Best Places to go on The Isle of Skye

Angus Graham picked us up at 8:00 a.m. sharp. The side of the black minivan read “Skye Island Tours” and standing at the driver’s side door was a man with a broad smile who greeted us with a friendly handshake and a warm hello in  a thick Scottish accent. We clambered in and buckled up for the journey to the Misty Isle. Gus was a weathered guide of Skye with humor and wit and years of great stories to tell. He had grown up on the Isle of Skye, but had left to join the army in London. He became a police officer (much to Mom’s sanity as he zigzagged along the narrow roads of Loch Ness from years of experience) and told us he had come back to Skye fifteen years ago. I told him I was a writer working on a blog during my time in Scotland and he says, “Well, I’ve never heard of a blog before, but I bet I have to mind my P’s and Q’s now then.”

Being a native, Gus knew all the hidden gems and beautiful sights of Skye, places we would never have found trying to navigate the island alone. The best part of a private tour, other than getting to watch all the other tourists squeeze on and off a giant bus from the comfort of our van,  is that we were able to customize the trip as we wanted and see almost every tourist spot on the island. Gus took us to so many incredible places, so here is a list of all the places we went.

Eilean Donan Castle: It is most famous for being featured in one of my favorite RomComs, “The Made of Honor.” The MacCrae family still owns the castle and in the early 20th century spent the equivalent of 17 million pounds in today’s currency to restore the castle. The outside is stunning as well as the inside, but the inner castle is not the same as what was filmed in the “Made of Honor” movie, which I was a bit disappointed to discover. But, there were certainly a few surprises in the doors and cabinets around the castle if you were brave enough to take a peak…

Kyleakin and Saucy Mary’s Castle: Over the bridge to Skye, which was just built 20 years ago, we came to Gus’s hometown of Kyleakin where he told us the story of the ruined castle on the cliff and Saucy Mary. Mary was a Norwegian Princess who lived in the castle in the 12th century. She would charge a toll when boats would pass through the canal by hanging a chain from the castle to the mainland which she would lift only when the sailors had paid. As a thank you, Mary would also lift her blouse for the sailors to see as they passed, giving her the name of Saucy Mary. The end of the fishing pier was a great place to take photos both of Saucy Mary’s ruined fortress as well as the beautiful white bridge connecting the Misty Isle to the mainland.

Sligachan Bridge: The Cullin mountains created a beautiful backdrop for this magical bridge, which is the oldest one still standing on Skye. Gus told us that it is said that the river below the bridge has magical powers and if women splash a bit on their face, they will stay beautiful forever. So of course I covered my face in that fabled magical water. Gus told us to call him up in a few years and tell him if it worked.

The Fairy Pools: The Fairy Pools are a series of waterfalls and pools which change color in the light of the sunshine. The sun wasn’t shining and we saw no mystifying color changing, so the 30-minute hike to the pools, although beautiful, was a bit of a letdown for us, and we were ready to get back to the car and head to the capital of Skye, Portree.

Talisker Distillery and Dunvegan Castle: We only briefly went to Talisker to walk around and taste a bit of whisky, but we didn’t have time to take the full tour. The distillery was beautiful sitting right on the edge of the sea. We also didn’t have time to make the trek out to Dunvegan castle which is the oldest inhibited castle in Scotland. But, most of the tours only take you to four or five of the destinations we were able to see in a day, so unfortunately some sacrifices did have to be made. But, if you have the time, see both of these beautiful spots on the island.

Portree: Portree could have been a town right out of a movie; and it was! “Made of Honor” was also filmed in this larger village of 6,000 residents; it is the scene of the bachelorette, or hen party as the Scottish call it, where Hannah is taken to the pubs and given coins in exchange for a kiss. We had lunch at a little place called Antler’s which actually had really great food, a first for us in Scotland, and then it was back on the road to ride along the Northern ridge of Skye called the Trotternish Peninsula.

Old Man of Stor and Bride’s Veil: We first passed both the waterfall known as the Bride’s Veil and the infamous Old Man of Stor which was created by a massive landslide thousands of years ago. Although beautiful, we couldn’t really figure out where the Old Man was supposed to be in the rock face and decided to just settle on a pretty picture of the entire landslide and the waterfall before continuing along on the A855.

Kilt Rock: Next was kilt rock, a stunning rock face behind a waterfall in the side of a cliff which descended right down to the chilly waters of the Sound of Raasay below. The rock has been cut by years of runoff water to create a plaid pattern in the stone, much like that of a kilt.

The Quaring: We drove round and round a winding road which brought us up to the highest point on the Trotternish Peninsula, the filming place for the final scene of the most recent Star Wars movie, and also the set of many scenes in the upcoming film, the B.F.G. The Quaring was named from the old Norse term meaning “round fold” and from its peak you can see miles of rolling green hills across the Isle of Skye.

The Fairy Glen: We went back down the other side and through another one of the more populated villages called Uig. We veered left up an unmarked road and came across our final destination of the day. The Fairy Glen is nothing more than a small series of cone-shaped hills along the sides of a road. But it is how these coniferous hills were formed that no one knows. And what the Scots can’t explain, they blame the fairies who came over with the Irish Celts. It is fabled that the king of the fairies, King Ewan, lived in the rectangular stone jutting out above the coniferous landscape.

Finally, it was time to head on back to Inverness for a pint and some good music. Gus had told us to try his favorite place in town called The Gellions, but pronounced like “Dylan’s with a G.” The band played everything from Johnny Cash to Sweet Home Alabama, not the Scottish music we had been expecting but the locals were up dancing and we joined right on it. It was a perfect final night in the Highlands of Scotland.