United Kingdom Holiday | The Highlands + Isle of Skye
What had to have been the most magical portion of our United Kingdom holiday was our road trip through the highlands. We drove from Edinburgh through the mountainous Cairngorms National Park, to Inverness, down the famed Loch Ness, and eventually to the Isle of Skye.
One of our stops along the way included Blair Castle. We didn't really have specific castle plans, but luckily for us you literally just have to watch out your window and you'll see practically hundreds if you're traveling! So we spotted Blair in the distance and went for it. Beyond the castle itself is a wooded nook, Diana's Grove, where some of the tallest trees in Great Britain exist.
Photos of me by Bryana Riutta.
Mix of images from my Fujifilm Mirrorless + iPhone 6s.
Just up the road from Blair Castle we hit the Falls of Bruar and surrounding trails:
Inverness + Loch Ness:
After sleeping along Ness, we embarked for what has become my favorite place: the Isle of Skye. We made random stops along the way, including the Eilean Donan Castle.
For those of you who already know me, I really DESPISE caterpillars. I don't really have a good explanation why except that I've had a few traumatic experiences in my youth with infestations and a mean ex-boyfriend who would put them in my hair. Anyhow, in rainy, chilly, foggy Scotland, caterpillars were the last thing on my mind... until Bryana and I made a random roadside photo stop and discovered while we were already in the brush there were long, furry caterpillars everywhere!!! So that photo of my smiling two frames above? Yeah, I was nervously laughing and clenching my teeth... because caterpillars... yep.
Upon arriving on the isle, we hiked up the Storr, completely swallowed in fog. If you Google pictures of 'Old Man of Storr,' you'll see the crazy cool rock formations we couldn't until we were a mere few feet away! The fog was that thick!
Portree + other stops along Skye:
We stayed the night at an Airbnb in the small mountain town of Torrin: population basically sheep and cattle. While we were winding down, I made the worst realization ever. I had left my camera bag under my chair in a restaurant over 30 miles away down foggy, single track roads. Cell service was pitiful in the remote village we were staying, so Bryana and I hiked through the pastures under a pitch black night out of desperation to a random phone booth in the mountains! Hahaha! But to no avail, the phone no longer operated for nonemergency calls. Thankfully later on, we were able to get wifi calling to work at our Airbnb and got a hold of the restaurant to find my camera was safe behind their front desk.
Torrin + the phone booth:
After spending more time browsing artist shops in Portree, we started making our way back toward Glasgow. Along the way we stopped in Glenfinnan, where the iconic Hogwarts Express train scene in the Harry Potter movies was filmed.
