Day 3
07:00 the alarm went off. This time no snoozing. Quick breakfast and off we were for another adventure. That day Quiraing was on the manu so we knew there was no time to waste. To save time, we decided to use the opportunity to see few other places on the way. The sequence was Portree (7), The Storr (8), Lealt Falls (9), Kilt Rock (10), Staffin Beach (which we discovered by accident; 11), Quiraing (12) and Uig (13).
The thing we learnt later on was that we should have reversed the order and start from Uig, as the parking situation near Quiraing was an absolute nightmare. Leaving the car further down was hardly an option unless you are keen on climbing a massive hill with cars trying to squeeze pass on a single lane road. However, if you approach the site from the Uig direction, the land is more flat, so leaving the car far away is not an issue. Plus, the walk is both easy and pleasant. We did notice some construction works going on so hopefully the local authorities are trying to make the main car park a bit bigger.
There were, however, no parking issues at Portree. It is the largest town on the island which does prosper mainly from tourism and fishing. If you are not travelling by car, this would probably the best place to stay, as it does have the public transport and you can find here many travel agencies offering day tours to certain locations. It is a lovely small town with its own character.
Unfortunately we did not have a lot of time to spare so we took a short stroll around the main square and the harbour, grabbed a coffee and carried on to our next destination.
The drive towards The Storr is already a great experience. The open space, the mountains behind us and the massive sharp rocks slowly appearing in the distance. This is definitely a 'must see' when visiting the island, even if you can only drive past. The view is stunning and so surreal that it could easily be the background of a fantasy movie. If you decide to take a hike in the area you can wander in the Sanctuary, which is the front area of the cliff or you can climb the summit which however does involve a short but steep section of loose rock. The hiking trail is about 5 miles long so preferably plan a whole day for it.
The most famous spot in the area is the ‘Old Man of Storr’, which recently gained even more fame as the scenes to the movie Prometheus were shot there. After taking some lovely photos we waved goodbye to the Old Man and drove off to see the Lealt Falls..
.. TBC
You may also be interested in our previous blog entries about the Isle of Skye:
https://www.beautifulbritain.info/single-post/2018/05/15/The-Isle-of-Skye---part-1
https://www.beautifulbritain.info/single-post/2018/06/16/Isle-of-Skye---part-2---The-Fairy-Pools
https://www.beautifulbritain.info/single-post/2018/06/25/Neist-Point---Isle-of-Skye-part-3