This program was custom designed to combine hiking in spectacular locations with a wealth of fascinating history and archaeology.
This itinerary is subject to change. Travel demands flexibility. We will strive to balance adaptability with remaining on schedule. Please trust that, when it is not possible to follow the plan laid out below, your program leaders will work to find substitutions that retain the quality of this Study Travel program. Various details may be added or changed due to information obtained while making reservations, or perhaps on site, especially because of the weather. All meals are included from dinner on June 29 through breakfast on July 9.
Wednesday, June 28 Departure United States
Individual departures from your home town.
Thursday, June 29 Inverness – Brora
We will meet at Inverness Airport and in Inverness city center at 3 p.m. We’ll drive north along the east coast of Sutherland to Brora, our base for the next three days. Overnight at the Royal Marine Hotel for three nights. (D)
Friday, June 30 Brora – Dunbeath
We travel further north to Dunbeath in south-east Caithness. We hike into Dunbeath Strath along Dunbeath Water. The path runs along a gorge through fine woodland of lichen-encrusted downy birches, rowans and hazels before reaching open ground. There is a lot of historical interest along the walk, including an old mill built in 1850/1860, the site of a monastery, an Iron Age broch, a deserted settlement from around 1800, various chambered cairns and a Neolithic quarry. (B,L,D) 6 miles and 230 feet of ascent
Saturday, July 1 Caithness Archaeology
Today, we drive even further north into Caithness to explore the wealth of archaeological sites in this part of the north Highlands. Most of Caithness is now uninhabited, but the remains show that has been highly populated in the past. There are a large number of Neolithic and Iron Age sites. Short walks will take us to some of the sites, including the Grey Cairns of Camster: two Neolithic tombs – a long cairn and a round cairn – built more than 5,000 years ago and the Hill o’Many Stanes, consisting of about 200 small stones arranged in rows running down a low hill. They were erected about 4,000 years ago, possibly for gatherings and religious ceremonies. Large arrangements of stone rows like this are rare. (B,L,D) Up to 5 miles, limited ascent
Sunday, July 2 Brora – Scourie
We will leave the east coast and travel across the north Highlands to the west coast. There will be short walks along the way and since we will be in the North West Highlands UNESCO Global Geopark some of the walks during this part of the tour are geology themed, starting with the Knockan Crag interpretative geology trail on our way west. Suilven, the showpiece of Assynt dominates the landscape on our way north from Knockan Crag. This is a hill of many shapes. From the south it is a long, drawn-out sugarloaf, with an obvious depression in the middle, from the east it can look like the Matterhorn, rising from its bedrock plinth of Lewisian Gneiss to a narrowing spire. From the north it forms a huge rounded bastion of quartzite capped sandstone. Our last stop will be a visit the ruins of the fifteenth century Ardvreck Castle on the shore of Loch Assynt, built by the MacLeods of Assynt. Overnight in Eddrachilles Hotel for four nights (B,L,D) Total of 4.5 miles and 885 feet of ascent.
Monday, July 3 Little Assynt
An easy relaxing day after our long journey to Scourie. We’ll enjoy the remote and scenic location of our hotel and maybe go for a short morning walk at Scourie Bay. In the afternoon we’ll go for a walk in Little Assynt, which is owned and managed by the community of Assynt. A very pleasant hike with great views of the Assynt mountains, lots of wild flowers and many remains of old settlements including farmsteads, shieling huts, a corn mill and field systems. (B,L,D) 3 miles and 500 feet of ascent.
Tuesday, July 4 Handa Island and coastal walk U.S. Independence Day
Handa Island is a short boat ride from the mainland. More than 100,000 seabirds breed on the island, including puffins. The island also has a fascinating history with the last 64 residents forced to leave the island for Nova Scotia following the potato famine in 1847. The islanders grew crops but also harvested eggs and seabirds from the cliffs. We will pass the remains of the village and the old burial ground. After returning to the mainland we have various options, but it will probably a coastal walk visiting beautiful sandy bays with rough headlands in between. (B,L,D) Total of 6.5 miles and 815 feet of ascent.
Wednesday, July 5 Durness
On our last day in Sutherland, we’ll travel to the north coast to explore the Durness area visiting the Ceannabeinne Township, which residents resisted being cleared by their landlord. We then continue to Smoo Cave, one of the largest sea caves in Britain. It is a series of three caves, the first made by the sea and the other two by the river Allt Smoo.We’ll fiinsh the day with another coastal walk with great beaches and views of Cape Wrath. (B,L,D) 5.5 miles/9 km, 395ft/120m of ascent
Thursday, July 6 Scourie – Isle of Lewis
We will travel south to Ullapool for the ferry across the Minch to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. On arrival we will visit the Museum nan Eilean in a modern wing of the restored Lews Castle, which was built in the mid 1800s. The museum offers an interactive explanation of the history and culture of the Outer Hebrides alongside an exhibition of unique objects dating from prehistory to the present day including six of the famous Lewis Chessmen. Our next stop is at a Harris Tweed weaver for whom weaving is a good means of earning a living at home. Overnight at the Borve House Hotel for three nights (B,L,D)
Friday, July 7 Calanish Standing Stones, Carloway broch, Arnol
Begin the day with a visit to the magnificent, 5,000-year-old Standing Stones of Callanish (Calanais in Gaelic). The main stone complex contains around 50 stones. A ring of large stones about 12 meters in diameter surround a huge monolith at its centre and the remains of a chambered cairn. There are lines of stones running north, south, east, and west from the stone circle, and two other stone circles are nearby. Continue on to Dun Carloway, one of the best-preserved Iron Age brochs in western Scotland. The broch was probably built in the 1st century B.C., Radiocarbon dating shows that it was last occupied around A.D. 1300. We end the day with a visit to the Arnol blackhouse. Once the home of a Hebridean crofting family and their animals, the thatched house is preserved almost as the family left it when they moved out in 1965. The double drystone walls, low profile, and insulating thatch made blackhouses well suited to the Hebridean climate. From Arnol we’ll walk across the moor to the stunning coastal Loch Mor Bharabhais. (B,L,D) Total of 4.5 miles, limited ascent.
Saturday, July 8 Great Bernera & Traigh Uige
We’ll spend our last day in Lewis in the south-west corner of the island. Our first stop and walk is on Great Bernera. In 1993 a severe storm cut away the dunes at Bostadh to leave a series of stone structures projecting through the sand. The archeological department of the University of Edinburgh excavated the site in 1996 and found evidence of a Norse settlement. Underneath the Norse levels was a series of five Pictish ‘jelly baby’ or ‘figure of eight’ houses dating back to the 6th-9th centuries AD, that were remarkably well preserved. What you see today is a reconstruction in a spot free of archeological remains; the excavated houses having been reburied for preservation. We will hike across the moor from the Iron Age village to the museum at Breaclete that has a display of finds from the excavations. Our last walk of this tour will be at Traigh Uige – Uig Sands – one of the most beautiful beaches in the Outer Hebrides. The famous Lewis Chessmen – a collection of 93 pieces dating from the 12th century – were found here in the dunes in 1831. We will walk across the sands to the historic Bailena Cille burial ground. (B,L,D) Total of 6 miles and 870 feet of ascent.
Sunday, July 9 Isle of Lewis – Glasgow
We travel to Stornoway for a one-hour group flight to Glasgow, arriving at 2:50 pm to connect with independent flights homeward (which should depart Glasgow no earlier than 5 p.m.). (B)