54. Hosta Beach

My long-awaited first trip to the Outer Hebrides. I had a window of a few days and so I decided to fly into Benbecula from Glasgow, pick up a hire car and spend a few days touring the beaches of North Uist, Berneray, Eriskay, Barra and Vatersay. The plan was to visit around 20 beaches, but leaving out the coast of Benbecula and South East completely for another visit. What I didn’t plan for was the weather – three days of perfect blue skies, zero rain and hardly any midges. It was all just about perfect. First stop after landing in early evening was the beaches along the west and south coast of North Uist, starting with one of the most popular in the Western Isles – Hosta Beach, or Traigh Stir. This beach deserves its big billing. It’s an impressive sight when looking down from the high machair dunes a short walk from the small car park. A few families were milling around on this perfect early summer evening but otherwise the beach was largely deserted, as I am becoming to expect with every beach I visit in Scotland. As is my familiar routine, I walked once along the shore and once along the back of the bay. The view from all angles was stunning.