Our initial plan for the UK trip in 2016 was more skewed towards England than Scotland. But then one of our friend’s highly recommended us to spend as much time as possible in the northern most part of Scotland, The Isle of Skye. Having spent quite a few months in London for work earlier, we eagerly accepted his suggestion.
It’s wise to do the trip through a tour operator and guide. They know some amazing places en-route where you can take good pictures. They will also engage you through out the journey with beautiful Scottish music and the tales of the clans and vikings who used to inhabit the highlands in the past. There are a whole bunch of tour operators online and I have heard horrible tales from people where one bad guide ruined their entire trip. Lucky for us that we got a good agency, Discover Scotland tours. The guide was a jolly fellow and the many hours of driving was full of fun.
The journey to Skye passes through the highlands where many Bollywood and Hollywood movies were filmed. We crossed the scene from the Skyfall as well. The trip is enchanting specially for the potter heads as you can see the train tracks where the scene from Chamber of Secrets was shot ( Glenfinnan Viaduct ), right opposite to it was the place where Hogwart’s castle was digitally placed and the lake where the task of the Triwizard tournament was held. The guide also stopped at Glencoe where the shameful act of Gelncoe Massacre took place. He narrated the story in a very passionate way and we could all imagine the Clan McDonald being brutally murdered by the government forces in those mountains in front of us. The entire way he told us stories of famous clans and warriors of the highlands. Our van got into a ferry in which we crossed the sea to reach the Skye. It was a short 30 mins drive from the port to reach Kyleakin where we did our night halt.
The Skye was even more beautiful than what we had seen in pictures. The morning when we got out of the hotel we saw clouds greeting us on the ground with green mountains on the back. The Skye is full of unique vegetation and landscapes formed by the forces of nature over thousands of years. Beautiful ponds/lakes, rocks, mountains and waterfalls could be seen through out the journey. Kilt rock waterfall was specially amazing where it flows directly into the ocean. We also visited a pretty town called Portree which has good places for lunch and here we tried the famous Scottish dish Haggis.
On our way back we used the Skye bridge instead of the ferry. We visited the most photographed castle in Scotland, The Eilean Donan Castle. You might have seen it in many Bollywood movies as well. We made a stop at Loch Ness. Several rumors are spread around this mystic place. Tales of a huge monster roaming these waters are very popular. There is also a pic of the monster which cannot be verified. Even though we did not see the Nessi monster still its a good place to visit.
You come back to the calm sunset of Edinburgh and you are already missing the Skye. The highlands was one of the most beautiful places that we have ever visited. It is a blend of the oceans of Australia and the lush green landscapes of Switzerland. If you have all the money you need and just want to settle down in some place quite then Skye is your destination.
