Glencoe and the Isle of Skye

Leaving Oban, we drove north and then west heading for a ferry that would take us to the beautiful Isle of Skye. On the way, we stopped in the Valley of Glencoe, which is known as "The Weeping Glen" due to the 1692 Glencoe Massacre where British soldiers, after being hosted for 12 days by the MacDonald Clan, woke up on the 13th day and (under orders) massacred 38 men while hundreds more fled through a blizzard where another 40 (mostly women and children) died of exposure. Remember, we told you that Scottish history is quite violent.

Despite this sad history, Glencoe is absolutely beautiful. Even though we were there on a less-than-lovely day, you can see how impressive the views are. We missed out on doing a real hike due to the winds and rain and had to settle with quick jaunts out of the car to take in the various viewpoints.  

The picture of the highland cows (pronounced "coos") was our first and only sighting of the furry animals, which are ubiquitous in many forms in souvenir shops throughout Scotland. Later in the trip, outside Inverness, we stayed in a rural guesthouse that was supposed to have two highland cows, but we missed our chance for a "close encounter" when the owners sent the cows to a farm as part of their preparation to sell their property. As you can imagine, Shana was very disappointed.

On Skye, we learned that while the island only has 12,000 residents, it expects 1 million visitors in 2024! Let's just say that the infrastructure is not really ready for that level of tourism, especially the roads. The main town (really the only town) on Skye, Portree, is overcrowded with heavy traffic and limited parking. We spent very little time there although Shana did get this shot of the town's colorful seaside buildings (and a bonus rainbow).

The place we stayed on Skye was a small house on a cliff overlooking green hills and the ocean, with a path that allowed us to greet the local sheep and walk down to the water. It was gorgeous.

The main thing we did on Skye was drive around and enjoy the scenery, but we did manage to hike the Quiraing on the Trotternish Ridge in between rain storms.

We also had a lovely lunch at The Three Chimneys, a very nice and remote restaurant. Unfortunately, when we left the restaurant our car had a flat tire (apparently a very common event for tourists on Skye), so we had to wait for a truck to take us to town for a replacement. Just another reason we prefer living without a car.

More from lovely Scotland soon.

Jeff and Shana