Scotland – Skip the Suitcase

The Isle of Skye is a dreamscape. Every bend in the road treats your eyes to a new view, some of it the familiar Scottish variety, some of it alien and otherworldly, and all of it completely magical. In a place where two of the most famous stops start with the word “fairy”, would you expect any less?

We arrived in Skye after our northern road trip (read about it here!), and were eager to stock up on food and supplies, and then rest our weary eyes in our AirBnb (£232 total for the weekend- about £77/person.)

Imagine our thrill when we arrived to the cutest little glamping pod you’ll ever see, located on a family farm and complete with a pack of baby goats right outside our door! We took pictures and videos of the kids for a while until one of the family members felt bad enough to come out and bring us a baby goat to pet. Did we squeal like idiots? You bet.

Since the rental car and AirBnb were split three ways and really inexpensive (around £100 each total for the entire weekend), we were able to do some splurging on dinner, so we stopped in at a family run restaurant down the road for dinner and the best sticky toffee pudding I’ve ever had. Then, we stocked up at the local co-op with snacks and some food for future meals (and a few bottles of wine), and went back to our pod, where our host had left some firewood for us to help light up our little cast-iron fire pit. The perfect ending to our first night on Skye.

The next morning, the adventure began. There is no limit to the amazing things you can see in Skye. While we didn’t have the time (or the cooperation of the weather) to see everything, we managed to hit the majority of the famous sights:

The Fairy Pools- A must see. Located at the base of the rugged Black Cuillin mountain range, these pools stretch down a sloping glen. The blue isn’t quite as startling as you might see in a highly filtered Instagram post, but they’ll still take your breathe away. It was the mountain range that really stood out for me here. Dark and foreboding, and so damn cool. The next time I’m in Skye, #1 on my list is a hike through these black hills. It’s a small hike from the car park up to the pools, so make sure you wear the right shoes- it can get a little muddy!

The Fairy Pools with the Black Cuillin looming above.

Portree– The largest town in Skye (which isn’t saying much). We stopped here for lunch and walked around, enjoying the views of the colorful town and the clear, still waters. There were rainbows overhead and bagpipe music permeating the air. A fairytale town, and a good place to find some souvenirs if you wanted to take a piece of Skye home with you.
Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls– For those of you who appreciate a great geological formation, Kilt Rock will not disappoint. Made from towering basalt columns that take on a tartan pattern, Kilt Rock juts out from the cliffside, Mealt Falls flowing down the face of it straight into the ocean below. On a particularly windy day, you might be able to hear a haunting song dance upon the winds. Fairy pipes? The ghost of an old highlander? The wind blowing through the fence at the edge of the cliffside? We’ll never know.

The waters around Portree. Spot the rainbow!

The Fairy Glen– You will never be able to shut me up about the Fairy Glen. It is literally the most magical place I have ever been to. Whimsical, otherworldly, and with strange hill formations and spiral ground designs (some made by tourists- please don’t do this! There are natural spirals and shapes there already), the place lives up to its name and then some. Entering the glen is like walking through the wardrobe into Narnia- it’s an almost alien place, so different from anything you’ve seen so far in Skye. It was a long and winding road to the glen, way outside of any cell phone reception or sign of modern life. The roads are tiny, the sheep are numerous, and I would literally travel all the back to Skye just to spend another hour wandering around this place.

I really wasn’t kidding. This place is incredible, and we were lucky enough to get some sun to really bring out the beauty of it.

The Old Man of Storr – Because of our time constraints, we didn’t do the hike all the way up to the Old Man, but had a great view from below. If you’re going here for some great uphill exercise, this is the trail to take (along with hiking a little further to the Quiraing, another incredible landscape caused by an ancient landslip). It’s a bizarre sight- sharp peaks of rock jutting out of the ground. Legend says it’s the thumb of a giant who was laid to rest on the hillside. If you turn your head just right (and squint a little) you can see the profile of a man’s face in the outline of the rocks.
The night sky– This might sound silly if you’re from the countryside or have done a lot of traveling in remote places, but for this city girl, the night sky was one of the more memorable things about Skye. I had never seen so many stars at once. With all the beauty at ground level, it’s easy to forget to look up!

Finding a place to stay in Skye is easy and can be inexpensive, it all just depends on what kind of place you want to stay in. For us, glamping added to the experience in the best way possible. There was a full bed and a pull-out couch, and the three of us fit easily and comfortably in the small space. Important to note for this trip: this was actually the first one we took together as a threesome. If 3 girls who were basically strangers can share a pod with 1 shower and 1 real bed, I think anyone can make this work. After the first night eating out, we cooked dinner in the pod. There was a small kitchen and some cooking utensils (plus a microwave). We had everything we needed to make this trip inexpensive and unforgettable.

One of the best things I’ve ever done was take a road trip from Glasgow to Skye. I was already living in Glasgow, so the flight factor didn’t add into my costs, but even if you have to fly into Scotland before starting your road trip, it’s an incredibly cheap trip without feeling like you’re missing out on any part of the experience.

Bad hair day, great travel day. The three of us at Glen Coe.

Skye is incredible (and you can read all about our trip to Skye here), but the road to Skye was equally as incredible and as much a part of the experience as the isle itself. Renting a car for a long weekend can be pretty inexpensive. Tours can get really pricey, and you can’t always see everything you want to see. Having the freedom to stop and go whenever you please for a minimal price is worth every penny spent on gas. The cost of our rental car was £101, split three ways, for the entire weekend.
Winding your way up slowly from Glasgow, the scenery changes from cityscapes to small towns, until you finally hit the quintessential Scottish countryside. The sights are (mostly) free, the experience is priceless.

Here are the best stops on your way up to Skye:

• Loch Lomond: This will be your first stop, so keep an eye out for the little turnoffs and lookouts that you’ll come to expect from a drive into the highlands. You travel around Loch Lomond for a while, so make more than one stop- every view is different and spectacular. The loch is known for its dark color, and on a calm day the surface looks like obsidian. (The lakebed is made of dark silt, giving the impression of dark water.) About halfway through your loch-side drive, you’ll pass into the northern part of the country. Congrats! You’re officially a highlander now.

The bonnie, bonnie banks of my favorite place in the world. Loch Lomond is one of a kind.

• Glen Coe: Rain or shine, Glen Coe is a must-see, and one of the most famous views in Scotland. Surrounded by Rannoch Moor (see below!), on a clear day, the Three Sisters- Glen Coe’s iconic peaks- are visible across the green, lush glen. But in the rain, the valley comes to life. You might lose a Sister or two to the fog, but in return you get a sprawling green glen teeming with waterfalls and magic. And let’s face it, it’s Scotland. You’re more likely to see Glen Coe in the rain anyway. The human history of the glen itself is tragic, and it’s hard not to feel a sense of reverence as you peer out into the misty expanse.

• Rannoch Moor: The scenery of many a spooky, wild movie scene (you might recognize it from Outlander, or Harry Potter), Rannoch Moor has a bare, haunted ascetic with a cool historical origin story. This is an ancient place, forged by the melting and reforming of glaciers, carved by time itself. It’s a bog, so if you were planning on doing any exploring deep into the moor, be prepared to track a lot of mud back to your car. It will also stand out because in a land of hills and mountains, Rannoch Moor is eerily flat and alien for the most part.

• Oban: A must see for lovers of quaint seaside towns, and lovers of scotch. This would be an excellent place to stop for a bite to eat, either in a small little pub, or a nicer seafood restaurant, depending on your budget, and explore a Scottish town. Talk to the locals, take in the sights and smells, and stretch your legs after a long car ride.

• Fort Williams: Another great little town to stop for lunch is Fort William. A little further north than Oban, this town has some useful shops- a perfect place to stop once you’ve remembered all the things you were supposed to pack and forgot, and don’t want to waste your Skye time finding proper hiking socks. (Can you tell I’m speaking from experience? My favorite pair of comfy socks came from Fort Williams, and I always wear them fondly, for both the comfort and the memory.)

• Eilean Dolan: I cannot stress this enough. If you only stop in one place on the way up to Skye, stop here. The castle exterior is one of the most outstanding and quintessential Scottish sights, and the inside gives you an amazing insight into Scottish history. You’ll have to pay to get inside, but it’s worth the splurge. Your instinct might be to skip it, because it’s just before Skye and you’ll probably be eager to get to the isle and start exploring, but I promise it’s worth it, even if you just stop to take in the sight of it and not go inside.

Does it get any more atmospheric than this?

• Literally, the side of the road: Peppered along the side of the road leading up into the northern highlands are little areas where you can park your car and just enjoy the view. Sometimes, there are lochs, sometimes mountains. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, there are highland cows. These iconic gentle giants will tolerate an obscene amount of photos, happily munching on grass and ignoring you completely. Stop and say hello (just don’t get too close and bother them), and relish in this one-of-a-kind Scottish experience.

You can do this drive in one long day, or opt for a cheap Airbnb or inn at one of the small towns along the way. We did it in one go, leaving early in the morning and arriving in Skye just as the sun began to set. The cost of the rental car was £101. So for £34 each (plus snacks and lunch), we saw all that I mentioned above (with a bonus stop at Loch Ness on the way home!). Road trips are a classic way of seeing a country, and it’s no different here. It’s the best way to get the most bang for your buck, and this particular road trip was one I would recommend to anyone.

Tag: Scotland

The Isle of Skye

The Road to Skye