Ferrari 575 to Outer Hebrides?

[silverspoon2]

Planning a road trip to the outer Hebrides in August with my Ferrari 575. I am concerned regarding access on and off ferries with low clearance cars. Has anyone done this trip with anything low and can advise how the on/off ramps were?

Planning ferry trips as follows:

1) Oban (mainland) to Castlebay (barra)
2) Barra to South Uist
3) Berneray (North Uist) to Leverburgh (Harris)
4) Stornoway (Lewis) to Ullapool (mainland)

Also if anyone has any advise on good places to stay, good roads and interesting places to visit, would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Quick getaway]

Hello Silverspoon
Please bear with as I have just joined but I believe im in good spot to answer your question's, I used to work on these ferries and routes.

All the Ramp angles will accommodate most cars, however this can also depend on the tide, some coaches can really struggle, But all the Calmac staff are great and would guide you on and off and look out for you car.

Oban to Castlebay ,both linkspan's can adjust their height/angle and the main ferry's have a closed in car deck (rough weather can mean a LOT of salt seaspray) 5.5 hours .

The road around Barra is mainly single track and has a lot of loose chips, and I recommend you stay at Heathbank hotel (good food/bar ) and nice rooms.

The next Ferry is the Loch Allen (summer), or Loch Brusdha , these are much smaller and have fixed slipways which could be a big problem (again the tide could make the differnce). Also open car decks so again there can be a lot of seaspray. 45 min crossing.

Not sure where best to stay over in Uist?

But there's a excellent stretch of road for about five miles between Benbeclua and Lochmady new long and flat and you can see wellll ahead .

Lochmady to Bernary :- again fixed slipways and exposed ferries 50 mins- hour .the drive up to stornoway should be great though.

Stornoway - Ullapool - flexible linkspans but they should be at a good angle (from what I remember?) 2.5 hours

Although I mention weather it can be an amazing place if you get good sunshine, hope it all helps best of luck.

Getaway

[sjabrown]

Should be fine on those routes. It's the tiny ferry crossings with smaller vessels that tend to struggle more. The ferry folk are very experienced and will get you on and off with no damage. The road round Barra has quite a few potholes at the moment and has quite a lot of loose stones so take your time. Lewis and Harris have some of the best driving roads in the country. THe roads will be littered with sheep but they have a remarkable amount of traffic sense.

[Craikeybaby]

I was up that way last year (blog posts here and here, we were only in an MX-5, so probably not as low as your Ferrari, and didn't have any trouble at all on the ferries.

We did the route in the opposite direction, starting at Stornoway but only got as far down as South Uist, before returning to Loch Maddy to get the ferry over to Skye.

The road from South Uist up to Berneray is a good run, I wouldn't recommend where we stayed on Berneray, it was lovely, but the access road was a bit rough. Auberge Carnish on the West Coast of Lewis is really nice, a bit out of the way, even by Island terms, but well worth it. In Stornoway was stayed at the Royal Hotel, which was good and had off street parking.

If you have any other questions just ask. It is a beautiful part of the world and I would love to go back!