Over 20 years ago my sister & I did a road trip through Scotland and one of our goals was the Isle of Skye. We drove to Mallaig, and got on the ferry. This would have been the 1st time I’d driven in Scotland in over 15 years, so I found the winding roads of the west highlands and getting on and off the ferry extremely stressful. And to make matters worse, I was first off the ferry, so all the locals were behind me, frustrated that I was doing half the speed limit at best. So I just drove. We didn’t see anywhere with a tourist info bureau, and the road was straight, so I kept driving. We came to a crossroads and I saw a small lay-by, so we pulled in there and had a snack. Then we were pointing east, so I just kept driving. Next thing I knew, we were on the bridge that takes you off Skye and back to the mainland. We’d done the most beautiful island in the British Isles in just under two hours. Doh.
Last year I did a little better. LL & I built some time in Skye into our highland road trip. Only one problem: there was not a single dog-friendly hotel to be found on the island (we later learned that Brexit had eliminated all the young people willing to do hospitality jobs on Skye) so we had to book a hotel back on the mainland, in Mallaig.
This meant one day on Skye. We left our hotel in Inverness at a ridiculously early hour, and were on Skye before 10am. We had booked the last ferry off the island, so we had less than seven hours to see the Fairy Pools, have a seafood lunch at the Oyster Shed, and make back to the terminal. Not ideal, but better than 2001’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it visit. It was lovely.
But last week I was invited to spend four days on Skye, staying at the cottage of friends from England. And they know how to do Skye. We hiked along the shore of Loch Bharcassaig and picnicked on Varkasaig Beach at Orbost. We shopped in Portree and Dunvegan. We toured the perimeter of Trotternish penisula and walked the Two Church walk through ancient forests and over highland moors at Duirinish. And we saw the Northern Lights from their cabin’s back lawn.
