Day Six, Part Two: Isle of Skye. It was about midday when we finished at Eilean Donan Castle so we had time to start our Isle of Skye adventures! We first found our Airbnb cabin and dropped off our luggage before heading over the bridge to the island.
First stop- Fairy Pools! These are a series of pools and waterfalls. We didn't walk all the way to the end, but we saw some amazing views and the kids especially had a lot of fun jumping over the river and using stepping stones.
Next we went over to Talisker Beach. It was a bit of a walk from where we parked the car, but we all enjoyed seeing the black sand when we got there. It was definitely too cold for a dip in the clear water! One neat thing about this beach was that for most of the time, we were the only ones there- it felt like we had found a secret and undisturbed place on the island.
Day Seven: Isle of Skye. We were on our way to our first stop of the day when we saw a bunch of highland cows just off the side of the road, so we stopped. Brandon was a little nervous when he got close but Andrew was brave enough to touch one.
After meeting the cows, we headed over to Dunvegan Castle. It was a nice, well-kept castle with a fun "find the keys" game for the kids and it had massive gardens.
Next up was Coral Beach. The small parking lot was packed and the walk was a little longer than we had anticipated but it had turned out to be a beautiful day. I found a nice spot to sit and nurse the baby and Andrew and Brandon immediately took their shoes off to play in the crushed shell beach. Aaron took a little hike up to a higher vantage point and was rewarded with a great view.
After the beach we went over to the Neist Point Lighthouse. However, Brandon fell asleep on the drive over and we feared he wouldn't have even close to enough energy to make the long steep descent (and the return ascent) that was a big part of the hike down to the actual lighthouse, so instead we did a short uphill climb to get to a good vantage point that overlooked the path and the cliff. The boys had an upset moment when they realized the decision we had made not to go all the way to the lighthouse, but they ended up having fun climbing up and taking pictures from our viewpoint.
Day eight: Isle of Skye. We started the day at the Old Man of Storr. We started the hike with the intent to just get to a point where we could get a good view, but we soon realized that we'd have to walk farther than we wanted to get the view we were hoping to see. Fortunately we had passed a layby that seemed to have a good view so we ended up going back to it to snap some photos. Aaron especially would have loved to do this hike, but it just wasn't realistic for our family.
Next we went over to Kilt Rock. This one was definitely more of a tourist stop than many of the others- it had a real paved car park, a concrete walkway with a sturdy metal railing, and on this particular day there was also a food truck with snacks and drinks, and a guy playing the bagpipes.
We did a driveby/quick-stop of the Quiraing and continued along our way around the northern part of the island, making an unscheduled stop at Duntulm Castle. We weren't brave enough (especially with the kids) to disobey the signs cautioning visitors to keep back due to the structure being potentially unstable, so we didn't explore the castle, but it was still neat and it was fun to realize that this was the furthest north we had ever been!
Our next stop turned out to be one of our favorite spots on the Isle of Skye. Aaron was super skeptical when I told him we were going to a place called "The Fairy Glen" but he was surprised at how much he enjoyed it. There were two main parking areas for this one, and we had a bit of a walk since it turned out that we were in the further layby. But it was fun to see the Fairy Castle (aka Castle Ewan) as we approached. Brandon had removed his boots in the car and was also getting really worn out so Aaron ended up carrying him in the Ergo while I carried David in the Boba. Andrew was our strong big boy and was in charge of carrying the camera case while we walked. Once we had the "castle" in sight, it was fun to prompt the kids to speculate on what kind of fairies lived there, and whether we'd see any fairies during our visit.
We stopped next for dinner in Portree- we got some excellent fish and chips and ate by the water. Then we said goodbye to the Isle of Syke and headed back to our Airbnb in Plockton.
Day nine: Plockton to Glasgow. We checked out of our place in Plockton and started to head south. Our first stop of the day was at the Glenfinnan Viaduct. You'll recognize this as the bridge where the Hogwarts Express met up with Ron and Harry in the flying car. Unfortunately we weren't able to get there to see the actual train on its morning route and we weren't willing to wait around for its afternoon return, which was a shame, but it was still neat to be there and see something we'll recognize each time we watch that movie.
Next we went down to Glencoe. It's a beautiful area and there are a lot of things to do and see, but in the interest of time we just picked one walk to do. We chose Signal Rock. It was a bit rainy when we started the walk but it had stopped by the time we got to the rock.
Loch Lomond was our next stop, and I really wish we had allowed more time for it. We stopped at one of the areas where the tour busses aren't allowed, so it wasn't very crowded and there were still toilets and a real car park. It was a nice relaxing stop and I really wasn't ready to leave, but we still had some driving to do that day.
Day ten: Glasgow to home. This day was really just driving and stopping for food and toilet breaks.
We had such an amazing time in Scotland. I'd love to go back sometime- what a beautiful place!
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