Lewis and Arnold Blackhouse

Enjoy the stunning, unspoiled scenery of the Isle of Lewis before visiting some of the most important prehistoric sites in Scotland. The Isle of Lewis is the heartland of Gaelic culture with long-standing traditions and relics, where people’s lives are still dominated by traditional pursuits like crofting, fishing and weaving. Travel towards the striking west coast and the village of Callanish, site of the dramatic prehistoric ruins of the Callanish Standing Stones, which are rated as the most important in Britain after Stonehenge. A guided tour will be given of the stones which date from 1500 BC and are laid out in the form of a cross with a circle in the center. They were aligned with the moon and the stars to provide the seasonal cycle on which the early Neolithic farmers were so dependent. Afterwards, travel north to Arnol, with its remains of abandoned blackhouses. These were built as a combined barn and home in the tradition of ancient "long-houses", where the poor lived together with their animals. Visit the Blackhouse Museum, which is a restored blackhouse. Step back in time and imagine what it would have been like to live within its thick walls and thatched roof, with its homely furnishings and burning peat fire.