Isle of Skye, Scotland - June 2nd to 5th, 2025

Isle of Skye is a large island with quite a variety of things to see and do. Four nights on the island was not enough to see everything, but we managed to hit the highlights.

Monday was a travel day, from Glencoe to Portree on Isle of Skye. After another wonderful breakfast conversation with fellow guests Mark and Vicky, we collected our gear from the drying room, packed up, and hit the road.

Jackie and Iain, the owners of Beechwood B&B, where we were staying in Glencoe, warned us that the local Co-ops had some computer system issues lately and it messed up all their shipments, so they won’t be fully stocked. Instead of visiting the Co-ops on Skye for groceries, they recommended stopping at the Morrison grocery store in Fort William along the way. So that’s what we did. While we were in Fort William, we also stopped for gas.

Our plan was to stop to see the Glenfinnan Viaduct between Fort William and Mallaig. The viaduct is a train bridge which appears in the Harry Potter movies. There is a scenic tourist train that runs from Fort William to Mallaig and back, pulled by a steam locomotive. Unfortunately for us, we reached the viaduct shortly before the train was due to cross the bridge. That meant that all the car parks and places to park within a mile of the bridge were all full. So we sadly continued on.

However, just a few miles down the road, where the train tracks parallel the road, we found a pullout along the road to park and wait for the train to come by. If we can’t see the bridge, perhaps we can at least see the train. About half a dozen to a dozen of us stood along the fence near the tracks and waited. And waited. And waited. After about 45 minutes or so, just about when we needed to leave in order to catch our ferry on time, the train finally came by. We got a nice video and some pictures of the train, with its dark smoke trailing from its smoke stack, against a beautiful backdrop of mountains. As we continued our drive to Mallaig, we caught a few glimpses of the train again. We even passed under it as it crossed a small bridge above.

We made it to Mallaig in plenty of time to catch our ferry. It was a short ferry ride over to Armadale on the Isle of Skye, about 45 minutes long. There are several ways to get to Isle of Skye. The two major ways are the ferry from Mallaig to Armadale and the Sky Bridge at Kyleakin on the A87 highway. We planned on taking the Sky Bridge when we leave Isle of Skye.

It was about another hour’s drive from Armadale to Portree. We reserved a self-catering pod just outside Portree called Skeabost View Pods. Our check in time was not until 4 pm and it was only about 3 pm when we arrived in Portree. So we parked in the city car park, paid our 3 pounds for three hours of parking, and walked around town to find some place to eat. We had skipped lunch, just munching on flapjacks in the car while we were on the ferry to hold us over.

It was windy and cold, so we didn’t want to spend a lot of time strolling around town. However, it didn’t take us long to figure out that most of the places close their kitchens from 2:30 or 3 pm until 5:30 pm. We didn’t want to wait until 5:30 to eat. It looked like our only options were two takeaway places, one was a fish and chips place and the other was pizza. We picked pizza.

It was too windy outside to eat at the picnic tables outside Pizzaway, the pizza place, so we grabbed our boxes of pizza, drinks, and a salad, hopped back into the car, and drove to our pod. We arrived right at 4 pm.

The Skeabost View Pods are four small glamping cabins located on Anne and Dolina’s property in the crofting countryside. Each of the pods are named after the places where their parents are from. Ours was named Lighthill. Our name was written on a little heart hanging outside the door to our cabin.

A croft is a unique term to Scotland. It is a small piece of land that a crofter lives on, either renting or owning the land, which typically includes houses and farm buildings that the crofter owns. In addition to their croft, the crofter may also have rights to common grazing areas that are shared among a group of crofters. The crofter is responsible for maintaining their croft and putting it to a purposeful use.

We knew our pod was furnished with a microwave, fridge, toaster, and electric tea kettle. However, we were surprised to find that Anne and Dolina had stocked it with tea, coffee, milk, half a loaf of brown bread, butter, and jam. How nice!

The rain and wind picked up during the evening. We realized how similar the pod was to sleeping in our RV (motorhome). As we lay in bed listening to the rain pounding on the roof and being pelted against the window by the howling wind, we half expected the RV to be swaying with the wind. Oh wait, we’re not in our RV!

When we woke up Tuesday morning, some of Ann’s hand-washed clothing was not completely dry yet. The pod had a hair dryer, so she used it to finish drying her clothes. At first she had trouble turning on the hair dryer. Then she realized that she hadn’t turned on the outlet that she plugged the dryer into. All of the electrical outlets that we’ve seen so far in Europe have switches on each and every outlet. That is not common in the States.

After breakfast, we hopped in the car and started our drive around the Trotternish Peninsula. It was raining and very windy on our way to our first stop, the Old Man of Storr. However, when we arrived, the rain stopped and the sun came out, but there were still strong winds.

We could see the Old Man of Storr rock formation as we approached the car park, but it was out of sight from the parking lot. There was a trail up to the rock formation, so we each grabbed a hiking pole and headed up the trail. Since it was a short hike, we didn’t carry our daypacks. Ann was thankful that the pockets of her rain jacket were large enough to hold her Canon camera, as the camera is not waterproof.

It is a steep trail and you can’t really see the Old Man of Storr until you hike up most of the way. When it first comes into sight, you don’t notice it because it blends in with the rocky cliff side behind it. We were following a route in AllTrails which broke off from the main trail and took us up a short spur on the south side of the rock formation.

When we reached the end of the spur as marked in AllTrails, we almost turned around. However, a group of people from Colorado and California, who were in front of us, had scrambled up to the saddle behind the rock formation. They called down to us and said we needed to come up there for a wonderful view of a pinnacle on the other side of the saddle. Against our better judgment, we followed their advice and scrambled up. We normally don’t like going up steep trails with loose footing because we know how difficult it is to come back down. But they were right, it was a spectacular view.

As we were carefully climbing back down from the saddle, a cloud rolled in. Small hail began pelting us as the rain started. Luckily, we already had both our rain jackets and rain pants on to protect us from the cold and wind. We were fine, but we wouldn’t describe the experience as pleasant.

And that is how most of the rest of the day went. Although it didn’t hail on us again, the rain alternated with sunshine. But the strong winds just got stronger as the day progressed.

By the time we returned to our car, we had gone 3.8 kilometers (2.4 miles) with an elevation gain of 290 meters (951 feet) which we completed in about an hour and a half. Even though it was short, it had a significant amount of elevation gain, so we counted it as hike number 22 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2025.

Continuing around the peninsula, we made a few more stops to check out some viewpoints. The first was Lealt Falls. There was a viewing platform out over a narrow gorge with an impressive waterfall.

Next was Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls. This viewpoint looked out along some beautiful cliffs along the shore, with another impressive waterfall right below the observation deck. We spent more time trying to retrieve our parking receipt which slipped down between the dash and windshield than we did looking at the view. We didn’t spend much time here as the cold wind made it rather unpleasant to be outside the car.

The Quiraing Viewpoint was on a single track spur off the main loop road. The viewpoint is up in the mountains closer to the center of the peninsula. Up at the viewpoint, the wind was the strongest we that we felt all day. In fact, it was stronger than any wind we can remember experiencing. It was so strong that we had to brace ourselves and lean into the wind to keep it from knocking us off our feet. There are a couple of trails that lead from the viewpoint through the rock formations. They are probably nice to experience, but we chose getting back into the car and out of the wind. Without gale force winds, it is probably a lovely hike.

The road from there continues over to the other side of the peninsula, but we didn’t know what kind of shape it was in. We knew what the road was like to go back the way we came, plus we wanted to continue around the peninsula. The single track roads are not too bad, as the passing areas are frequent and nicely spaced. They are also clearly marked with signs, so you can see ahead where the next passing area is. This was true in other areas of Scotland that we’ve been in so far. And without many trees, you have pretty good visibility down the road to see cars approaching. There was a sign posted in our pod, explaining the proper etiquette for single track roads.

Besides the single track roads, you also have to watch out for potholes, both on the single track roads and the main roads around the island. Some of the potholes are pretty nasty, so beware.

When we returned to the main road, the A855, it also became a single track road. Our next planned stop wasn’t until the Skye Museum of Island Life, on the other side of the peninsula. However, we did stop once at an un-named spot to take in the views. Between the potholes and the single track with lots of traffic, it was slow going. But that just gave us more time to enjoy the scenery. Well, at least Ann enjoyed the scenery while Keith concentrated on the road, since he was driving.

When we arrive at the museum, we first went into the little cafe trailer to grab some lunch. Ann ordered the venison pie while Keith tried the Cullen skink pie. Cullen skink is a Scottish dish containing smoked haddock, potatoes, and onion. It originates from Cullen in Moray, on the northeast coast of Scotland. There was no indoor seating at the cafe, so we took our food and ate inside our car. Keith thought the Cullen skink pie was pretty tasty.

Unlike most of the other stops that day, the parking at the Skye Museum was free. However, there was an admission charge of 7.50 euros per adult to enter the museum. The museum consists of a group of stone and thatched roof croft cottages, with the contents of each cottage showing a different aspect of island life from 100 years ago with authentic artifacts. Some of the things represented were a kitchen, bedroom, barn, weaver’s cottage, and a blacksmith shop.

We just made one more stop on the Trotternish Peninsula, the Fairy Glen. A short spur road took us to a glen, filled with sheep pastures and grass covered knolls. A short trail led from the parking lot up to a rocky outcropping called the Castle Ewen because it looks like a castle. Ann scrambled up to the top of the rocks for a 360 view of the glen. Keith declined. It was a pretty easy scramble. The hardest part was squeezing her body between two rocky sides.

Then we headed back to Portree for an early dinner. We parked in the central car park again, paying our 3 pounds, again. All of the parking fees were starting to add up. It was 5 pounds to park at the Old Man of Storr. It was 3 pounds each at Kilt Rock, Quirang, and Fairy Glen. The parking at Lealt Waterfalls was free, but they asked for donations.

We saw online that the Granary Restaurant opened at 4 pm. It was just a little after 4:30 pm, so we headed to the Granary. However, it was closed for some unknown reason. So instead, we headed across the street to Caberfeidh Bar and Restaurant, since it looked like they were serving food already.

The only items on the menu were pizza (which we had the night before), burgers, and tacos. Ann opted for the pork tacos with a side of slaw while Keith had the chicken burger. To drink, Keith ordered a Black Isle Blonde lager from Inverness while Ann drank a Scottish Dark Berries Lost Orchards Cider from Dundee Scotland. The food was OK. We enjoyed our drinks better than the food.

We hung out the rest of the evening back at our Skeabost View Pod. We were cozy and warm inside our pod as a few storms passed through. One of the storms brought quite a bit of pea-sized hail along with some heavy downpours. We’re glad the hail we experienced earlier that day was not quite that large, because that would have really hurt.

Wednesday’s weather was very similar to Tuesday’s, but with less sunshine and thankfully, with slightly weaker winds. We didn’t have as many stops this time, so we relaxed a little in the morning at our pod before getting started for the day. A few birds in the field outside our window kept us entertained while we enjoyed our breakfast.

Our first destination was the Fairy Pools, located near the Cùilln Hills on the southwest side of the island. There is a nice crushed gravel trail alongside a stream, the Alit Coir’ a’ Mhadaidh, at the foot of the Cùilln mountains. The stream has a series of waterfalls through jagged rocks. People sometimes swim in the pools beneath the waterfalls, braving the frigid cold water. However, no one was swimming while we were there. The wind chill brought the air temperature down close to freezing.

We paid our money to park, 8 pounds this time, and walked the trail. We went to the end of the route in AllTrails, then continued a little bit further. The end of the hike is rather anticlimactic as the ground flattened out and the waterfalls decreased in size and disappeared all together. However, the stream became more peaceful, especially due to less people as most turned around sooner. Keith was more impressed by the grand landscape, bordered by the mountains, than he was the waterfalls.

We returned to the car park in about an hour and a half. Our walk was 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) with an elevation gain of 185 meters (607 feet). It was hike number 23 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2025.

From there, we drove back to a cafe we passed on the way to the Fairy Pools, called Café Cùil. Cùil is the Scots Gaelic term for nook, nest, or corner. The place was busy and we were lucky to get a parking spot, grabbing one as a car was pulling out. We were about the third group in line waiting for a table, but we only had to wait about ten minutes.

The cafe was in a modern, new building. The seating area had a wall of windows so you could take in the view of the beautiful surroundings. We appreciated that the parking spaces were far enough away from the building that they didn’t block the view. The grassy area in between held a few picnic tables, but no one was using them on such a cold and wet day.

The menu was refreshingly creative, so it was hard to choose what to get. We both had a small soup of the day, cauliflower with caraway. Keith paired his soup with a bacon and egg sandwich on sourdough bread with garlic butter and rocket (arugula). Ann paired hers with Scottish pancakes, which came with ginger crumbles and gorse mascarpone cheese. Scottish or Scotch pancakes, sometimes called drop scones, are traditionally served at tea time with butter and jam. As far as Ann could tell, the pancakes are pretty similar to the pancakes in the States. These were small and fluffy.

It turns out that the café was founded by award-winning chef Clare Coghill. She started the cafe in London, just before the start of COVID, and was forced to close due to the pandemic. She restarted the cafe in 2022 on the Isle of Skye, where she grew up. All the food we had was delicious. We would highly recommend the place.

After lunch, we drove over to Talisker Distillery, just down the road a few miles. We didn’t go on a tour, as we decided we’ve done enough distillery tours, one in Dublin (Dublin, Ireland - April 17th to 21st and May 16th to 17th, 2025), and another in Oban (Oban, Scotland - May 26th to 29th, 2025). We just stopped to pick up a little sample pack to try their Scotch whisky.

Next, we drove over to Dun Beag Broch. When we arrived, it was raining pretty hard, so we sat in the car for about five minutes until it let up. By the time we finished exploring the site, the sun was out.

Dun Beag Broch is an iron-age (800 BC to 43 AD) broch. A broch is a dry-stone, hollowed wall structure. This one is a circular tower. Experts do not agree what the roof and interior structures looked like, since only the stone walls survived. The double walls support each other and make a high building possible with a lightweight form.

Then we started our drive back to Portree. However, we did stop at the Old Bridge in Sligachan, on the northeast side of the Cùillin mountains, just to check out the view. In addition to the old bridge over the scenic River Sligachan with the mountains in the background, there is a statue of Collie and MacKenzie. The statue was erected in 2020 to honor two climbing pioneers, Professor Norman Collie and John MacKenzie. MacKenzie, born on the Isle of Skye, was the first British professional mountain guide of Alpine standard. Collie was a chemist, but was introduced to climbing while on a fishing trip to Isle of Skye in 1886, when he met MacKenzie. During their 50 year friendship, MacKenzie and Collin mapped and named many of the Cùillin peaks.

While we were at the bridge, we noticed a sign for Seumas’ Bar, serving food all day. We decided to eat there instead of driving into Portree, and paying to park. It was only 4:30 pm, but we didn’t mind eating early.

Ann had the venison stew while Keith had the salmon. The food was decent. The venison caught Ann’s eye on the menu because it came with spiced red cabbage. So she was disappointed when it was served with only about two bites of cabbage. She was expecting cooked cabbage, but it was raw. Even so, she would have liked more vegetables besides potatoes. The stew came with mashed potatoes along with having potatoes already in the stew itself. At least there were carrots in the stew. Ann guesses she’ll have to start ordering vegan or vegetarian dishes again to satisfy her vegetable cravings.

Later that evening, back in our pod, we shared one of the little bottles of Talisker whisky, the Talisker Storm. We are not whisky drinkers, so we don’t have a very refined palate, but we definitely could taste the smokiness of the whisky.

Thursday was the least windy of our days on Isle of Skye. We only had two things planned for the day, Dunvegan Castle and Neist Point. After a leisurely breakfast, we drove the half hour to Dunvegan.

We arrived at Dunvegan Castle right about 10 am, when they opened. It was already pretty busy. Parking was free, but there was an admission charge of 17 pounds per adult.

We toured the inside of the castle first. They sometimes have guided tours, but only during non-busy times. Evidently, this was a busy time, so we walked through without a guide. There were staff in many of the rooms whom you could ask questions. Near the end of the tour is an audio-visual room with a short video that explains the history of the castle. We recommend taking the time to watch it.

Dunvegan Castle is the seat of the MacLeod Clan. The family has occupied the castle for 800 years. Parts of the castle date back to the 13th century. Additions were added over the centuries and a major renovation was done during the 19th century.

After touring the inside, we wandered around the grounds. There was a boat launch with seal tours (for an extra fee), a walled garden, a water garden, a round garden, a rhododendron garden, and woodlands. There were also midges, especially in the walled garden where they are protected from the wind. There were two gardeners working in the walled garden. Both of them were wearing head nets. This was our first real encounter with midges. Of course, our head nets were back in the car. Ann thought she picked up some bites, but no visible signs showed up on her skin, even by the following morning. However, the bites started itching later that following day, getting more intense as the day wore on. Keith had one bite on his collar bone while Ann had several on her neck and chin. The bugs always seem to like Ann better. We’ll be sure to have our head nets readily available the next time we hike.

For lunch, we popped into the café just outside the castle gates, called the MacLeod Tables Café. It was noon and they just started serving their hot food. Ann had the onion and cheddar tart along with a bowl of the Thai butternut soup. Keith opted for the venison stew with a side of sea salt crisps (potato chips). The food was pretty decent.

After filling our bellies and using the restroom, we drove another 30 minutes further, out to Neist Point. From the free car park, we walked the trail out to the end of the point and the lighthouse. You can’t see the lighthouse until you get around the tall bluff that is blocking your view.

From the car park, the paved trail heads steeply down before heading steeply back up then rounds the corner around the bluff. Along the way, there are beautiful views of the rocky shoreline and nesting seabirds. You can’t go into the lighthouse, but you get a good view of it from the outside. Just beyond the lighthouse is some basalt pavement. So even without the lighthouse, it is a worthwhile walk.

By the time we finished wandering around the point and returned to the car, we had covered 3.4 kilometers (2.1 miles) with an elevation gain of 155 meters (509 feet), spending almost an hour and a half exploring. It was short, but we counted it as hike number 24 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2025 anyway.

Then it was about an hour’s drive back to Portree for dinner. It was just after 4 pm when we arrived at the central car park. We paid our 3 pounds and decided to give the Granary Restaurant another try. We saw more activity inside this time, but the door was locked. There was another couple of travelers outside who said they knocked on the door earlier and found out that the restaurant was opening at 4:30 pm. So we stood outside and chatted with them until the restaurant opened. The others were from Pennsylvania. They had already been to Edinburgh and were giving us some pointers on where to eat and what to see. Thank you!

To get more vegetables, Ann ordered the butternut risotto while Keith had the steak and ale pie. We were impressed that the steak and ale pie came with a significant amount of vegetables, cauliflower and broccoli. For dessert, we both tried the lemon posset served with shortbread. A posset is a cold-set dessert containing cream and lemon. All the food was delicious.

The weather while we were on the island was not ideal, but it was probably pretty typical for Isle of Skye. We didn’t let the weather get in our way of experiencing what the island had to offer. If you visit, be prepared with your clothing for cold, rain, and wind, but also with your mental attitude to face the elements.

Check out our related video: Isle of Skye, Scotland

(Ann)