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Visiting the Isle of Raasay, Scotland, UK

Just a short drive from Portree is the village of Sconser from where you can take the CalMac ferry, MV Coruisk, to the island of Raasay. Raasay is just 14 miles long and 4 miles wide, with a population of around 200 people. Taking her name from the freshwater Loch Coruisk on the Isle of Skye, MV Coruisk or Coir’ Uisg’ was luanched in 2003 and is unique to the fleet, appearing very tall relative to her length. Measuring just 65m in length, MV Coruisk can reach speeds of 14 knots and can accommodate up to 249 passengers and 40 cars, proving that small can indeed be powerful. On the day of our visit, there was only a handful of cars and motorbikes, plus ourselves and a few other cyclists. Taking bikes onto Raasay We were met by Lyn, a Director at Raasay House, who was drawn to the Highlands as a teacher in Plockton before somehow transferring her skills to becoming a climbing instructor on the Isle of Skye and then starting Raasay Outdoor Centre with two others. Back then, in 1984, the house was in ruins and had had a very much chequered history – from being burnt to the ground after the Battle of Culloden to being run as a rather successful hotel between the first and second World Wars. Approach to Raasay House Bikes outside Raasay House The ups and downs of the building’s history continued when, in January of 2009, the house suffered from a fire once more, just weeks before completion of a multi-million pound, lottery-funded refurbishment, destroying everything bar the west wing of the building. Despite this huge setback, Lyn and her team have done an incredible job rising from the ashes, restoring the house after this disaster, and creating some rooms that are more akin to those of a luxury hotel than an outdoor centre. The house somehow manages to pull of both hotel-style and hostel-style accommodation under one roof, catering for guests who are just looking for a relaxing stay and those who are more there for the outdoors. Raasay House interior We enjoyed a tour of the house and learned more about its history before setting off on our bikes to do a little exploring of our own, calling first at Uamh nan Ramh (oar cave). This is a natural fissure with slabs laid on top, believed to be of Iron Age origin. More recently, it’s thought that men used to hide their oars here so as to prevent easy theft of their boats. Cave of oars From there we began to climb upwards – I think tiredness from our previous excursions was starting to creep in by this point, but the gain in altitude was worth it to look back and admire the view. Uphill struggle on Raasay Uphill on Raasay Along the route, we took in various remains of the island’s iron ore industry. At one point up to 300 German Prisoners of War from World War I were sent to Raasay, with some never making it home back to Germany, to work the mine. So successful was the production on the island that it is estimated that as much as 200,000 tons of raw ore were produced from mid-1916 until the end of the War. Raasay mine Although slightly shrouded in cloud, we got a good view looking back across to Skye, before dropping back down through Inverarish, the ‘capital’ of Raasay. This village was largely created around a century ago to house workers on the island’s iron ore mine. Lichen-covered sign on Raasay It would have been nice to have explored more of the island but there wasn’t really enough time to do so.  In any case, this gives us a good excuse to visit again some time. Instead, after a lovely lunch back at the café at Raasay House, we tried our hand at one of the centre’s activities – archery with instructor Jack. Raasay archery I was completely ‘shown up’ by our eldest son during practice but, when told that we were going to have a little competition and there was going to be scoring taking place, I managed to ‘up my game’ just in time! Archery at Raasay Other activities available through Raasay House include climbing, abseiling, gorge walking, coasteering, kayaking (both loch and sea kayaking) and sailing. We were originally going to take the ferry back to Skye but Raasay House very kindly gave us the opportunity to sail back on their Hebridean fishing boat ‘Oigh Niseach’ instead, accompanied by two of their instructors (Dave and Jack), giving our children the opportunity to apply their newly-acquired RYA skills. Raasay harbour About to set sail from Raasay Controlling the rudder From the sea, you get a better feel for the scale of Raasay House and its setting. Raasay House Shortly before reaching Sconser, we moved out of the way of the Calmac ferry which was making its final journey of the day back to Raasay. Raasay ferry Back on dry land, we waved farewell to our instructors. I hadn’t been able to photograph the boat with the sail up until this point. As you can see, it is a lovely little vessel, full of character and one of only a handful of these boats left in the world. They were originally built on the Isle of Lewis and were used primarily for line fishing. The instructors were really friendly and will teach you everything you need to know to sail this unique boat should you ever choose to visit the Isle of Raasay and Raasay House yourself. Raasay sailing boat Disclosure: The above formed part of a luxury Scotland mountain bike trip sponsored by Caledonian MacBrayne, Ridgeback and Madison.

Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Telegraph.

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8 Comments

  1. Oh it’s beautiful. I’ve yet to visit Scotland, but everything keeps pointing there for a visit. Im hoping maybe this November of heading there. It’s a huge House from your boat view!

  2. What a stunning setting, even though it is as you said, shrouded in cloud. You have to admire their tenacity after the fire in 2009, and how they have achieved this interesting balance that you describe. It seems like a lovely option, and reminds me just a bit of the Aran Islands, purely because of size and so on.

  3. I love any spot you can get to by ferry! What a wonderful spot for a family vacation. You must all be in good shape to get up those hills by bike. The setting for the Raasay House is magnificent.

  4. We have visited Raasay , and what a wonderful island it is ,We drove right to the end of Calum’s road ,walked up to the top of Dun Caan giving great views all around ,I would recommend a visit as a must do.

  5. Really makes me proud when I see how beautiful our island is, you have done an amazing job in showing the island in its true light. Thanks for an amazing post.

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