After a quick breakfast, we were in the car by 8:15am, and, in spite of less than 4 hours of driving today, we arrived back in Portree by 6pm. It was a long day with several amazing sights. We started out by heading north beyond the Old Man of Storr, where we had hiked the day before.
The route is below. There aren’t many food options along the way, but you will be able to find something in Uig, before the Fairy Glen. Dunvegan, both the town and castle, have food options as well but are a long drive from Quiraing. And after that long hike you will definitely be hungry. The CoOp grocery in Portree opens at 7am and is a great option for packing a lunch.
The map can be found here.
Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls
Meant Falls is a stunning waterfall tumbling into the sea off the east coast of Skye. With Kilt Rock off in the background the image creates an amazing and dramatic photo which invokes the feeling of peering over the edge of the world.
Our early start had us ahead of the crowds, so we arrived to find an empty parking lot. We grabbed the closest parking spot, right next to the viewing platform, and had the place to ourselves.
The Quiraing
From Meals Falls it’s a short, scenic 15 minute drive to the parking lot for The Quiraing, much of it along a winding one lane road. There were only a handful of cars in the lot when we arrived and the trails were empty. By the time we returned from our hike, 3 hours later, the lot was full and a crowd of people were starting their hikes.
While planning this trip, we debated whether or not hiking both Old Man of Storr and The Quiraing would be too much or too repetitive. Although they are not far from each other, each one was very a different experience and, after completing both, it would be difficult to decide which I liked best. I’m just glad to have experienced both and I would not recommend anything else. The combination of these two hikes made the Isle of Skye the highlight of Scotland.
This hike is a 4.3 mile loop with 1253 feet of elevation gain. The Quiraing is a cliff face caused by a landslip on the eastern slope of one of the higher peaks in northern Skye. The hike follows along the base of the cliff on the way out, and along the top on the way back. At the peak, the trail disappears into an enormous sloping grassy field which disappears along the edges into incredible views. Photos of this area just did not do it justice, you have to see it for yourself.
The trail can be found here.
We were back at the car around noon and almost immediately it started to rain. So, we sat in the car watched the rain and ate the lunch we had purchased in the morning. The rain quickly passed as we continued on the road to the Fairy Glen.
Fairy Glen
From Quiraing the route continues east where it reconnects with A855 just before Uig, then merges onto the wider A87. Shortly after merging onto A87 you must turn left on to the very narrow, winding, single-lane Sheader Road.
The Fairy Glen is an area with interesting geographic features and rock formations which, with some imagination, appears to be a place where fairies might spend their time. Castle Ewen is one of the more prominent features, and, from certain angles it does resemble a castle.
The nearby public parking lot has space for around 20 cars, and had 4 or 5 free spots when we arrived. The glen and castle are a quarter mile walk from the lot and we spent about 30 minutes walking and exploring the area before heading out. It was a nice short hike, but did not compare to the grandeur of The Quiraing hike we had just completed. It did, however, look like a fun place to let little ones run around if you happen to have smaller traveling companions, fairies included.
Neist Point
Our last stop for the day, Neist Point, is a stunningly beautiful peninsula on the west coast of Skye. An old lighthouse sits on the end of the point, but appears to have been out of service for many years. The walk out to the lighthouse and back is short, but includes a challenging uphill in both directions. Still it was very much worth the effort, in spite of sore legs from the morning hike.
After completing the hike to the lighthouse, about 0.75 miles each way, we returned to the car and started back to Portree to rest.
Notes
Dunvegan Castle is marked on the route, but not mentioned above. This is because we ended up skipping it. We took a vote as we were passing the turn, and decided we would see enough castles later in the trip. I still feel it looks like a good potential stop, and is well situated as a break in the long drive from Uig. So I will leave it on the map for you to decide. I could be convinced to remove Fairy Glen, and perhaps a stop at Dunvegan Castle would make a decent substitute. Particularly when considering that they have a small cafe that might provide a nice break.
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