Inner Hebrides

The Inner Hebrides are those islands of the Hebrides lying close to the mainland of Western Scotland. If you have a notion to see "the Highlands and Islands", without being more specific, what you're looking for is somewhere in the Inner Hebrides. But you shouldn’t plan to visit many of them on a single trip, let alone try to bag them all. Transport routes radiate out from the mainland, with limited inter-island links, so you’d end up spending a lot of time waiting on draughty jetties or in Glasgow airport transit lounge. And the main charm of the islands is their relaxed, away-from-it-all feel – they’re not places for frenetic sight-seeing and hurrying on to the next attraction. So you need to pick your island, or group of islands for those that do naturally link. All of them are described in detail on their own pages, and general advice on air and ferry transport is described in Scotland#Get around. This page gives a brief overview to guide that choice and itinerary. The islands are considered below not in geographical groups, but in order of potential for visitors: accommodation and food, things to do and see, and convenience of getting there. This is inevitably subjective but if for a first visit you choose an island near the top of the list, and get around to the others on future trips, you won't go wrong. Or if you find yourself charmed by one particular spot, returning whenever you can and never mind the others, that’s equally good.