Isle of Skye

A visit to Isle of Skye became required after we saw an old travel show by Michael Palin which included his visiting Isle of Skye by train. Since then, we have been determined to visit ourselves. We're only saddened that we only had time to visit one region.

First thoughts - the road we took out (A835 / A 832 / A890) are crazy and we were glad to have the use of the tiny rental car for the drive out (~2 hours). For much of the drive we were on single track roads, with just pull outs to allow oncoming traffic by. The speed limits are crazy - still at 50 mph and people think nothing of passing in areas I would never dream of doing so. For that, we were treated to absolutely stunning scenery.

Glimpse of the scenery on the drive out


Same stop as above, but different direction

The Isle of Skye is now connected via bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh as shown below. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see the beautiful, gently curving bridge connecting Isle of Skye to the mainland in the background.

Bridge from Kyle of Lochalsh to Isle of Skye

We declined the whiskey tour - mainly as the kids aren't allowed on the production floor. There's no real use in touring a distillery if we can't visit all areas. With that stop off the list, we made our way directily for Dunvegan Castle, promised to be "the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland..."

Learning about the MacLeod Clan was interesting - though the castle and grounds itself didn't feel to be the most inviting of our tours. I can't fully explain it, but we were left with a sense of tension in the air and a feeling of not really being welcomed to the estate. Maybe part of it is the realization that an active family resides at the castle and suddenly acknowledging how odd it is that we paid to view someone else's stuff. The castle is interesting - there are sleeper bunks inside the walls, remnants of the "fairy flag" which holds magical powers, and several other artifacts. The gardens were quite impressive, with three separate themes to explore.

Dunvegan Castle

Dunvegan Castle - side view

View from the Castle gunyard

Round garden

Inside the walled garden

Water garden

We had inadvertently skipped lunch - there's really not much on the Isle of Skye, at least on the route we took. The villages were quite small, many just a few buildings. On the way out, stopped at a pub that served excellent food and Cuillin beer. Yum - what a fantastic treat to end the day.

Cuillin mountains

Cuillin mountains

As you drive by the mountains, there are visible rivers of water flowing down them - waterfalls like I've never seen before that appear to start at the top and just drop down. We hope to revisit someday and spend more time here. This area has got to be a nature lovers paradise - it's one of the lowest populated areas per square mile in all of Europe, I believe. We would love to hike and wander the villages in detail. Such a beautiful area - and as I understand it, rich in magic and folklore.

Ciao!