Local area
For the best, most up-to-date information about Berneray, visit the Berneray community website.
For the best information about the Outer Hebrides as a whole, visit the Outer Hebrides Tourism website.
If you like beautiful beaches, you'll like Berneray. The entire west and northwest of the island is one three-mile-long shell sand beach. The sand is beautifully clean, the water is clear (and cold!) and the views of neighbouring islands Pabbay and Harris are spectacular. A walk along the west beach is a must.
There are also somewhat smaller, but nonetheless impressive, beaches at the eastern and southern ends of the island.
But it's not all beaches. Berneray also boasts two hills, both of which are worth climbing, especially on a clear day, when the spectacular views make the climb worthwhile. Down below, the machair, lying inland of the dunes which fringe the west beach, is a unique environment where traditional crofting practice over generations has added to the fertility of the sandy soil. Partly-flooded for much of the winter, the machair is a riot of colour during the early summer, when orchids and many other species of flower are in full bloom.
The human history of Berneray is as interesting as its natural history. Just by being here you will begin to gain a sense of the Gaelic language and culture which makes this a special place. Once you are here, you can learn much more by visiting the tourist information centre and historical displays in the Nurses' Cottage (open May to end-August), which is just a few hundred yards from the B&B.
It goes without saying that beyond Berneray there is plenty to see and do on the neighbouring islands of North Uist, Harris and others. Maybe you can take a boat trip to one of the now uninhabited islands in the Sound of Harris. A number of intrepid visitors each year also use Berneray as a stopping off point for trips to St Kilda.