North Lewis
The crafting and fishing villages strung out along Lewis's northwest coast between Calanais and Port Nis represent one of the most densely populated rural areas in the country and account for two-thirds of the Western Isles' total population.
On this coast youll also find the islands' best-preserved prehistoric remains - Dùn Charlabhaigh broch and Calanais standing stones - as well as a smattering of ancient crofters' houses in various stages of abandonment. In Arnol, the remains of numerous of these blackhouses lie abandoned in the village, one of which, at the far end of the village, has been restored as a Black House Museum.
Further west on the coastal A858, the landscape becomes less monotonous as you approach the parish of Carlabhagh (Carloway), with its scattering of croft houses. A mile-long road leads off north to the beautifully remote coastal settlement of Gearrannan (Garenin), where nine thatched crofters houses the last of which was abandoned in 1973 have been restored. Just beyond Carlabhagh, set back from the road, one of Scotlands best-preserved brochs (or fortified tower), Dùn Charlabhaigh Broch, perches on top of a conspicuous rocky outcrop overlooking the sea, as it has done for almost 2000 years.
Five miles south of Carlabhagh lies the village of Calanais (Callanish), site of the islands' most dramatic prehistoric ruins, the Calanais Standing Stones, whose monoliths - nearly fifty of them - occupy a serene lochside setting.
