The water below us shimmered in the sun, small patches of land popping up and appearing ever-closer as we came in to land. The sandy expanse ahead of us opened up, and the pilot reached up to pull the lever above his head, in full view of everyone in the cabin. As we land, water sprays up from beneath the wheels and we speed along the sand past a tractor. We’ve arrived in Barra – and what an outstanding welcome!
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One thing that has been on my “Scotland bucket list” for years is the flight to the Outer Hebridean island of Barra – because the airport is literally on a beach! It’s the only airport in the world where scheduled flights use a beach as a runway, and it’s as fantastic as it sounds.
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This is an epic way to arrive, and to be honest it’s the main reason we visited Barra. There are two (and sometimes three) flights a day from Glasgow, which take just over an hour, meaning you could technically do a day trip, but we wanted to actually see the island as well if we were going to be there anyway, so we went for a weekend instead.
Flights don’t come all that cheap – it is Loganair, after all – so I’ve always weighed up the pros and cons of taking off or landing, but we waited so long to do it that I finally decided to just book flights both ways! Go big or go home, right? Even better; I managed to book them in one of Loganair’s sales, scoring flights for just £150 return (sometimes they can be this much each way!). That certainly beats taking the alternative five hour ferry.
Book flights to Barra with Loganair here!
So last month, we finally made it to Barra-bados.
Welcome to Barra-dise
(Definitely sang this in my head to the tune of the Green Day song.)
Barra is the perfect starting point for making your way through the Hebrides, and from the connecting southernmost island of Vatersay, the route north through Barra, Eriskay, South Uist, Benbecula, North Uist, Bernerary, Harris and Lewis makes up the popular Hebridean Way.
We were just planning a brief overnight hop to include Vatersay while we were there, so this was a very short and sweet trip centred around the very unique arrival and departure.
The flights themselves were brilliant, and one of my favourite travel experiences. You could barely wipe the grin off my face. Loganair’s Twin Otter planes hold just about 12-15 people (the seat map suggests more, but the front row was taken up by safety equipment and cabin crew belongings). We were able to just chuck our bags on the front seat as we were in row 2. Very casual!
The main risk, as with any Scottish island break, is the weather, which is partly why it took so long for me to book it! All very well booking cheaper flights for March, but if the weather’s likely to be bad, is it worth it? In Scotland, though, it could be equally bad in July. You just never know!
We got incredibly lucky with the weather on our arrival in September, with a perfect approach over the dotted isles and an emerald sea as we came in to land. Taking off the next day? The absolute opposite. The weather was so hideous with an incoming storm that we didn’t even taxi out along the beach to line up; we simply took off towards the sea from stationary and we were in the air within 5 seconds. I’ve never experienced anything like it!
And it’s not often you can watch a wobbly runway through a cockpit window while the little windscreen wipers go at a million miles an hour…
(Also, we had to wait around ten minutes when we landed in Glasgow for ground crew to get us off the plane. Someone took the opportunity to jump in the cockpit for some photos!! I mean how often do you get the chance to do that? I’m only annoyed that I didn’t think of it first because there wasn’t time once she emerged.)
Here’s a full video of our arrival:
We didn’t have much time to explore the island, and we needed to wait a while for the bus into the main town of Castlebay. We were on island time now. This meant we managed to watch our plane take off again, AND watch the next plane come in! What a treat in perfect weather.
I’m not a plane spotter at all, but how can you not be in a place like this?
Even better, I got chatting to someone next to us as we watched the plane taxi out across the beach, and it took a moment to even register because I’m so used to the accent, but in the end I had to ask.
“Your accent. Are you from Orkney??”
“Aye.”
“No way!!! So am I!”
I mean, come on. We’d been on Barra for a few minutes, and the first person I speak to is from ORKNEY. What are the chances?!
Read more: Four Islands, One Epic Weekend On The Isle Of Mull
Between the flights, we also popped over to the opposite beach, the virtually untouched Traigh Eais. It was absolutely stunning, and honestly as time went by, I felt less and less bad about focusing our trip on an airport when this was also nearby.
When we eventually arrived in Castlebay, the light over the bay was gorgeous, and we checked in to our private room at Dunard Hostel before heading out for a walk which took us as far as a pub. We luckily got a last-minute table at the Castlebay Hotel for dinner, but we had a bit of time to kill so we headed to their bar, which is home to lots of live music including the legendary Vatersay Boys.
Dinner at the Castlebay Hotel doesn’t come cheap, but for the quality you get it is excellent! It was a perfect date night for our one night on Barra, with views of the sunset over the bay to match the romantic setting. With our four year wedding anniversary approaching the following week, it felt like a true special occasion.
There are cheaper options, like Cafe Kisimul which serves a Punjabi-Scottish mix with excellent reviews, or takeaway pizza from Joan’s Barra Pizza on the west coast. Truthfully, there isn’t a lot in Castlebay itself – and that’s not a bad thing. It’s a perfect place to relax.
However, I would definitely recommend booking somewhere! Had we been visiting in summer, I think we would have really struggled to find somewhere to eat. I knew we’d have cooking facilities at the hostel though, so at least we had a back-up.
We took in the views overlooking Kisimul Castle which sits in the bay (hence… Castlebay), although sadly it’s closed so we were unable to visit. It’s possible to take a boat trip around it, but it’s actually so close to shore that it didn’t feel like it was something we needed to do.
We also popped by the Co-Op to pick up a dessert for later, as well as snacks for our adventure the following day. So… let’s get into that.
Read more about the Hebrides: Landscapes & History On Lewis & Harris: A Five Day Itinerary
A biking adventure to Vatersay
The following morning, we were hiring bikes from Barra Bike Hire for a half day before our mid-afternoon flight home. This meant we could explore the nearby island of Vatersay, which is connected to Barra by a causeway, and see the iconic beach while getting our exercise on. It also meant we could prove to ourselves just how diabolically unfit we are.
I had mistakenly thought it would be an easy, relatively flat bike ride down to Traigh a Bhaigh on Vatersay, which according to Google Maps would only take a little over half an hour. This grave error of judgement led to us attempting to cycle up a 12% incline out of Castlebay, somehow getting half way up the hill before having to stop and re-evaluate our lives, and miserably walking the bikes to the top while wondering how on earth we’d get back up there later.
Mercifully, the rest of the ride was nowhere near as bad, and soon we made it across the causeway and along to the community centre next to the famous beach. First thing’s first: we needed a drink. I was also planning to eat a sweet treat as a reward, but I still felt sick from the fateful hill, so I settled for a cup of tea while we rested and took shelter from the wind.
The wind also hadn’t helped our bike ride to be honest, but it also hindered our plans to walk to another beach while we were on Vatersay. The southernmost beach Bagh A’Deas is a fair walk, and one we wouldn’t have time for, but it looks fantastic and you can even see cows hanging out on the beach! Traigh Shiar is just opposite Traigh a Bhaigh, so much easier to reach on a short trip.
(We actually saw cows on a beach from the bus between the airport and Castlebay! So you don’t need to do a hike for that.)
Unfortunately after the glorious sunshine of the day before, today definitely wasn’t a beach day, so we just took a walk along Traigh a Bhaigh and decided we’d better start heading back.
Read more: The Incredible Beaches Of Lewis & Harris
We also stopped at the Catalina Memorial, where the remains of a plane crash are still laid to this day, commemorating the loss of three men in a training exercise in 1944. Amazingly, six others survived the crash!
This feels like such a poignant memorial when parts of the plane are literally there in front of you.
On the surface, it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of history to “see” on Barra or Vatersay, other than this – but, like everywhere in Scotland, there is a fascinating history underneath, and there’s a great book about the Vatersay Raiders, a group of men who refused to leave their crofts in 1908.
And the way back? So much easier. I think we discovered just how not-flat the ride there had been, as we found ourselves sailing along back to the causeway with no issue. We walked up that final hill from the bottom, which took so much strain off rather than trying to power through on a bike.
Lesson learned: Barra Bike Hire offers e-bikes. It might cost more, but DO THIS INSTEAD if you’re not a fit bike rider.
Also, just to add that Tony at Barra Bike Hire is really helpful and while officially the pick-up and drop-off is at the Castlebay community hub Bùth Bharraigh, which we were more than happy to go to, he asked where we were staying and just came to the hostel. We were then able to leave them there when we were done. Very simple!
A quick note: they do also normally offer bike hire for the Hebridean Way. They’ve taken a break from it this year due to the increased logistics, but it may be a service they offer again in upcoming seasons!
With our bikes (and ourselves) safely returned (just), we popped over to the community shop anyway for a wee look around. There are some wonderful local crafts in here if you fancy a unique souvenir – my favourite were the oyster shells painted with the Vatersay beach. In hindsight, I wish I’d bought one!
It’s also an excellent community hub, with facilities for locals and also things like spice, grain and sauce refills. Such a great idea. And in the era of VisitScotland centres closing down, the hub here serves as an invaluable resource for visitors, from booking tours to finding last-minute accommodation.
And with that, our Hebridean adventure was over. We were being picked up by taxi, as buses don’t run on Sundays (even to the airport!), and it cost a very reasonable £20. Our driver Asty was super friendly, and as the road on Barra runs in a loop, he offered to take us the opposite way to where the bus goes, so that he could show us the rest of the island.
I think I preferred the bus route, but they are very different roads. The western road is open, taking you along beautiful coastlines and past incredible sweeping beaches with cows on them (sadly I didn’t manage to get a photo of this from the bus!). On that note, if you’re taking the bus from the airport, sit on the right.
The eastern route is more rugged, with winding roads hugging the bottom of hills opposite calm inlets. Two entirely different coastal views, let alone the landscapes. I was quite surprised by the variety.
With the fantastic flights to and from Barra, this was genuinely one of my highlights of the year! It was totally worth the wait, and Barra itself is a real gem that we can see ourselves visiting again.
Read more Scottish island adventures here:
⭐ Spending A Perfect Weekend On Skye
⭐ A Perfect Orkney Itinerary For 2, 3 or 7 Days
⭐ A Car-Free Adventure On The Isle Of Bute, Scotland
⭐ Four Islands, One Epic Weekend On The Isle Of Mull
⭐ Landscapes & History On Lewis & Harris: A Five Day Itinerary
⭐ A Great Day Out Puffin-Spotting On The Isle Of May, Scotland
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I’m not a fan of small airplanes, so your trip would freak me out! I had to laugh about your cycling adventure. I had to do that very thing (dismount and push my bike up) in CastleTON in the Peak District. It was 20%. I’m a decent cyclist, but not on hills and definitely not on 20%. In Italy and France, e-bikes have helped me keep up with the Husband, who is a stronger cyclist. They’re a great equalizer. Glad you finally made this dream come true!
Haha e-bikes are so much easier! 20% sounds horrendous.
I’m relatively used to small planes having grown up on an island, but this is the smallest I’ve been on – apart from when I’ve been skydiving!! So correction: this is the smallest one I’ve landed in. 😂
I’ve not heard of Barra, which goes to show that there’s a lot of Scotland I’ve yet to explore! £150 roundtrip, especially to such a remote place, is really a steal! Gorgeous scenery all-around, and nothing like what I imagine typical Scotland to be! The flight over certainly looked like an adventure, and I appreciate you sharing it, Clazz!
Honestly, same – I think I only heard of Barra a few years ago and that was because of the unique flight! The islands definitely have a different landscape to a lot of Scotland. 🙂 And really amazing beaches, too!
Very special landing. I think I’d be terrified. Gorgeous island
Haha, coming in to land on the island was so much fun, but the landing in Glasgow was terrifying! We were swerving all over the place in a storm!
Haha, I remember that hill from when we did the Hebridean Way – it was a beast! Barra and Vatersay are gorgeous though, and that plane landing looks like an experience in itself. Thanks for sharing, Clazz 🙂
Oh God, I’m glad I’m not the only one. I’m fully expecting people to say it’s not that bad. 😂 The plane landing was so much fun!
Wow, what a stunning trip ✨ beautiful!!
1944 – the plane parts are very sobering to see there.
Very much so, felt a bit haunting really. I’m amazed that people survived!