Scottish Island Adventures - Harris - with host Coinneach Macleod, the Hebridean Baker and guest Emma Macleod

Harris 

Harris, with its long-standing customs, beautiful landscapes and tight-knit community, offers a special kind of welcome to island life. As with many of the other Scottish island communities, Gaelic is the first language for a majority of Harris natives and is a hugely rich and important aspect of Harris’ history. It is famed for its breathtaking beaches which no trip to harris would be complete without a visit to. 

Isle of Harris Distillery 

The Isle of Harris Distillery is one of the most iconic emblems of the island. When it opened in 2015, it sought to bottle the ‘rare and elusive spirit of the island’ and make it available to a global market. Today you can tour the distillery, learning about the process of their whiskey and gin distilling and enjoy a wee taste for yourself. 

St Clement’s Church

St Clement’s Church has been dubbed one of the grandest medieval buildings of the Western Isles and was built in the early 16th century at the burial place of the MacLeod clan. The Church itself is nestled by the sea and is free to visit year round. 

Taransay

Taransay is the largest uninhabited island of the Outer Hebrides and is perhaps most recognised today as the location of the BBC series Castaway. Although there are no longer permanent residents on the island, there is plenty of evidence of inhabitants dating back 9,000 years including neolithic standing stones and blackhouses. 

Thank you for listening to the Caledonian MacBrayne podcast. You can find out more about Scotland’s west coast islands and all topics discussed on this episode at calmac.co.uk/podcast