Day 4 Isle of Skye Day Trip

I started my morning off right with a vanilla latte and chocolate croissant from XOKO Bakehouse and Coffee Bar. Unexpectedly, it was one of the only places to get an early breakfast on Sunday morning other than Starbucks or another American chain. 

Next I boarded the Isle of Skye Day Tour with WOW Scotland. This was an all day (12 hour) tour. Our guide did an excellent job making sure we had plenty of time to get on and off of the bus to explore along the way and really engaged us with her storytelling about the different clans who lived on the island. Her energy was absolutely contagious and it made for a really fun day! We also got really lucky with the weather, there were a few rain showers along the way, but it always cleared up to let the sun peak through.

The first stop was a photo op of Urquhart Castle located right on Loch Ness. Our guide engaged us with the history and mystery of Nessie along the way!

The second stop was Portree, the capital of Isle of Skye. We saw the beautiful pastel homes in the port; however, since it was Sunday and everything was closed we spent more time in other areas along the way.
Next up was The Old Man of Storr. If you look closely you can see the face of a man on the rock face. The view was gorgeous since the sun decided to shine down on the loch.
Fourth up on the list was Kilt Rock. It is called kilt rock because the rock looks like a pleated kilt. This was a beautiful stop (even though we got some wind and rain), there was a waterfall running off of the cliffside into the ocean. I also learned there is a large dinosaur excavation site in this area and they have fossils that date back 170 million years!
Next we got to spend quite a bit of time exploring outside at Quiraing. Even though we had only 30 minutes I was able to do a bit of the main trail and get some stunning pictures of the mountain views. You can view my route on Strava!

This next to last stop was my absolute favorite and the reason I selected this particular tour over many others. It was a beautiful hike to the fairy pools. There are dozens of fairy pools in this area with several waterfalls. I was able to get a great hike in and really experience the countryside of Scotland! You can view my route on Strava. 


The final stop on the way back to Inverness was a photo op of Eilean Donan Castle. One last beautiful view before we were back in town!

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