Where to begin? My advice is not to skimp on the days you have on Skye. If you think 2 days is enough – add 2 more. If you think 4 days is enough – add 2 more. In fact, after visiting Scotland 5 times now it doesn’t matter how many days you have there you’ll want more.
The Isle of Skye doesn’t look very big on Google Maps but every time you drive around a corner you want to stop and take photos. Some of the roads are narrow with passing places so you can’t travel at any great speed, and why would you want to anyway?
After my usual morning walk, once again taking in the magnificent Eilean Donan Castle, in itself a dream come true, we headed off, over the bridge onto the Isle of Skye. When I first went to Skye many years ago there was a £5 toll to pay, thankfully that has been cancelled and travellers are now free to cross unhindered and at no cost.
We were headed for the Fairy Pools and made good time at first with little traffic to bother us.
Our first stop was the Sligachan Old Bridge. Built in the early 19th century the legend is that the enchanted waters under the bridge hold the key to eternal youth. Hidden Scotland reports you must get on your hands and knees and submerge your face completely for 7 seconds.
When you stand don’t wipe the water off your face, just leave it to dry and the fairies will bless you with eternal beauty.
Of course, as with any legend in Scotland it is actually a lot more involved than just dipping the face in the water. It involves Scotland’s greatest warrior, a legendary female fighter by the name of Scathach. If you follow this link, you can read the whole fascinating story The Magical Waters By The Sligachan Bridge – Hidden Scotland
I didn’t know of the water’s magical qualities at the time of my visit or I may have been tempted to have a 7 second splash!
The men in the statue who are perpetually gazing out at the mountains are John MacKenzie and Professor Norman Collie, two pioneers of exploration of the Cuillin Mountains and responsible for creating most of the hiking routes.
It’s a stunningly beautiful area and, according to reviews, the nearby historical Sligachan Hotel serves great meals and refreshments as well as a bed for the night.
But we had a lot we wanted to do to fill in our day so after taking photos and stretching our legs we continued on our journey to the Fairy Pools.
The final stretch of road to the Fairy Pools is narrow, passes through forest and is liberally scattered with large potholes.
Mountains in the distance tempted drivers to take more risks than they should and we were constantly besieged by idiots who drove as if all the devils in hell were after them and had no notion of how to pass safely on Scotland’s roads.
So it was with great relief that we arrived at the car park, only to find it almost full! Obviously it pays to make an early start! The track to the Fairy Pools stretched way ahead and unfortunately one of my travelling companions, on having a friendly chat with a visitor, was told it was a 5 mile journey to the pools. 5 miles uphill was more than my ageing legs could bear so we walked to “Just a Rock” and decided not to continue any further.
Lesson: If you want to do something don’t listen to any negative opinions, just do it! We found out later the pools are scattered along a 2.4km track and it definitely wasn’t a difficult walk. Not attempting that walk is something I will aways regret as the return would have been downhill and easy.
On our way again we navigated the return to the main road and headed for the Old Man of Storr. The countryside was lovely with mountains and lakes lining the road. We passed through Portree, had a brief lunch and eventually the Old Man came into view. And so did all the cars!
Parking was impossible, so when the Storr View Coffee van appeared we stopped and took in the magnificent view while we had cake and coffee. I can highly recommend the food, and the view is to die for.
Our next destination was the Jurassic Dinosaur Footprints, something that was high on my ‘to do’ list, but before we reached An Corran we stopped at the Tobhta Uachdrach Viewpoint.
Trivia: The area was once heavily populated by crofters and farmers, however in the early 1800’s the people were forced off their land to make room for sheep farming. Many emigrated to North and South Carolina in the United States and Canada.
As most of the tourists were at the Old Man of Storr we were able to relax and enjoy the view.
Eventually we arrived at An Corran where dinosaurs roamed the earth and left their footprints in what was then a muddy lagoon. Thankfully the tide was out, something we hadn’t checked before we left, so it was a short walk to the rocks from the carpark.
The search began! You’d have thought a dinosaur’s footprint would be easy to find considering the beast, a Megalosaurus, was about 3m tall and 9m long, but for the life me I couldn’t find one. I could see lots of rock pools and fissures but no footprints.
Eventually a lovely young French girl took pity on me and, despite the language barrier, led me to it. I was fascinated, it was hard to imagine that so long ago a dinosaur had roamed the earth in that very spot. They are the very stuff of legends! And once we’d found one it was easy to search out more.
Trivia: The Megalosaurus was a three toed carnivorous dinosaur of the Mid-Jurassic period. A fierce predator, it roamed the shallow, muddy lagoons of Skye over 168 million years ago. The footprints became visible when a storm removed the top layer of ancient mud and in 2001 they were discovered by two dog walkers.
Caution: At low tide the rocks are covered with seaweed and can be hazardous to the unwary.
It didn’t take much to imagine the huge beasts tramping across the plain leaving their footprints behind them. Nor to see prehistoric man treading the plain beneath the basalt cliffs a few million years later.
At last it was time to head back home to Dornie and dinner in the blue pub next door. Although we hadn’t booked they were happy to find us a table so long as we didn’t linger, and as we were heading south the following day we were happy to oblige.
The Isle of Skye, like most destinations in Scotland, is a place I really want to return to. The few days I’ve been there just haven’t been enough and there has been so much time between visits that my first visit is just a memory in the mist!
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