Home -> Europe -> Scotland -> Travelogue 2005 -> Tuesday 10 May

Via Skye to Mallaig

Since we have been to Applecross already, we can now take a quicker route to Skye. And we are in no hurry, anyway, to say goodby to Iain en Cathy. So, we take our time to have breakfast and then drinking coffee with our friends. It is always hard to leave Beauly, but we will be back.

This summer we want to spend our holiday driving through England to explore the other parts of the United Kingdom and we imagine that we can drive all the way up to Beauly again at the end of the holiday. The trip for today is not so long and if we don't have time enough we can always change our plans. There is only one fixed dat and place and that is the 16th of May when we have to return the rental car at Edinburgh airport at noon.

Along Loch Ness we drive a short distance to the south and then turn right to the west. This time we want to enter Skye by ferry from Glenelg. We have been here before (2003) but then the ferry didn't go. It is a small boat with space for four cars and we can immediately drive onto it. For 7 pounds we are transported within 5 minutes to Kylerhea (pronounced as Killrhee) on Skye.

From Kylerhea there is only one road we can take, another narrow and twisting road, to take us further into Skye. Another breathtaking route through a very nice part of Scotland. Since there is a bridge connecting Skye directly to the mainland, people are inclined to take that faster way, but we can recommend this itinerary. The ferry is in bussiness from Easter Monday ubtil the end of September (all days, except sunday).

Skye is a beautiful island, but this time we cross only a small part of it, Sleat peninsula, to Armadale where we take the ferry to the Mallaig on the mainland. willen nemen. This former single track road is also broadened into a two-lane road and we are glad we have driven here when it still was a 'real' Scottish single track road. It is much warmer than the past few days and we can sit outside to wait for the ferry at Armadale, where a bagpiper is waiting to start his show for the people who arrive from Malaig.

This crossing takes more than half an hour and we get a nice view on Skye, the mainland and the islands and peninsulas around. The wind is blowing hard and we feel cold when we go back to the car to leave the ferry. But when we arraive at Mallaig it feels very nice, like on the day when we arrived.
The price of the ferry for two people and a car is 23 pound, almost € 35.

In Mallaig we see several B&B's, but we choose for a hotel where smoking is allowed (yes, we know, it isn't healthy, but we are still addicted...). From our room we have a great view over the harbour, especially when the sun sets in the sea. My feet are hurting quite a bit, so we decide to spend here an extra night to get some rest. My feet are my weak spot, as is her back for Elisabeth.

But that is allright as long as we take care, what we haven't exactly done at Beauly when we went to bed too late, almost every night... And we haven't been to this part of Scotland before, so we can have a look around tomorrow. But first a good night sleep, that is the most important thing now!

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with Elisabeth and Teije