The second largest of the islands in the Outer Hebrides, South Uist has much to offer the visitor: dazzling white-sand beaches stretching for miles - with scarcely a living soul to be seen; mountains to climb; fishing; canoeing and sailing; cycling; golf; the finest and freshest of food; museums, arts and crafts; castles and more ancient archaeology awaiting discovery; bird-watching and wildlife, traditional customs and an ancient and poetic language ... and above all the warm welcome and friendly help of its people. 

More information on what the area has to offer can be found at Undiscovered Scotland. For information on travel within the islands, visit the local council’s travel information pages

The rocks in the north west are believed to be the most ancient in Britain, worn down to a level plain by ice. Over countless millennia, the climate has changed many times. The island has an abundance of archaeological sites dating from the Iron Age, when the climate supported extensive woodland and a large population. Following centuries brought cooler and wetter conditions, and the trees gave way to grassland, bog and heather, smothering the island under a deep blanket of peat - which has since time immemorial been used by islanders as fuel for warmth and cooking. In early summer you will see families out cutting peat, then the peat drying or awaiting collection, and then later the neat stacks back at the croft houses.

In more recent times the weather has been warmer, sunnier, drier: woodland is again becoming established - particularly in the more sheltered glens of the east coast - if you doubt this, try the walk along the north shore of Loch Eynort, starting at the road end. Now the climate is changing more rapidly, and who knows whether that will be for the worse or the better?