Wildlife boat tours around South Uist on our RIB the Island Adventurer. See Bottlenose Dolphins in the Sound of Barra, the Golden Eagles and Sea Eagles off the East Coast of South Uist as well as the ever popular Puffins on Mingulay, the abandoned island at the South of the Hebrides. Join us this summer for an unforgettable adventure and experience the natural beauty of the Outer Hebrides.
Location
The location of Polochar Inn makes it an ideal base for exploring the Uists, Eriskay and Barra.
South Uist is a beautiful island with mile after mile of white powder beaches to the west and hills to the east, dominated by Beinn Mhor. The machair that borders the beaches provides a marvellous habitat for flora and fauna and is home to the rare Corncrake. Machair is a Gaelic word meaning fertile low lying grassy plain.
The Hebridean Way is a walking or cycle route across the Hebrides from Vatersay in the South to the Stornoway for the walking route and The Butt of Lewis Lighthouse (the most northern point on Lewis) for the cycle route.
The route is a 156 mile long distance walk or a separate 185 mile cycle on NCN route 780. The route passes through 10 Islands linked by a combination of causeways and ferries, over rugged hills and along dazzling Atlantic coastline. Polochar Inn is on The Hebridean Way route, why not call in to re-charge your batteries!
Sporting enthusiasts can have a round of golf at Askernish Golf Course. The world-renowned golf course designer and founder of the modern game, Old Tom Morris came to South Uist in 1891 to create a course at the request of the wealthy landowner, Lady Cathcart, so she could impress her high society guests. The course was restored in 2008 and has received the highest acclaim from the golfing media and beyond.
South Uist, with its alkaline lochs, has some of the finest and most exceptional wild brown trout and sea trout fishing in Europe . There are plenty of oppotunkties for that great catch with approx 800 lochs and lochans on South Uist & Benbecula. Fishing permits can be purchased at the hotel. We also have a large shed which guests can use to store fishing rods.
Images: VisitScotland / Paul Tomkins/ Airborne Lens / Kenny Lam
The Polochar Inn is a great base from which to explore the surrounding area including:
Uist Sea Tours
Paddle Hebrides
The crystal-clear waters of South Uist attract many tourists that want to try out water sports in Scotland. Diving, kayaking, canoeing and wind surfing are all options that are available in UIst. As the Hebridean coastline is home to stunning beaches, cliff tops and stunning bays and coves, there is plenty to see and do after your water sports adventure.
Askernish Golf Club
Askernish sits in, on and among the dunes – the machair – of South Uist. This outer Hebrides island known for its fishing and snipe shooting is now community owned. Askernish is truly ‘golf on the edge’. Love of the game in its purist form is epitomised here. It is the most authentic golf course, the options are endless and are different, because of the elements, every time you play.
Loch Druidibeg
Loch Druidibeg and the landscape surrounding it present one of the best places in the Hebrides to see the full range of island wildlife. The reserve stretches from the Atlantic coast almost to the Minch. The mountains of Hecla and Beinn Mhor provide a superb backdrop to photographs taken in this area.
A self guided trail by the Loch and through the croftland provides plenty of oppourtunities for photography. Eagles, hen harrier and merlin are often seen in this area.
Flora Macdonald’s Birthplace
Flora MacDonald lived from 1722 to 5 March 1790. She is chiefly remembered as a heroine of the Jacobite cause for her part in helping Charles Edward Stuart – Bonnie Prince Charlie – “over the sea to Skye” from Benbecula in the Western Isles during his flight in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden. The wider picture in Scotland at the time is set out in our Historical Timeline.
Flora was born in the Western Isles. A monument on South Uist marks the place where she is traditionally believed to have been born, though there is a widely held school of thought that she was actually born in Balivanich on Benbecula.
Flora Macdonald’s Birthplace – Isle Of South Uist – Outer Hebrides
Our Lady of the Isles
Our Lady of the Isles (Bana Thighearna nan Eilean) was commissioned shortly after the Ministry of Defense proposed a missile testing range be constructed. This caused concern it would destroy much of the island’s way of life, culture and language. Resistance to the proposals was led by Canon John Morrison, the local parish priest The statue was intended to be both an expression of the devotion of the people of South Uist to the Blessed Virgin Mary but was also intended to be a public and permanent reminder to ‘strangers’ that they were entering a ‘different’ world. People of all denominations supported the project through fundraising and the giving of their labour to construct the road and the foundations for the forty ton statue. The statue is situated on the west side of Reuval.
Uist Archaeology Tours
Uist is home to a unique archaeological landscape, with monuments that testify to more than 6,000 years of human habitation. Join one of our regular guided walks and learn about the facinating relationship between people and the island landscape from prehistory through to recent crofting. Discover the wealth of history hidden on the islands’ moorland and machair, as we explore the remains of Neolithic tombs, Iron Age brochs, Norse farmsteads and Medieval chapels.
Kildonan Museum and Cultural Centre
The Kildonan Museum and Cultural Centre in South Uist is a heritage and cultural amenity which includes a museum, a craft shop, a Fèis room for ceilidhs, music and dance, a café and an archaeology room.
The museum (Taigh Tasgaidh Chill Donnain) is managed by South Uist Historical Trust and is fully accredited with Museums Galleries Scotland.
Kildonan Museum holds over 10,000 items related to the social, domestic and cultural history of South Uist.
During the 1950’s and 1960’s the late Father John Morrison, parish priest of Iochdar in South Uist collected nearly 700 items representing the cultural identity of South Uist. These items were displayed in a small thatched cottage. Father Morrison signed over his collection to be held on behalf of the people of South Uist.
In 1997 Kildonan museum (Taigh-tasgaidh Chill Donnain) was extended beyond its premises in the old-school house and became a heritage, arts and culture centre for the area. In 2017 the museum was further extended, this time to accommodate a new gallery and learning facilities.
The collection’s timeline is vast including ancient archaeological finds and items related to townships, crofting and agriculture. It holds the Clan Ranald stone, thought to have been carved to commemorate John of Moidart, chieftain of the Clan Ranald in the late 1500s.
Kildonan Museum – Celebrating South Uist’s cultural heritage
Ushenish Lighthouse
Ushenish Lighthouse was designed by engineers, David and Thomas Stevenson. Established in 1857, it incorporated a new ‘condensing’ apparatus developed by Thomas Stevenson as an improvement to the dioptric system. The lighthouse was automated in 1970, one of the first major automatic lights. The gas-operated Dalen beacon was monitored from Neist PointLighthouse, on Skye.