Last month, Zara and I took a road trip to the Isle of Skye for the weekend. When I was there in the Fall we didn’t have a car so we weren’t able to see some of the stops around Skye and ended up just sticking around Portree. I decided I needed to go back to see more!
We had a few stops before entering Skye. We had to stop at Eilean Donan Castle on our way and ended up wandering through the town there for lunch. We then continued onto the island and went straight to the Fairy Pools for a short 45 minute hike. The pools were super busy with tourists, but really beautiful. We had a lot of fun walking through, and made it just in time before the midgies came out!
Afterwards, we drove through Dunvegan and stopped for a chippy before driving the twisty, single road to Neist Point where we climbed around on the rocky coastline and up to the old lighthouse. The walk to the point was a bit of a workout, and we ended up getting rained on a bit. The view of the surrounding cliffs is worth it though, and we made “count the slugs” into a very fun game! We debated staying at the lighthouse for sunset, but decided not to wait out the hour in the rain. Instead, we pulled over on the side of the highway while the sun set and explored around the dock that we found.
The next morning we woke up and drove straight to the Old Man of Storr. The hike up was really nice, but again there were quite a few tourists out. We got to the top and found a perfectly propped rock to sit for a minute and look around. We wandered around the top for a bit before heading back to the car and into Portree for a quick bite.
After lunch, our last big stop in Skye was to the Fairy Glen. This was a spot Zara suggested and I was so chuffed we went. It ended up being my favourite stop and had such a magical vibe around it. While we were walking around, Zara put her Scottish Studies degree to good use telling me about fairy myths and legends that came out of Skye. The Fairy Glen is really a place for exploring so we took our time wandering around making sure not to be lured by any lingering fairies!
We left the fairies behind and made our way out of Skye. We took a quick detour on our way home to visit Shieldaig, a town recommended to me by a friend. The view there is stunning, and we felt very welcomed by a couple locals that were out while we were walking around. We also were lucky enough to spot one of the white-tailed eagles there before heading home.
The Isle of Skye is packed with so many things to do, I’d love to take the time to explore even more of it. It also seems like the ideal place to rent a camper van and just drive around. Definitely a spot not to miss on any trip to Scotland!
xx