The tourist information office is the first place any tourist should go upon arriving on the…read moreisland. They have leaflets for all popular attraction and offer a plenty of ideas for how to spend your time on the island. It is also a gift shop, meaning you can pick up some souvenirs to remind you of your trip. They are open every day and during the summer they are open late for those arriving on the late ferry. The staff are friendly and very knowledgeable and definitely the place to go if you are unsure how to get to a certain area or hotel.

I rode the Caledonian Macbrayne (sometimes shortened to Cal Mac) ferries twice as part of a…read moreScotland heritage travel trip in July 2019. The first ride was Ullapool to Stornoway on Wednesday 10 July 2019 in the afternoon/evening (before nightfall). The holding lanes and ferry terminal in Ullapool even had a restroom building nearby. For the ride, concessions were available, though I opted instead for exploring the different passenger decks and charging my phone with one of the available plug-ins. The views from the outdoor deck were breathtaking. There were few waves on this sailing and parking my car on one of the lifting decks was straightforward. My second sailing was Sunday 13 July 2019 from Tarbert to Uig. This one was a later sailing (arriving around 11 p.m. in Uig). The views were beautiful and I parked on a lifting deck again. This time I went through concessions before the line was too long. The workers were well mannered. On this second sailing, the waves were bigger and the ferry rocked gently. I went with charging my phone and once partially charged, opening up the plug-in for someone else and sitting in one of the cushy chairs. For the ride, I was given a card for the lifting deck parking that I returned when going to depart the ferry.

This review is for the Tarbert Ferry Terminal, which I sailed out of on Saturday 13 July 2019 to…read moreUig on an evening sailing. My ferry ride was through Caledonian MacBrayne. The terminal and its holding lanes were easy to spot driving through Tarbert, and it was not too far from a nearby Harris Tweed store that I recognized from the day before. Holding lanes were tucked back from the main road and did not get too loud while waiting. A short walk away was a restroom building. Maneuvering onto the ferry via the terminal loading/unloading dock was straightforward and a smooth drive.

MV Finlaggan have such unhelpful staff, they also need basic training on how to smile. I have never…read morefelt so depressed after meeting some of their staff. They are supposed to serve breakfasts till 12 noon where they change over to the lunch menu but staff try and put you off ordering breakfast so that you will buy from the lunch menu as it is much more expensive. Sadly that dose not help either as nearly all the food is cooked to order and you have to wait for ages to be served lunch. There is a hot server counter but they have stopped using it to save money by the looks of things. The two stars are for ferry reliability no stars for food and drink coffee was tasteless.

This review is long overdue. The short version is that Rachel is so lovely and amazing to work with…read morethat we would not recommend looking any further, no matter what you need she can make it happen!! The longer version: We found Rachel when researching whisky tour possibilities. When we decided that we wanted to elope we weren't sure how things would turn out, coordinating from across the Atlantic. Things couldn't have gone better!! When we first reached out to Rachel she was prompt and pleasant to communicate with. She responded to all of our questions with thoughtful and helpful answers. At first she let us know that she wasn't sure about putting together a wedding but after we described what we were looking for she told us not to worry! We fell in love with her sense of connecting to the natural world and her seriousness about environmental responsibility. She put together a truly one of a kind itinerary for us that we will remember forever. She included locals at every step of the way and we seriously could not have been happier with how things turned out. She even kept it off of social media until afterwards which was no small matter :) even behind the scenes, everything from the planning to finding time to talk on the phone to payment was easy and stress free. The wedding day was perfect, the details were all worked out with backup plans that we didn't need. The spot down the Oa where we had the ceremony was absolutely stunning! Everything about our blessing was so special and lovely. She made sure there were little things that were so special like having our wonderful piper Neil play a circle of sound around our little plateau. The flowers were mostly local and Anne was a perfect match for putting them together. The bouquet and buttonhole were absolutely stunning! Everything had a part of Islay in it and we couldn't have asked for better. Margaret Anne and Nikki were excellent helpers and Nikki was our impromptu makeup artist. Lorraine did a lovely job with the hair- it was beautiful and didn't blow around hardly at all! Rhianna was a fantastic photographer and Ben did a lovely job editing the photos. Some of the above will get their own reviews but most of them do these things as a side job and it couldn't have been more perfect! In addition to the wedding, Rachel helped arrange travel from Glasgow to Islay with a very nice gentleman (David?). He was the consummate professional driver with a lot to say about many different topics. Rachel picked us up from the ferry and poured us our first Islay dram on Islay soil. She put together an "exploring day" for the day after the ceremony where we went around the island and saw almost everything that didn't revolve around whisky. We went bird watching at Gruinart and had oysters and a picnic at Machir Bay. We saw some very stubborn cows and local art. We had a very special stop at the Altoon sun circle since standing stones were high on our list of things to see. All along the way we had lovely conversations about everything local and Rachel's experiences. She is the perfect hostess! Rachel also out together a three day whirlwind whisky tour where we saw every distillery plus Jura! When we didn't have Rachel as a driver we had Charlie who was so much fun to be around. Rachel seemed to cultivate the perfect mix of distilleries and types of tours to form the perfect look at the different distilleries. Some places had a full tour, some a warehouse tasting (the best way to taste whisky in our humble opinions), and even a semi-private tabletop tasting at Ardbeg over lunch! Everywhere we went, Rachel knew each person we were meeting so we were always warmly welcomed and well taken care of. This wasn't difficult since it seems that everyone on Islay are good, kind people who want to see you enjoy their lovely island. We were sad to leave after our week in paradise but we can't wait to go back! We would enthusiastically and wholeheartedly recommend Rachel to anyone who wants to visit Islay for any reason!

If you are going to Islay for any reason, sightseeing, distillery touring etc look no further than…read moreWild and Magic. My son-in-law was tuned on to them from a trusted source from his Scotch Malt Whiskey Society membership and they planned and organized our three day visit from there. After a few questions on our preferences they schedule the tours, B&B and all the local transportation and did an outstanding job. Rachel (the owner) picked us up from the airport (our flight was an hour late) and got us settled in at our B & B and said Calum would pick us up at 8:30 the next day to begin our tours. Both Rachel and Calum are local to Islay and have grown up there so they know everyone and everyone knows them. They are very knowledgeable and just wonderful people Calum took us around for two day and was a delightful host and companion. Rachel personally took us around the last day and then dropped us off a the airport. Again, if you are coming to Islay let Wild and Magic make your visit them most memorable possible.

need more bus' going to ness not enough times there's a 3 hour wait from the half 10 bus and the…read morenext one which is at around 2 it's not okay for the people who just miss a bus and have to wait 3 hours

The Bus station in Stornoway is located across from an Lanntair next to the biggest car park in…read moretown. Here you can catch a bus to any part of the Island from the Tip of Lewis down to Harris. The station itself is relatively small compared to mainland stations but has plenty of seats for when you are waiting for your bus. It is open from about 9am until 6pm and there is a member of staff there at an information desk to help you find the correct bus and has timetables so you never miss a bus. Buses leave promptly so you shouldn't usually have too long a wait. The station itself is usually kept clean and tidy.