Nic and Sue’s Euro River Cruise and l bits on the side. Autumn 2026. Day 12 – Plan C. Skye

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Up at ‘em a little bit earlier today as we want to squeeze in a few things on Skye.
Downstairs for a little bit breaky in the dining room, we managed to time it between 2 tour groups so it wasn’t too busy. Pretty stock standard breaky but served our purpose well.

Then off we went heading North West on Skye to look at the Claigan Coral Beach for our first stop.

The walk out is along the shore of Loch Dunvegan (a very big loch as it looks like you are looking out into an ocean)
We had lots of fine views on the drive out and the morning had sunshine, rain, waterfalls, sheep, cattle, villages and rainbows everything and more than you would expect from the Scottish countryside.

Thankfully the walk out to Coral Beach was without rain with only a bit of a brisk wind which was a win. The coastline walking out to the beach was just rocks, rocks and more rocks then around one corner in one Cove it looked like sand. On closer inspection it’s actually made of sun-bleached, crushed fragments of red coralline seaweed (maerl) and broken shells, almost palletised shells and millions of them, quite amazing! Evidently a very popular swimming spot in the summer which would still be chilly I reckon in the Scottish Lochs. When the tide is low you can walk across the small Island of Lampay.
Spotted a few birds and a few very end of season flowers that gave a bit of colour to what otherwise is so many hues of green and then sort of autumn colour of things turning for autumn or dying off for winter. Not sure which the colours just look great.

After leaving the Coral Beach, we headed for Dunvegan Castle.

The castle is the home of the MacLeods for hundreds of years. The history includes Vikings and Bonnie Prince Charlie Stuart, potato famine, and so much more.
But all along the MacLeods have held Dunvegan. The head of the family/castle holds the title of Chief. Today they have the 30th Chief in charge. Over the years there have been two female Chiefs.
Throughout the rooms of the castle the story of Dunvegan unfolded.

Lady Flora the 28th Chief is the great grandmother of the current and 30th Chief of Dunvegan.

Quite a bit of a connection to Bonnie Prince Charlie Stuart too.

The motto Hold Fast.

It was really well set out and open to visitors without a lot of rules etc holding you back, we could get up close and have a good look. The stories throughout each room were well told.

I had a look around the gardens too. They would be fabulous in the spring time. There was quite a bit of colour given the timing.

We travelled up the road a short way for lunch at The Old Schoolhouse Deli. A shared Ploughman’s Platter – was nice change. The cheeses were good and the pickles/chutney (mango and onion) was an amazing compliment.

Next a drive to Fairy Pools – which has a pretty long walk, so Sue waited in the car while I went out to look. The worst part of the walk was the steep bit down from and back up to the carpark.
It was gorgeous with the crystal clear waters seeping down the mountain moors to create a series of waterfalls and Fairy Pools. I’m sure the photos won’t do it justice though.

I was pretty footsore and a bit achy in places and I figured I deserved a treat. A drive a further 4 miles through the village of Glen Brittle to Cullin cafe. We shared a piece of blueberry and earl grey cake with a cuppa. I quite liked it, Sue not so much.

We detoured home via Portree, the largest settlement on the Island and its Capital. Had a bit of a cruise around to check it out and found some Highland Cattle. (EVERY shop seems to have photos, or trinkets featuring Highland Coos, but we haven’t seen any. I asked the young woman at the cafe if they actually exist on Skye. She indicated there were a few around Portree near the Manse.

Given it was getting late in the day we decided to eat in Portree after a driving tour of the town. I’d completely forgotten about the Manse or Manor – and when I remembered Sue couldn’t find anything on Google, when bugger me, if the tiny track we were on didn’t have Highland Cows in the paddock.

Sue found a restaurant on Google – Am Braigh (on the hill). It was poorly signposted and had no external name/signage. It was in the hotel part of a funky wooden pod camping place. Turned out to be ‘quite fancy,’ without reservations we needed to be finished by 8. It was a little after 6, so that was no problem.
I ordered Grilled Langostine and Bread/oil/vinegar, Sue had the mushrooms on toast and hand cut chips. Langostines were very bloody fiddly and messy but yum, Sue said both the mushrooms and chips were very nice.

Headed home with the almost full moon rising over the mountains and Lochs, looked stunning and the moon kept moving around us as we wended our way home in the night. Got home to strike roadworks had popped up basically right outside our hotel – the traffic lights were playing up and it took ages to travel the last 75m. Dropped Sue off, then couldn’t find a park in the hotel
Carpark. So I illegally parked opposite in a place for residents only. Will have to get up and move it in the morning.

All in all a great day – lots of walking, fun driving and wonderful sightseeing again.
We sadly leave Skye tomorrow.