Day Tour of the Isle of Skye Part 2 of 2

Isle of Skye.

Day Tour.

If you missed part 1 of the tour, be sure to check that out here.

If you are ready for part 2, let’s go.

 

Part 2.

If you’ll recall from part 1, my mother and I took a day tour out of Inverness to the Isle of Skye. We booked our tour with WOW Scotland.

When I left you last, we stood admiring the views from the overlook at Kilt Rock.

As I mentioned, the rain has subsided and the fog is suspended over the mountaintops.

We board the tour bus and move on to our next location.

The Quiraing.

While the fog does obscure the pinnacles, you can feel an air of mystery surrounding this area.

The ground is wet, the air is misty and the hike is uphill. Some opt to stay near the bus, but I follow the guide on the short hike to higher ground to take in the majestic beauty surrounding.

Travel Tip.

When the ground is wet it can be quite slippery. I would recommend wearing a hiking boot or some type of shoe with a lug sole. As stated in the previous post, waterproof would be the wisest.

This stop is about 30 minutes and I’ve captured more photos than I can share here today.

However, as we begin our descent back to the bus, the fog lifts incrementally.

As if it wanted to offer just a glimpse of its hidden beauty.

The beauty of the Trotternish Ridge was formed by a massive landslip and the section including the Quiraing offers cliffs, plateaus, and pinnacles.

Trotternish Peninsula.

We then begin our way down the other side of the Trotternish Peninsula.

The views maintain the level of magnificence that you’ve experienced thus far.

At this point, the fog has lifted a little more and you finally catch a glimpse of the Old Man of Storr in the distance. He was completely shrouded in dense fog earlier in the day and impossible to see.

Old Man of Storr.

The Old Man of Storr is another iconic pinnacle of Scotland. It stands at 164 feet (50 meters).

While not possible on this tour, there is a walking path up to the Old Man of Storr that takes about one to one and a half hours to complete.

Sound of Raasay.

This stop where the Old Man of Storr dared to show himself was at the Sound of Raasay.

Most of you know that I am a fan of water views.

And, oh my…was this a view!

Portree.

I’m sure you were wondering if we’d ever end up in Portree.

Portree is famous for this pastel-colored view.

This is a 45 minute stop so there is plenty of time to pop into shops and take in the views. Yes, I spent almost all that time snapping photographs. If you haven’t purchased the light onboard dinner (which I hadn’t), this will be the stop to pick up some food.

And while I had designed plans to gather up some fish and chips for the next portion of the journey, I quickly found myself running out of time and my mother and I popped into the corner grocery for sandwiches and chips.

Eilean Donan Castle.

Next up is the Eilean Donan Castle.

This castle is one the most photographed in the world and it’s easy to see why.

It’s situated on its own island at the point where three lochs meet.

We viewed it from across the loch and we also snagged a photo with our awesome tour guide, Sandy (also want to give a huge shoutout to our driver, Christian, for keeping us safe on those twisty roads!).

We then made our way to the castle parking area. The timing of this tour is to arrive after closing. While this means that you can’t view the interior of the castle, we were able to walk across the bridge, onto the island and up to the castle walls.

About 30 minutes is spent between the two locations.

Loch Cluanie.

After Eilean Donan, the views still remain stunning.

You pass through Glen Shiel and witness the 5 Sisters of Kintail. There is plenty to admire in the passing landscape.

Sometimes there are surprise stops. This depends on how the tour is doing on time, what the weather is like and what the traffic conditions are.

We were lucky enough to get to make a quick stop at Loch Cluanie.

The yellow flowers across the landscape of Scotland are called gorse. They were blooming in abundance during my travels Mid-May. It was also lambing season, so on parts of the journey you would spy little lambs hopping through the fields, some only days old.

Loch Ness.

Toward the end of the day, we arrive at a stop to view Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle from above.

The next day we took a boat tour along Loch Ness and walked around the ruins of Urquhart Castle. Stay tuned for that post at a future date.

Highland Coo.

As a bonus before our journey ended, we were able to stop and see some Highland Coos! I did see some of these hairy cows while trekking from the standing stones of Callanish II to Callanish III during my day on the Isle of Lewis.

However, I wasn’t able to get this close. I loved this guy because he definitely wasn’t the alpha and stood there hoping for some attention.

From here we returned back to the Inverness Bus Station where my mother and I walked down to the River Ness to watch the sunset before heading back to our hotel to get ready for our final day in the Highlands.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this tour of the Isle of Skye.

If you did, be sure to sign up for emails which let you know that I’ve posted so that you don’t miss any in the future.

Let your light shine!

Amy