Across the sea to Skye: Part 1 - Getting there

Windswept and interesting, the Scotland special

The Isle of Skye is quite possibly the most magical place I have yet to visit in Scotland!

For anyone thinking about visiting a Scottish Isle I would recommend Skye based purely on the fact that it is easy to get there by the Skye Bridge just at Kyle of Lochalsh. I think the only downside when you compare it to somewhere like Mull is perhaps journey time and distance is a bit longer (from Glasgow), but I think if you like scenic driving then it really wouldn't be a problem!

I decided that I would split the trip into a few posts as there is so, so much to say, so much to see and so much to do! One thing is for certain, I will definitely be back!

Mel at the Three Sisters view point in Glen Coe

From Glasgow the route there is pretty straight forward, you follow the A82 for miles, past Fort William and when you get towards Glen Gary, you turn left onto the A87 which continues right over the bridge and onto the island. It took us between 5-6 hours to reach Skye from Glasgow, but that was with several quick pit stops on the way so that Mel could take in the scenery on the way there. We also did a food shop in Fort William Morrison's (tip, there is actually a lidl right next to Morisons which I had not realised) and I was also unfortunate enough to have a nose bleed on the way there. If you haven't seen Loch Ness before and you want to make a detour, you can follow the A82 a little bit further which takes you alongside it, and then turn left instead onto the A887, which shortly merges with the A87. I was actually really lucky because I had been up both ways a few weeks ago kayaking at Wet West Paddle Fest , and for me it was not the first time I had seen the route!

I have wanted to visit Skye for a wee while, I have seen lots of great photos but I think that the desire to really really go was after I read this article:

25 Places In Scotland That Are Straight Out Of A Fantasy Novel

Luckily enough as well, the route takes you past a lot of other places on this list! The A82 is a pretty famous road, so we got to drive through Rannoch Moor, Glen Coe, and through which you can see buachaille etive mor (if you are up for a detour as well, you can turn off left just past the Kings House Hotel and the road takes you alongside the River Etive which is pretty stunning and popular with wild campers). Then further up, past Fort William you can see famous Ben Nevis to your right. Once you turn onto the A87, much further along you eventually get to see Eilean Donan Castle, Kyle of Lochalsh, which is not too far away from the Skye bridge from what I can remember. We stopped off there to use the toilets. There is a little centre there which has lots of leaflets and info and some helpful people at the desk. I'd have liked to gone through into the castle, but there is a small fee plus we were itching to make it to Skye!


So, before you even reach the Isle of Skye you would have knocked five of the places off of the list! Not too shabby. Plus, if you take the A82 route you obviously get stunning views of the Western shores of Loch Lomond, and the A87 goes through Glen Gary and there are some truly incredible views of the hills and the loch on the way through which we could not get enough of! Plus, the weather was really great (just a bit windy) and so it made the views even better!

Stay tuned for the next part! The photos of Skye are out of this world!

Glen Gary

I'm guessing this is some kind of continuation of the hill walking tradition where you take a stone from the bottom to the top?

Eilean Donan Castle sits at the point where three Lochs meet