Adventures on the Misty Isle

"Skye" is the old Norse word meaning "misty". Don't let the sometimes unpredictable weather stop you from enjoying your stay.
• Hike the Cuillen Mountains
• Visit Castles
• See the Seals
• Eat Seafood
Quick Tips:
Bring the proper clothes. Even in June the evenings and mornings tend to be chilly, damp and misty.

At one time only accessible via the ferryboat system, you can now cross over from the mainland via a fairly new toll bridge that crosses from the Kyle of Lochalsh on the mainland to Kyleakin on the island. Although I don't remember exactly what the toll was, I do remember thinking it was quite steep, about $15 American.

Best Way To Get Around:
We were on the isle for only three days, so a car was absolutely necessary to get to the more remote sights on the isle. If I had more time though, this would be the perfect place to ferry over with bikes, or hire bikes on the island.

Kinloch Lodge is the old family hunting lodge of the Clan MacDonald, still owned and managed by Lord and Lady MacDonald. There are two facilities located on the property. The original old building is called the "Lodge". The newer building called the "Kinloch" is only about 3 years old, and although the rooms and facilities in Kinloch are larger and more modern, I prefer the comfortable cozy charm of the Lodge.

Lady Clare MacDonald is a famous chef and has published a series of cookbooks. The food served in the hotel dining room is excellent, and the menus are planned daily to take advantage of fresh local ingredients that are in season. Check their website for even more pictures. www.kinloch-lodge.co.uk

This tiny crofter's cottage at the end of a single track road in the middle of nowhere and a flock of sheep is touted as being one of the finest restaurants in all of Scotland. The meal we had at Three Chimneys ranks as one of the best of my life. It was the perfect combination of delicious food, great friends, superior wine, all in a remote and beautiful location. The menus are planned around whatever is fresh and good that day. Our meal included "squatties". Squatties are tasty tiny lobsters once considered a fishnet nuisance by the local fisherman. Difficult to get to but well worth the effort, make sure when you visit the Three Chimneys you save room for dessert!

Dunvegan Cstle, perched on the rocky and wild western shore of Skye is the oldest inhabited castle in Scotland. Originally built by the old Norse sea rovers who first populated Skye in the ninth century, this piece of real estate has been owned and lived on for over one thousand years by the same family! The MacLeod Clan is one of the more interesting of the Scottish clans, hundreds of years of their history taken up in warring with the MacDonald's at the other end of the Isle. You can tour the castle and see some of the family relics that have been passed down throught the generations that include the magical wish granting Fairy Flag, and the huge silver tipped ox Drinking Horn that each chief of the MacLeods is expected to drain in one draught on his coming of age. The striking castle is full of highland history lore and legend.

"What in the world is a "hairy coo"?"

I had to ask after we passed a backpacker hotel by that name on the road.

Not nearly as common as sheep, "Hairy Coos" are the shaggy long hair cows you see all over the highlands. If you do any hiking around your bound to run into one or two. There actually quite bizarre looking up close- they look like some kind of Hollywood animals made up for a science fiction movie. Sort of Wookie-ish.