We stopped at this castle on our way to Glencoe. And by stop by, I mean we hiked a small path behind the Castle Stalker Cafe (very good food and gift shop), took a few photos, and left. We didn’t do the boat tour out to the castle so can’t speak to that but this is one of the most beautiful and photographed castles in all of Scotland so we couldn’t possibly miss it. Picturesquely […]
Glenfinnan is on the West Highland Railway, with daily services from Glasgow, Fort William, and Mallaig (which is where we dropped off Aunt Ethel and my mom to catch the train so we could run ahead of it and photograph them on their journey). I would add that Mallaig is well worth a short visit…..a cute little port town with nice restaurants and plenty of cute shops. Just before reaching Glenfinnan station, the Jacobite steam […]
Neist Point is the most westerly point on the Duirinish Peninsula on the Isle of Skye, providing excellent views over Moonen Bay to Waterstein Head and out over the Minch to the Western Isles. It’s also regarded as the best place on Skye to see whales, dolphins, porpoises, and basking sharks (we didn’t see any of these things but were told when we arrived that we had just missed a couple of basking sharks) and […]
We did not pay the entry fee for the castle but did enjoy the gardens which are wonderful, well laid out and with good paths easy for everyone to maneuver. One of my favorite pictures of the trip is of a red capped mushroom we saw just off the main path-so colorful and perfect that it almost looked fake and I had to touch it to see if it was real. Interestingly though, the castle […]
This spectacular ridge of hills that run for about 30km and form the backbone of the Trotternish Peninsula contains one of the islands most recognizable landmarks, the Old Man of Storr. Taking its name from the escarpment on which it stands, the Old Man of Storr is the most famous of the rocky basalt pinnacles which dot the landscape. Standing at an elevation of 2,359 feet and at a height of about 160 feet, its […]
The Quiraing is probably the most beautiful landslide in all of the world and is located on the eastern face of Meall na Suiramach, the northernmost summit of the Trotternish. The whole of the Trotternish Ridge escarpment was actually formed by a great series of landslides; the Quiraing is the only part of the slip still moving causing the road at its base to require repairs each year. We parked in the nearby car park […]
Portree is the largest (although you could walk the town from end to end in about half an hour) and liveliest town on Skye and was our home for 3 glorious days. It has the prettiest little harbor lined with brightly pastel painted houses and great views of the surrounding hills. Its name (from the Gaelic for King’s Harbour) commemorates James V, who came here in 1540 to pacify the local clans. We rented an […]
This was our first stop on our day exploring the Isle of Skye. The famous Kilt Rock is a sea cliff in north east Trotternish and was named for its resemblance to a kilt, with vertical basalt columns to form the pleats and intruded sills of dolerite forming the pattern. From the car park, you have to look north up the coast to see the Kilt Rock. Closer by is the Mealt Waterfall, which freefalls […]