Atlantic View Cottage is beautifully maintained, exceptionally well equipped and extremely comfortable. Anne and Chris (the owners) were welcoming and helpful. The surrounding landscape is breathtakingly beautiful. The local wildlife is astounding.
The cottage is on Great Bernera, a small island connected to Lewis by a bridge. If you've not visited Lewis before (which we hadn't), it's good to know that there are limited opportunities to shop for food outside Stornoway, so stock up with what you need before you head west. There are fresh eggs for sale from road-side stands, and at Luskentyre there was a cake cupboard beside the road with lovely home-made cakes and biscuits, there are some cafes for lunches, but general shops for groceries are few and far between.
We walked to Bosta Beach with its reconstructed Iron Age house, white sand and crystal clear water. We visited various historic sites: the standing stones of Callanish, the Dun Carloway Broch, a Norse Mill and Kiln and the Arnol Blackhouse. Our favourites of these were the Arnol Blackhouse and the Norse Mill and Kiln at Loch na Muilne. We visited Luskentyre Beach, which was stunningly gorgeous, as was the drive through the Harris hills to get there.
The landscapes, the turquoise seas, the abundance of wildlife, the silence, the absolute darkness on cloudy nights, the wonderful night sky on clear nights, all just blew us away. We had a wonderful holiday and would love to go back and do it all again.