Gearrannan Blackhouse Village

Reconstructed black houses (taighean dubha) like the one in Glencoe are all very well but these ones were actually lived in until relatively recently. There is a small entrance fee to be paid as you go through the gift shop and in return you get to wander through this little hamlet if traditional Hebridean black houses. More interestingly you get access to the museum house and the helpful guides inside; one in the furnished room and one in charge of the tweed loom. I had enjoyable conversations with both despite the steady trickle of other visitors (it was raining a fair deal so the village wasn't that full - although the car park was!).You can visit two of the houses but remember the others are holiday lets with guests in them. This was a really enjoyable visit and is well worth making a detour to visit.

It was interesting to see the replica village and mode of built structures from the outside. The place offers accommodation but little else. Almost a form of glamping. There were no historical examples set up of the interior of a black house which was disappointing and entry to most places was off limits due to paying guests. Was not deeply satisfying.

This is a beautiful black house village. There is one set up as a museum, so you can get an idea of how life was. The rest have been converted & you can stay in them. I actually stayed here a few years back & it was one of my most treasured stays ever! Loved it. So this holiday, I went back for a visit to reminisce

We showed up at 5 p.m., and they were already closing up the shop (30min early). However, we were allowed to go in for free for a quick look. It was definitely a great little stop while in Lewis. I recommend showing up not so close to close as they may close earlier than expected. It's still a great site to tour, and I highly recommend adding it!

Came here 4 years ago and I loved so knew I had to come back especially when i learnt there was a hostel on site. We stayed a couple weeks ago at the hostel with my girlfriend and we had the BEST time. Amaizng staff showed us around. Hostel inside the black house is really nice. Lovely to walk around the village after it is closed. 10/10 so clean, so friendly so modern too. I have told all my friends to stay here. The village is also a must see. We loved our stay! It was £35 each for the night and we also had the place to ourselves. Did I mention the kitchen is crazy good??

Was very busy, but seeing a blackhouse that was only vacated in the 70's was a wow moment. Most of the village is now holiday lets etc so you can only get into 2 of the blackhouses. Parking is not easy as the car park was very busy. There's a café on site, the soup was gorgeous, but it's also quite expensive compared with other places we visited. The floors are very uneven and the doorways are quite small, but what a brilliant experience.

Worth a visit! Very interesting to see and get a glimpse into life on the island for previous generations. The loom demonstration and explanation of how Harris Tweed was made was enlightening.

This place is great, had a great chat with the staff who really give a great insight into what life was like when these houses were built, it was good to see the looms working and could spend all day here, cafe was great, all locally sourced items on menu and homemade.

Sleeper hit of our exploration of Lewis. The tour guide really made the visit. We stopped in briefly expecting to only spend a few minutes here exploring two buildings, but as we were walking through the first building, a guide came in and had everyone sit down to explain the history and what we were looking at. He proceeded to give the history of the blackhouses including how they were improved over the decades with tile flooring, wood panel on the walls, and other improvements. The highlight was showing the Yorkshire-made automatic loom complete with the punch-hole program to make it able to weave tartan patterns and we could feel wool that the loom had actually woven. The loom was broken at the moment, but apparently being fixed and still used. It was a great exploration of the history of Lewis from a very real perspective and a lot of fun.

I saw Gearranan village for the first time in a Desktop Background and had a hard time looking for what it was. When I found out I decided that it was the best option for my holiday considering that (coincidence!) It was one of my dreams to vist the Outer Hebrides. I stayed in Taigh Glass, a lovelly thatched blackhouse with enough space for 5 people, incredibly tidy and modern inside, with underfloor heating, a large bathroom and a stove with a daily supply of coal. The facilities were easily accessible for the disabled as well. The lady who runs the place was incredibly helpful and warm, not to mention her patience when I wanted her to teach me some gaelic expressions! The location is absolutely superb: a bay with a few islets on the horizon, feels like the edge of the world, and this is what I was looking for. There was only another family in the village when we visited and no tourists at all, so it felt like we had the entire place at our disposal, to walk around with my little sister and play. It felt like living in a distant past, though we didn't lack modern commodities. A great experience which I warmy reccomend to enyone interested in the Hebrides and their history.