Driving from Stornoway to Harris
No ferry is involved: Lewis and Harris are one landmass and you simply drive south. What varies is which way you go, and how long you should honestly allow for it.
Two ways south, and they are not the same drive
The direct route runs down the spine of the island and is the faster of the two. It is the one to take if Harris is the destination rather than the journey.
The eastern coast road is the other option: slower, narrower, considerably more twisting, and the reason a lot of people come here at all. Taking it is a decision to spend the day on the drive rather than to get somewhere.
Neither is a mistake. Choosing the coast road while running late for a ferry is.
Do not plan this drive from a map estimate
Sat-nav times assume a road you can maintain a steady speed on. Much of this one is single-track with passing places, where your pace is set by oncoming traffic and by how far back the last passing place was. Allow substantially more than the estimate, and more again on the coast road.
Why the estimate is wrong
- Single-track sections with passing places. Meeting a vehicle means one of you reverses, and it is not always the other one.
- Sheep, which have right of way in practice if not in law, and no interest in your schedule.
- Weather that changes within a single journey. Rain and low cloud slow this road more than gradient does.
- The stops you will make. The scenery is the point, and pretending you will drive past it is how people end up rushing the second half.
Fuel and timing
Fill up before you leave Stornoway rather than expecting to find somewhere on the way. Services thin out quickly once you are south of the town, and this is not a drive where running low is a minor inconvenience.
If you are catching a sailing from Tarbert at the other end, work backwards from check-in rather than from departure, and add a buffer you would find embarrassing on the mainland.
You do not have to come back
If Harris is where your trip ends, collecting in Stornoway and returning at Tarbert removes the whole return leg. It is one of the more useful one-way routes we run for exactly that reason.
One-way hire is subject to availability and pre-arrangement, and any applicable charge is confirmed before booking. Arrange it when you book rather than deciding on the day, and never leave a vehicle at an unagreed location.
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