Compared to the mountainous scenery of Harris, North Uist - seventeen miles long and thirteen miles wide - is much flatter and for some comes as something of an anticlimax. Over half the surface area is covered by water, creating a distinctive peaty-brown lochan-studded "drowned landscape". Most visitors come here for the trout and salmon fishing and the deerstalking, both of which (along with poaching) are critical to the survival of the island's economy. Others come for the smattering of prehistoric sites and sheer peace of this windy isle, and the solitude of North Uist's vast sandy beaches, which extend - almost without interruption - along the north and west coast. Despite being situated on the east coast, some distance away from any beach, the ferry port of LOCHMADDY makes a good base for exploring the island. The village itself, occupying a narrow, bumpy promontory, is nothing special, though, one place that's well worth visiting is Taigh Chearsabhagh, a converted eighteenth-century merchant's house, now home to an arts centre, airy café, shop and excellent museum .There are a couple of nice Victorian B&Bs, north off the main road. A little further north lies the Uist Outdoor Centre, which has hostel accommodation in four-person bunk rooms, and offers a wide range of outdoor activities, from canoeing round the indented coastline to "rubber tubing". The bar in the Lochmaddy Hotel is lively and serves the usual bar meals, but it's currently not a place to recommend staying in. Several prehistoric sights lie within easy cycling distance of Lochmaddy . The most significant is the Barpa Langass, a large, mostly intact, chambered cairn seven barren miles to the southwest along the A867; a mile to the southeast is the small stone circle of Pobull Fhinn. North Uist's other main draw is the Balranald RSPB Reserve, one of the last breeding grounds of the corncrake, among Europe's most endangered birds. Sightings are rare, partly because the birds are very good at hiding in long grass, but the males' loud "craking" is relatively easy to hear from May to July.