Lews Castle and Museum

About this place

Free castle grounds and museum overlooking Stornoway harbour.

Built in the 1840s for Sir James Matheson, Lews Castle overlooks Stornoway harbour from its own wooded estate, and both the grounds and the museum inside are free to visit. Museum nan Eilean tells the story of the Outer Hebrides, and its star attraction is a small group of the Lewis Chessmen - the extraordinary 12th-century walrus-ivory chess pieces found nearby in 1831, most of which now live in London and Edinburgh but a handful of which have come home on permanent loan. Outside, waymarked woodland trails wind through the estate down to the water, giving plenty of room to run around before or after the museum, and there's a cafe in the castle itself.

Make a day of it — within 5km