Scotland Travels: An Extraordinary Journey to the Incredible Skye

Only have one full day on the Trotternish Peninsula of Skye and are more the outdoor type? These are our recommendations:

Edinburgh to Skye – Get the Car

On our most recent trip to Scotland we started with a bit of a wild itinerary. The plan was to fly into Edinburgh and drive to Skye the same day. We don’t necessarily recommend this unless you’ve been in country before, know what to expect and can handle having not slept for 24 hours. We live on the edge a bit so, off we went.

We couldn’t find a rental car at the airport when we reserved one two months ago. It’s not high season, so I’m assuming this was due to the lack of cars available as fleets were sold off during the pandemic and new cars have been hard to come by due to the chip shortage. So, we had to take a cab into the city to pick up our car. But! This also meant that we got a better deal on our car than renting from the convenient airport – like $500 less type of deal! We also could have taken a tram and then a train and then walked to the agency, but in the interest of time and not wanting to drag our bags too far, we spent a bit extra and grabbed a cab to drop us off at the door of Enterprise (who it turns out, will not pick you up). After a mix-up about our credit card rental insurance (just FYI – it would be good to know the list of cars your insurance WON’T cover and to relay that to the rental company ahead of time in hopes you won’t get stuck paying for an additional insurance policy, because undoubtably they will save you the ONE car your insurance won’t cover and that’s all they have – sigh) we set off, from the middle of the city, on the left side of the road and driving from the right side of the car for our 5-turned-6 hour drive to Uig in the North of the Trotternish Peninsula on the Isle of Skye. There were lots of silly conversations, road-side photo op stops, and windows rolled down to let in the cold air and snow to keep us both awake, but wow was it gorgeous! It was our first time skirting the Cairngorms and their snowy peaks did not disappoint. We’ve decided the Cairngorms, North Coast 500 and Orkney Islands (Shetland too if we’re lucky) will be the next trip…always planning the next trip.

Now, hopefully you arrived in Skye with a greater control of your faculties than we did and are ready for adventure right away. If not, grab some dinner and call it an early night. It will be there in the morning. Our first real meal in Scotland was fish and chips for Jason and a Highland burger for Tasha. So, so good!

Uig

We called the Uig Hotel in Uig, Skye home for 2 days. We chose Uig because it is where we need to get on the ferry a few days later, early in the morning, to head to the western most Outer Hebrides. It’s a small village with a number of hotels and B&Bs, a grocery, a petrol station, walking paths, castle ruins and a Norman tower overlooking the water. Once recovered the next morning, we had a hearty breakfast to hold us until dinner, took a walk around town and little woods to settle and then set off on a drive. One of our favorite things about Scottish hotels and B&Bs is the hearty sendoff they give you in the morning. You’re not stuck with the cold, crummy breakfast bar that most chain hotels are famous for. Oh no, you can choose from the extensive cold breakfast bar for a starter but then they come along and ask what you want for hot breakfast and heap your plate with enough food to set you for the day, typically included in your nightly rate. I tend to favor the smoked salmon and eggs and occasionally some French toast, pancakes or waffles (because I can actually eat bread there since it’s not fortified – woo!) and Jason loves a tour of a full Scottish breakfast at every place we stay – mmmm haggis. We typically only eat 2 meals per day in Scotland – huge breakfast and dinner (supper). It helps a lot with budgeting for food and we don’t have to worry about finding places to eat along the way.

The Fairy Glen

Our first stop was actually just up the hill behind the hotel. We scooted along a little single-track road, through a sheep farm and into the Fairy Glen. How to describe the Fairy Glen? It is such a unique area of winding paths, little cone-shaped peaks, valleys and waterfalls created by landslides and glaciers, but the fun story is that it was created by the fairies as a place live and hide in its unique miniature landscape. The entire area seems like a shrunken version of a larger-scale geological formation. It was just so fun. We spent hours here climbing each little peak, dodging the sheep poo (because yes, it’s in the middle of a working pasture) and waiting for breaks in the people traffic and rain so we could put the drone up for some photos and video of the unique landscape. It was a great introduction to the uniqueness of Scotland and a reminder of why we love it so much.

Once we’d finished traipsing among the fairies, we headed back to the main road, along the coast up the A855 and after a switchback, took off down an unnamed single-track road for 6 miles. This was a bit of an adventure, as single-track roads through the mountains tend to be. Our first encounter on this tiny road was a lorry (a semi truck) and the only pullover area barely fit our tiny A-class Mercedes . We held our breath and crossed our fingers as he blew past and we somehow remained on the mountain unscathed. Whew. If you know me, you know I don’t have a fondness for trucks and this was a terrifying experience, nevermind the cliff. Whew. Onwards.

The Quiraing

Just as we were about to come upon the Quiraing range, a full blown blizzard came out of nowhere. We opted not to stop for the scenery and walk since we couldn’t see it anyway and walking through a blizzard in the mountains probably isn’t the best idea. If you encounter this in fairer weather, do get out and take a walk through the active landslip and its strange formations that are slowly sliding down towards the sea. I’m sure it a spectacular sight to behold. Instead, we switch-backed down the mountain encountering all sorts of people who didn’t know how single-track roads or their opposite sided cars work. Lord have mercy, when did we become the people who know what they’re doing here? We literally had to guide one car from the middle of the road (can’t park there buddy), into the passing area and keep forcing them over so we could pass. They didn’t believe us that they had FEET of space to pull into (before a potential tumble off the cliff) and we had millimeters of space to inch past them. Ultimately, we both made it, in a blizzard, unscathed again. Onward.

Kilt Rock

Once off the mountain, the sky suddenly turned a brilliant blue, the sun came out and it looked like a proper Spring day. Ahhh. You know, they say in Missouri, if you don’t like the weather, wait until tomorrow. Well, in Scotland, don’t like the weather?…give it 5 minutes. Wild. At Staffin we got back on the A855 that had come around from the tip of the island and drove on to Kilt Rock. This remarkable cliff face also comes complete with the Mealt Falls Viewpoint which is a spectacular waterfall into the sea. Kilt Rock is a cliff face that gets its name from the fact that the basalt columns from which it is made look like the pleats at the back of a kilt. Those clever Scots. Not much of a walk here, so back in the car after some photos and a long stare at the waterfall tumbling into the ocean. Breathtaking.

An Let-Allt

We drove on to the car park at Lealt Falls, which we didn’t actually go see up close. We opted for the trek up the hill to the cliff face again and walked out to An Let-Allt Viewpoint, another spectacular view of the ocean. From here we could look back at the waterfall and hear it, but, at the bottom of this cliff are an Old Diatomite factory and the ruins of a salmon bothy. Diatomite is a white, chalky clay that was once harvested from the coastline to be used in matches, toothpaste, paint, as a polish, filler and insulator, but became much too expensive to produce and transport to the port at Uig from there after the 1950s (undoubtable along that skinny mountain road). The factory was closed and the workers had to move on to different trades or make the decision to emigrate. Not much of a walk here either, so back down the hill to the car and onward.

The Old Man of Storr

We almost drove past The Old Man of Storr (Bodach an Stòir) but decided to get out and have a look. I’m really glad we did. The Old Man is a basalt rock formation that was once part of the cliffs directly behind it. It broke away thousands of years ago and has been slowly moving down the mountains towards the sea, just a few millimeters each year. It really looks like a proud little man breaking away from the front of a crowd with his chest puffed out. We decided to take a closer look. The map at the bottom of the mountain said it would take about 2 hours to hike to the Old Man and back. We figured that was doable for my crappy lungs and set off up the trail, taking a left when it branched off because we’re in the UK, you go left, not right. This turned out to be the loong way! Each bend in the trail had us wondering if we would ever reach the top, but each bend also gave us the opportunity to catch our breath. Boy did I need it – I’ve never regained lung capacity after pneumonia! Finally, at the top of another cliff after what must have been at least an hour, we realized that the Old Man was still quite a way off and the trail suddenly got very steep. We were hungry, thirsty and getting wind burned so we snapped some semi-triumphant photos and met up with the trail that had gone right when we went left at the beginning and headed back down. I have never been so happy to have chosen the left over the right path in my life. It may have been the long way, but the right path was darn near vertical on the way down! Funny enough, this was the trail most folks had chosen to go up because it looked shorter. Well, it is shorter to go straight up the mountain instead of switchback! We passed many weary, winded looks on our way down after seeing only one other person and their dog on our way up and fielded many questions about how much farther they had to go to see the Old Man.

Finally to the bottom on wobbly knees, we encountered our first “pay to potty” of the trip, in which I totally set off the alarm because the card reader was giving me grief and I really had to go, so I jumped the gate! So much beeping. Oops, sorry. I did pay, it just wouldn’t open! Luckily I had the place to myself so I didn’t have to explain to anyone what happened, other than Jason who was laughing when I opened the door to come back out because there was so much beeping! Whoops. Of course he was able to just walk into the men’s room without paying. So not fair. Back on the road again.

Portree

We drove through Portree but decided not to stop since we had been there before on a previous trip. Portree is a great port village, probably the biggest on Skye. There are tons of restaurants, shops and places to walk around. We met back up with the A87 and headed North again back to Uig in time for dinner and bed. Venison for Jason, pork belly for Tasha and we split some haggis – so good! We’re to catch the ferry in the morning to Tarbert on the Isle of Lewis and Harris to really set off on this adventure. We need to pack up and figure out the rest of the journey’s plan.

Ferry to Tarbert

In April, the morning ferry to Lewis & Harris (Tarbert) from Skye (Uig) leaves around 9:50 and you have to be checked in 45 minutes before departure. Then you have to sit in line and wait for them to begin to load the ferry after it unloads from its early morning run from the islands, which could take 30 minutes. It’s a bit of a process. Now, coming from the landlocked mid-west USA our experience with ferries is very minimal. In fact, I think this is only about the third time I’ve been on one. But, it’s easy. You drive off the pier (gasp), onto the boat and wiggle your way into the impossibly small lanes where workers help you maneuver as close to other vehicles as possible. Pull your emergency brake and get out of your car (which is nearly impossible as you’ve wiggled in so close) and head up the stairs to the passenger deck to take in the view out the windows, get something to eat or drink or in our case, get some work done on the two hour ferry ride on the way to your next adventure. See you there!