Isle of Skye

This weekend, we traveled to the Isle of Skye! The weather in Scotland has been pretty cold (50-55 degrees), even for Scotland, and on and off misty rain. However, despite all of that, this weekend was one of my favorite trips ever! I had heard that the Isle of Skye was difficult to navigate with public transport, so we decided to do a bus tour.

On Day 1, we started off at the Dunkeld Cathedral, north of Edinburgh. Next, we drove into the highlands toward Inverness. It didn’t take us more than an hour outside of Edinburgh for the scenery to become completely gorgeous. We stopped for a whisky tasting and then kept driving toward Inverness which sits next to Loch Ness (obviously famous of for Nessie, the fabled monster that lives beneath its murky water). Despite the fact that it was 50 degrees outside, James decided to jump in!

As we drove to the Isle of Skye, the mountains became more and more incredible. I am quite sure that none of the photos we take of the mountains will do any of them justice, but I hope they at least convince you that you need to come to Scotland to see them yourself! We made two quick stops at the Urquhart Castle and Eilean Donan Castle.

Finally at the Isle of Skye, it was breathtaking. It’s also called the Isle of Clouds in Gaelic, so it wasn’t surprising that most of the mountains were covered in mist and fog. However, there was immense wide open spaces were so beautiful despite the rain and fog. We visited waterfalls, the Fairy Glen, Kilt Rock, and many other places.  To top it off, our hostel which was on the island looked out over the water with a spectacular view of a 12th century ruined castle with mountains in the distance.

 
On Day 3, we left Skye behind and wound back through the highlands, stopping at Glen Coe. This gorgeous valley is surrounded by 3 mountains known as the 3 sisters. We also stopped at the Doune Castle (where Outlander and Monty Python were filmed) and the William Wallace Monument. One of the best parts of this entire trip was that our guide told us traditional Scottish stories that were brought to life by the highlands so I also learned quite a bit about Scottish Culture/History/Tradition through the trip.  It was an exhausting weekend, but really unforgettable!