Lewis and Arnol Blackhouse

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, rated as the most important in Britain after Stonehenge. A guided tour will be given of the stones which date from 2900-2600 BC and are laid out in the form of a cross with a circle in the centre. 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 northwards to Arnol, with its remains of abandoned blackhouses. These were built as a combined byre, 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.