British Isles #24: Isle of Skye

Though it seems an impossibility that I should ever catch up posting with all the trips I've taken, I suppose there is no harm in trying. So back to Scotland I'll take you, where I visited in 2014!

We drive toward the Isle of Skye though Glen Shiel which was quite scenic with rugged rocky mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and low clouds cloaking the mountains tops. We stopped at the well known Eilean Donan Castle, which is stunning on the exterior but actually quite strange inside. Most of the castle is off limits as I believe a family still lives there, there is modern furniture about and family snapshots on desks and walls. I would probably skip this visit in hindsight.

Glen Shiel Scenic Drive

Glen Shiel Scenic Drive

Glen Shiel Scenic Drive

Eilean Donan Castle - very picturesque but the interior is quite strange, many rooms of limits while the others have modern furnishings, family snapshots, like the family currently lives there. 

Eilean Donan Castle

Glen Shiel Scenic Drive

The Isle of Skye looks like a fantasy, even in the winter (we visited early April) when the colors are muted. I was a beautiful and strange land, with peaks and valleys that looks shaped by the wind, impossible landscapes of far, far away. We stayed in a B&B in Portree a wee little town on the coast, then took a scenic drive around the Trotternish Peninsula driving around the Quiraing, stopping at Kilt Falls, the crumbling (and closed off) ruins of Duntulm Castle, rambling around the fairy pools, and exploring Dun Beag Broch - on old stone fort. We were quite in awe of this landscape despite pretty foul weather of constant cold drizzle. The striking rock formation - The Old Man of Storr, in fact, was so engulfed in low clouds that we never did see it and the hike up to it would prove too muddy. On a sunshiny emerald day in the summer, I can imagine the Isle of Skye to absolutely stun you with magic. You'll have to compete with a lot of others people in the summer, however, on those tiny, narrow roads. Fortunately, winter and rain meant that we basically had the roads to ourselves. I hope to return someday.  

Kilt Falls

Isle of Skye

Isle of Skye

Driving the Quiraing - a distinctive landscape creating by a landslip





Fairy Pools

Dun Beag Broch - Stone Fort

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