Exploring the Scottish Highlands
I’m so excited to finally share more about our trip to Scotland that we took at the start of July! I’d previously been to Aberdeen and Edinburgh but was excited to explore more of the Scotish countryside and Highlands. James took over the planning for this trip which was so nice as I got to sit back and just enjoy! Lol
We took the ferry across from Larne over to Cairnryan and made our way straight across to Cairngorms National Park and the laidback town of Aviemore. In the winter this is a snowboarding destination and in the summer the perfect place for hiking, biking and kayaking. It was beautiful and sunny when we arrived and as we walked around Loch an Eilein I got the feeling that I was in Northern California, not Scotland! The pine trees, the sun glistening on the lake, the laidback snowboard shops and restaurants.. If it wasn’t for the castle ruins in the middle of the lake and the Scottish accents I’d swear I was back home!
The next morning we woke up early and made our way straight to Loch Morlich for an early morning dip. We were the only ones in the water at that time and it was so peaceful and calm. The water was so still there was a perfect reflection of the surrounding mountains.
We spent the afternoon at the Green Loch which is the most amazing emerald color! The local folklore is that the fairies wash their clothes in the lake and that’s why it’s green! It looked so beautiful and inviting! We were kicking ourselves that we didn’t bring our swim gear, until we saw the leeches in the water! There were so many of them and we were mortified when we saw a few other people swimming! Nevertheless it was a beautiful spot to be and I ended up sitting and painting glad I had brought my watercolors!
We left the Cairngorms and made our way across the Highlands over to the Isle of Skye. We drove along Loch Ness which was so beautiful. I never realized how large it is! We stayed along the lake for about an hour before turning off to make our way west through beautiful mountains, rivers and glens. We made our way to the top of the island to Monkstadt 1745 where we stayed for the next two nights. It was such a beautifully restored property and a very peaceful place to relax and stay. We had a delicious dinner there and then drove about 15 minutes further north to watch the sunset over the outer Hiberties. It was one of the most amazing sunsets I’ve ever seen with the light from the low sun bouncing off the water. Amazing!
We were both eager to explore more of the Isle of Skye! But first, I cannot stress enough how amazing the breakfast at Monkstadt 1745 was. It was probably the best breakfast I’ve ever had - delicious! After breakfast we visited the Fairy Pools. A beautiful string of pools that flow down from a backdrop of mountains. We brought our swim gear and waded through the water to get to a lovely swim spot under a waterfall. We had it all to ourselves and had so much fun splashing and swimming in the refreshingly cool water. We stopped at Dunvegan Castle explore the grounds before heading to Portree for the Rib Boat Experience to go whale and dolphin watching.
I love being out on boats and given it was such a lovely day it seemed like the perfect opportunity to see the Isle of Skye by water. After a few hours on the water we saw a Sea Eagle and several seals but no dolphins. It began to cool down and sprinkle a bit. Just when it was feeling like the time to call it quits we pulled into a little bay and up to a dock on Rona Island, a tiny private island off of Skye. A gentleman met us at the dock and invited us up to the bothy for a tipple of whiskey. It was so nice to warm up a bit and he told us all about the history of Rona. After our impromptu whiskey break, the rain had stopped and the water was dead still. It was so peaceful and blue. Just after leaving the bay we came across a large playful pod of dolphins that we stayed with for about an hour. It was such an amazing way to spend the evening! After a delicious dinner in Portree, we decided to drive around the very top of the island back to our accommodation passing the Storr which looked so impressive against the evening sky.
The next morning we had another amazing breakfast and made our way to the Fairy Glen, several fairy mounds and a fairy ring which was nearby. It was so lush and green and you could definitely feel the energy of the fairies. After our morning with the fairies, we left the Isle of Skye to drive down to Fort William and Glencoe, the last stop on our trip.
Driving through Glencoe was beautiful with epic green mountains on either side. We took the long windy drive down Glen Etive along the river to the lake at the very end. There were so many people pulled over along the way wild camping. It made us want to get a campervan and come back to explore Scotland (and more of Ireland for that matter!) When we got to the lake we grabbed our swim gear again and jumped right in. There were a few people stand up paddleboarding and it was fun to watch them try (and fail) to do a handstand on the boards! We made the drive back up along the river to Fort William for dinner. We didn’t plan any meals ahead of time on this trip and kind of winged it. With the long days of sunshine we were happy to eat at 8:30 or 9pm which made it pretty easy to get in places (made us feel like we were in Spain lol). We had an amazing meal at Lime Tree An Ealdhain Restaurant.
The next day the rain finally came as we made our way back down the coast to Cainryan to take the ferry home. It was a magical trip and we are both excited to get back over to Scotland to explore each of these areas further.
