The Isle of Skye had been on Maite’s bucket list for a while now so we decided to cross it off on the Easter weekend.  We had pretty nice weather all the way up there so we were treated to some bonny views.

On the way we also stopped at Eilean Donan Castle which is very beautiful.  It was also interesting to learn about history of the castle.  It was strategically important since it is built where three sea lochs meet but it was largely destroyed by English forces during the Jacobite uprising in 1719 and it wasn’t until 1911 when a rebuild of the castle started.

Afterwards we then continued to Skye and made our way down to Elgol where you can get a pretty awesome view of the Cuillin Mountains (going to climb those bad boys one day! 🙂 )

That night we stayed at Broadford Youth Hostel which was basic but decent enough.  The next day was a busy one to try and see as much as we could.  The first stop was the fairy pools in Glenbrittle.  I couldn’t get over how many tourists there were but it was Skye on an Easter bank holiday.  The fairy pools were cool though coming across waterfall after waterfall as you walk up the glen and the mountain views were good when the cloud lifted for long enough to get a look :).

The next stop was a hike to the Old Man of Storr which is a hike up to a rocky pinnacle on the Trotternish Ridge.  The views across to the Isle of Raasay were beautiful and clouds on the ridge made for some atmospheric sights.  The hike wasn’t too difficult either so got a pretty good reward to effort ratio there!

Up next was a Kilt Rock a little further north where you can find a waterfall off the cliffs straight into the sea.  This was another pretty cool sight but not a huge amount of water when we were there :P.

On our way back down to Portree we stopped along the road to take in more sights.  Skye is just so beautiful with mountains, cliffs and sea all crammed into a relatively small area.

Tonight we would stay in Portree Youth Hostel which was really nice and had a really chilled atmosphere in the dining/common room area.  The next day we were heading back to Edinburgh but first we made a de-tour to the coral beach near Dunvegan which is very awesome and worth a visit.

Last stop on the way home was at Glenfinnan.  Here you can see a curved concrete arch viaduct but to honest, there are much nicer masonry arch viaducts around the country.  The view down Loch Shiel however is stunning.

Overall, we had a great little getaway.  There is so much to see on and around Skye and would highly recommend it to anyone, even if these days it is very touristy.