A desired destination during a Scotland cruise is Mingulay. Mingulay is the largest of the Bishop’s Isles in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides archipelago. It is about two and a half miles long by one and a half miles wide, with striking rock stacks, 700-foot cliffs, and a majestic natural arch on the southwest coast. At one time it was home to over 100 people. Today, on a trip to Scotland’s Mingulay Isle you can see two buildings that remain standing as a reminder of the past: a schoolhouse built of the abundant gneiss rock in the 1880s, and a priest’s house built in 1898. Both are moss-covered, crumbling remnants of the village that once existed on the eastern shore of the island. Though uninhabited since 1912, Mingulay is now home to about 500 sheep and tens of thousands of seabirds.
Berneray, or Barra Head, is the southernmost of the Bishop’s Isles, located directly south of Mingulay. It may be most well known for the lighthouse on the southernmost headland, which was built by Robert Stevenson, father of Robert Louis Stevenson, in 1833. It was formerly home to the lighthouse keepers and their wives, but since the lighthouse was automated in 1980, the island has been completely uninhabited. The cliffs of Berneray are not quite so high as those of Mingulay, but at 600 feet they are still impressive.
Most of the land of Mingulay and Berneray is covered by maritime grassland, with some machair and heath. The islands are breeding sites for many species of seabirds—you’ll have the chance to discover about 110,000 pairs total during your cruise of Scotland. Some of these species include razorbills, little auks, gulls, puffins, guillemots, kittiwakes, shags, and fulmars. The two islands have been designated a Special Protection Area since 1994.
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
2 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
3 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
5 days ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.