Dunvegan Castle, Black & Red Cuillins, Portree, Museum of Skye Life, Walks and Views
We had a week on the Isle of Skye in early September 2018. The Skye midge was largely missing in action, we only had two half days of rain and for the rest of the week the weather was stunning.
We had booked a self catering cottage for the week, near Skeabost Bridge just north of Portree. It was cosy warm, ideal just for a couple and with distant views to the Black Cuillins.
You need transport to see and experience the best that Skye has to offer. Many of the best roads to explore along will be “ single lane with passing places”, use these with care and common sense.
Having the whole week on Skye we were able to see a good deal of the island, and we did all the things we wanted to. When planning a visit to Skye consider what you want to achieve, and allow if you can a bit of extra “ inclement weather time”, in retrospect we were very lucky with the weather.
Dunvegan Castle
On our first full day on Skye, it rained. The mist was down on the deck, and the Black Cuillins were nowhere to be seen from our cottage. Not to be deterred we had decided we would head west to Dunvegan Castle and check it out.
On arrival, great parking and a Cafe / Info centre, but it was still raining heavily. Time for an early lunch. After lunch on emerging from the Cafe, the rain had stopped and the afternoon turned increasingly fine! Yes, Dunvegan Castle and Gardens off we go.
With its origins in the 13th century, Dunvegan Castle is the home of the Chief of Clan MacLeod . If you want to you can take a rowing boat trip around the loch to see the seals. Or if you are lucky you can see them from the shore, as we were. Our walk around the Castle grounds and the gardens was really lovely. We had a great chat with the head gardener and learned what will keep the midges at bay, Avon Moisturiser, liberally applied !!
Black and Red Cuillins
There is a separate Blog on the walks we did on Skye, but whether walking amongst them or just enjoying their views, the Cuillins are magnificent mountains .
Portree & Edinbane
Portree is the principal town on the island , has a good range of facilities and an excellent information office. We found the shopping areas a little disjointed, a modest supermarket in one area, an excellent butchers set up in a container in another and separately a really good fresh fishmongers. But each was well worth the finding.
Just out of town and north of Skeabost Bridge was Edinbane, and the hotel had not only an excellent and good value restaurant, but also a Scottish Folk Singing afternoon, which we really enjoyed.
Museum of Skye Life
This is an excellent and very different museum, setting out to demonstrate how people used to live in their “ black house croft’s”. You will find the museum at Dulmuir on the north coast of Skye, if you have time to visit, do go, it’s well worth the trip.
The blackhouses themselves are fascinating with large stones holding their roofs down against high winds . Inside the rooms are small with low ceilings , but beautifully presented to give a real sense of life, even with peat fires smouldering in the grate.
One dwelling sets out the story of the Highland Clearances, and is deeply moving, giving a real insight into the tragedy that occurred. Incredibly some landowners just ejected tenants leaving them completely homeless. The lucky ones had landowners who delivered tenants families to ports where they took ships bound for North America, Australia and New Zealand.
Walks and Views
We loved visiting the Isle of Skye, for me it was a return visit, as a teenager I had hitchhiked , camped at Glen Brittle and walked the Black Cuillins. For my wife it was her first visit and we leave Skye with wonderful memories.
We have posted two separate travel blogs on Skye, one on some of the walks we did, and another on a specific day excursion to Loch Coruisk. We hope that you enjoy these as well.
Travels with My Wife 