The legendary and much talked about Isle of Skye is finally within reach! Today we drive over the Skye Bridge to the Isle of Skye and start our island tour. The good thing beforehand: We visit the Isle of Skye in October 2022 and this late in the year there are almost no troublesome mosquitoes anymore.

Eilean Donan Castle

Shortly before we go to the Isle of Sky we visit the Eilean Donan Castle. This castle is very famous in Scotland because it was built on a small island on sea water. The castle is privately owned and can be rented for weddings or similar events.
The most important rooms in the castle have been furnished true to the original state and can be visited when no events are taking place.
Because the castle is so well known, we are by far not the only visitors. Nevertheless, it is fun to wander through the old rooms and walk around the castle in the most beautiful sunshine.

July and August: daily 09.00-18.00, last entry 17.00
September: daily 09.30-18.00, last entry 17.00
October: daily 10.00-18.00, last entry 17.00
November and December: daily 10.00-16.30, last admission 15.00
Admission £10.00/adult, £6.00/child

Eas a ‚Bhradain

The A87 is a well-maintained road, which leads us to the first small sight just off the main road. The Eas a ‘Bhradain waterfall. There is a parking lot directly at the road from where it is a less than 5 minutes walk to see the waterfall. The last 100m are marshland – logically so close to the water – so good shoes or good balance is recommended to find a way to the waterfall on stones past the mud.

Free entrance

Old bridge of Sligachan

The Sligachan Bridge is also located directly at the A87, resp. in former times the road even led over this old bridge. From here start some beautiful hikes along the river Sligachan.

Portree

On our first day on Isle of Skye we make our way to Portree. It is one of the few larger towns on the east coast of the island. Here we stroll through the rows of houses and take a short detour to the fishing port before continuing our drive to the north of the island.

Old Man of Storr

It is not yet late but also not early in the afternoon. We decide, since the sights are really close together, to hike up to the Old Man of Storr after all. The Old Man of Storr is an impressive rock formation that towers several hundred meters above the island landscape and can be seen from some distance. However, the climb towards the end of the afternoon has the added advantage that there are not so many people around, most of them are already on their way down when we in turn make our way up. A good 300 meters in altitude and 1 ½ hours later we reach our destination, from where we have a magnificent view of the Old Man of Storr but also out to sea. Few run so high up, but already stop at a viewpoint a good 1/3 of the way down, this coupled with the fact that it is already late afternoon, is due to the fact that we can enjoy the wild nature up here with only one other person.

Free entrance

Lealt Falls and coast

The Lealt Falls waterfall is a bit hidden. Probably because of this, there is now a specially built viewing platform from which the waterfall can be viewed. But the viewing angle is not ideal, waterfalls look most beautiful when seen from below. In a hurry we don’t find a feasible way to descend to the river. The view from the coast over to the Scottish Highlands is at least as spectacular. We enjoy this view from the second vantage point and let our eyes wander over the water and the hill ranges.

Free entrance

The Quiraing

We are especially looking forward to this point. The Quiraing is a large natural park area with impressive rock formations and grassy hills. Here we take a whole day to do an extended hike. From the parking lot we leave the main route of the crowds to the left steeply up the hill. Here only a few people ascend, a few people meet us on their way down. So, this way is ideal for us to get a little distance and have nature a little bit more for us. From the highest point, Meall na Suiramach, the panoramic view is magnificent. The hike then takes us further back down from the hill past the other well-known rock formations such as The Table, The Needle and The Prison. Although we get back onto the well-trodden tourist highway towards the end, we enjoy this beautiful landscape here to the fullest. See for yourself:

Free entrance

Duntulm Castle

Duntulm Castle is the remains of a small castle built directly on the shore on a cliff. Beautiful in itself, but we have seen more impressive specimens. Accordingly, we are quickly back in the Ben and on the road.

Free entrance

The Fairy Glen

Via Idrigil and Uig we reach The Fairy Glen. The main attraction are several small circles in the grass, which are quite an exciting photo motif. However, the size is really manageable. All around there are special grassy hills rising from the landscape. They are not much higher than 20m-30m per hill, but they are numerous.
What is interesting is that although this place is called Fairy Glen, there are no legends or sagas about fairies in this area. The name was given purely for tourist purposes and the circles in the middle originated, or are maintained by tourist guides encouraging their groups to walk in circles, as this is supposed to bring good luck.
It is always a fun experience to watch the numerous people climbing around on the small hills.

Free entrance

Dunvegan Castle & Gardens

Especially Mimi was looking forward to this, but: Temporarily closed – for the winter half of the year. No, really too bad, but we guess that’s the way it is when you’re traveling off-season. It would have been an impressive stop for sure. For those traveling during the high season, it is certainly a worthwhile visit.

April to October: daily 10.00-17.30, last entry 17.00
Admission £16.00/adult, £11.00/child

Neist Point

At the westernmost tip of the Isle of Sky is Neist Point. Surrounded by impressive cliffs, an old lighthouse has been built here. A steady wind blows and the landscape consists of steep slopes. But the view is worth it! We are here in the late afternoon and with the glint of the low sun, both the cliffs and the sea are a magnificent sight.

Free entrance

Talisker Bay

Past Carbost, the site of today’s Talisker distillery, and on to Talisker Bay. This place is so remote, we start to wonder if the Talisker distillery was located here in this bay at the time when the distilling of alcohol was forbidden. Talisker Bay is very impressive and is divided into two parts. On one side the beach consists of coarse gravel and on the other side it is a quite passable sandy beach, which is certainly also suitable for swimming in summer. On the left and on the right, there are steep cliffs and at one place there is even a waterfall which flows directly into the sea.

Free entrance

Fairy Pools

Somehow every second sight is named after fairies, or at least it seems that way to us. A deeper meaning with ancient customs and stories as in Nordic countries, however, allegedly are also not present here. The Fairy Pools are arranged along a river course. The river has naturally washed out the rocks in different ways, creating many pools. The pools are partly connected with very winding smaller streams and partly with waterfalls. And we don’t believe it: There are actually Scots who swim in the river in November with neoprene suits as if it was in the middle of summer. Well then, we enjoy the short hike along the river before we continue our island tour.

Free entrance

Elgol

On the path to the most remote place on the Isle of Skye we reach Elgol. Here we would have to take a ferry to get to Loch Coruisk, officially the most remote place on the Isle of Skye. But the ride here and the view from Elgol are already so beautiful that we leave it at that. We pass the time with a small coffee with cake before we soon take on the return trip to the Scottish mainland.

Fähre Armadale – Mallaig

Our personal highlight was unexpectedly the crossing from Armadale to Mallaig by ferry. We chose the ferry, because we find new ways better than already traveled ways. And it saves us some kilometers to the alternative to drive back over the Bridge of Skye and a half circle until we arrive in Mallaig.

The dusk is already slowly falling as we leave with the ferry and the sun dips the peaks of the mountains on the Isle of Skye in golden light. The sun shines only from time to time, but still enough between cloud veils through. And here it comes: About halfway through the crossing several dolphins emerge from the sea. First on starboard, then in front of the ferry and slightly to port and then along the whole port side of the ferry. And they were so close, we could almost touch them.

The dolphins performed a real little show, they jumped out of the water and chased each other in the waves around the ferry – indescribable. And so, we got our own dolphin tour on the Isle of Skye at no extra charge. Fantastic!