll is also a great small island, with vast empty beaches to camp on.  It had a great hotel when we were there to escape to if you want food cooked for you, I think it would still be there.  There are though  a lot of sheep there who wander freely so if your dog chases sheep that would be something to make me think.  Our collie went bananas in the car when she saw them outside, but as soon as she got outside she was scared of them so we were lucky.  I'm very envious that you're going to an island for a week, enjoy wherever you end up

You could do it in stages via the Uig - Lochmady route.... then the sailings would be 1:45 + 40