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Home , Argyll, Assynt, Caithness, Callanish, Callanish Stones, Carloway

and Calda House, North Highlands and hiking adventure Visiting great archaeological sites in stunning scenery

This trip takes us to the remote North Highlands and the Isle Highlights of Lewis. From the of in the north-east • Water hike with numerous ancient monuments and a to the spectacular mountains of Assynt in the north-west and spectacular gorge; the beautiful island of Lewis in the Outer . You can’t • Camster long and round , Caithness; wish for a more varied scenery. • Hiking in Little Assynt near surrounded by the spectacular Everywhere we go, there will be an abundance of Assynt mountains; • Boat trip to and hike on Handa Island with 100,000 breeding archaeological and historical sites and excellent hiking. seabirds, including puffins; We’ll never be far from the coast with high cliffs, spectacular • Visit to the Standing Stones of Calanish, Isle of Lewis; sea lochs - fjords -, sandy and rocky bays, caves and arches. • Iron Age Village on and hike across the moor; Always something new to draw you on around the next corner. • Traigh Uige beach walk, Isle of Lewis where the were found.

BORVE 6 8 9 3 Lewis LOCHINVER 5 2 7 Harris 4 BRORA

10 1

Skye

INVERNESS Wag of Forse , Caithness

1. - Brorar 6.Handa Island 2.Dunbeath Heritage hike 7.Lochinver - Isle of Lewis Letters Lodge South, Strathlachlan, 3.Caithness archaeology 8. Stones, Broch PA27 8BZ, (UK) 4.Brorar - Lochinver 9.Great Bernera and Traigh Uige Tel. +44 (0)1369 860272 5. Broch and Inver 10..Stornoway - [email protected] https://aboutargyll.uk Standing Stones of Callanish, Isle of Lewis Introduction is studded with a maze of a thousand fresh-water lochans. The north of Scotland is a glorious coastal region of glittering sea Up from this rise a series of remarkable mountains. These peaks lochs, islands, mountains and glens just waiting to be explored. are very steep and completely separate from one another, and are Scotland’s coastline stretches for thousands of miles and includes eroded into fantastic, individual shapes, making this one of the most everything from rocky shorelines to secluded island beaches, all of memorable landscapes in Scotland. According to Norse legend, this which are home to many different species of flora and fauna. was where the gods practised mountain building. They did it on a Most of the tour will be off the well-beaten tourist trail grand scale. through some of Scotland’s most magnificent scenery. Early humans used the famous bone caves and buried their dead in Scotland has a long and varied history stretching back many the large cairns visible throughout this dramatic landscape. From later thousands of years and these architectural remains cover the in prehistory come cist burials, brochs, and . Fragments landscape of the north Highlands and the Isle of Lewis. From of a Celtic cross point to an early Medieval Christian presence beside cairns and stone circles to Iron Age brochs - ancient dry Loch Assynt and it is this area around which became stone buildings unique to Scotland - Medieval castles and deserted the heart of medieval Assynt. Here we’ll visit the ruined castle and clearance villages. burial vault of the Macleods of Assynt, the gaunt remains of the grand Calda House of their Mackenzie successors, the old church We will travel by minibus, and smaller boats and stay in and the remains of flourishing pre-clearance settlements. comfortable hotels where you can enjoy the Highland warmth and hospitality. Isle of Lewis The Isle of Lewis is steeped in history and culture, ranging back Caithness thousands of years. Gaelic is spoken alongside English. Best known Caithness is known for its wide open spaces and big skies. It is fringed for the Calanish standing stones, there is much more archaeology to by dramatic coastal scenery. explore, including Carloway Broch, , the Iron Age village Caithness is rich in prehistoric remains from Neolithic times onward. at Greater Bernera with a superbly rebuilt Iron Age house, Traigh Cairns, standing stones, and hill forts abound, and there are more Uige, a stunning white beach bordered by windswept shifting sand brochs than in any other Scottish . The area was an early dunes and rich grasses. The famous Lewis Chessmen, a group Pictish province called Cait, or Cat, which was invaded by . of seventy-eight 12th-century Viking chess pieces, were discovered Its place-names testify to Norse domination. here in 1831.

Assynt Assynt is referred to as one of the last truly wild places in . It has a stark, eerie landscape and is a hauntingly beautiful area, with strange isolated mountains and sparkling beaches. The vast, undulating

Long , Camster, Caithness

Replica Iron Age House, Great Bernera

Letters Lodge South, Strathlachlan, Argyll PA27 8BZ, Scotland (UK) Tel. +44 (0)1369 860272 [email protected] Traigh Uig, Isle of Lewis https://aboutargyll.uk