rosslang

On May 30, after a week in London, we (family of 5) are taking the overnight train from London to Glasgow and picking up a car there. We’ve rented a cottage on Skye for the week. There are several places on/near Skye that I hope to see and hike on a sunny day if we get one. Staying in one place the whole week is what we like to do as opposed to covering a lot of territory from day to day.

We arrive at Glasgow Central on Saturday morning at 6:30 am. The car rental place opens at 8:00 (it’s located at Lancefield Quay) – we will get a taxi from the train station unless the rental place can deliver the car to us. (I’m going to call to ask..)
We will then have the whole day to drive to Skye (via the bridge). The cottage is near Uig. I know that is a long drive!

Here are the things we want to do. I think we will choose each day’s activity based on the weather.

#1 Around the Trotternish with time to walk/hike
(Fairy Glen, Duntulm, Museum of Island Life, Quirang, Storr)

#2 Take ferry to Mallaig – visit Glenfinnan & the Church of St. Mary & St. Finnan. Can we leave the car parked at the Glenfinnan visitor center and walk to the church or is it a separate drive to get there? I can’t find a map which includes the church to see how close they are.

After the ferry back to Armadale, visit Armadale Castle and Clan Donald Center. Could all of this be done in one day? If not, we could take another day to see Armadale Castle and combine it with the drive from Broadford to Elgol which I’ve heard so much about.

Also, at this time of year (first week of June) would it be safe to just show up for the ferry or would we need to have pre-purchased the tickets? I wanted to wait to see what the weather is before deciding which day to go to Glenfinnan.

#3 Golf at Isle of Skye course for husband and son, Portree shopping for the girls

#4 Dunvegan Castle, coral beach, Neist Point – walk to the lighthouse

I have also considered seeing Glennfinnan on the way to Skye from Glasgow, but I am a little concerned about the length of that day and also trying to get to the ferry (as opposed to driving via the bridge after the long day’s drive). Am I being too conservative about the time?

There are many walks and drives I have found to fill in other days if the weather is good. If we have lots of rain, we will fill the other days with rest and reading (and going out in spite of the rain!). Any suggestions for the best places to go on rainy days?

After the week on Skye, we will leave on Saturday to drive to Stirling where we will spend one night before starting the last part of our trip going south back to London (I’ll do a separate post about that part). Uig to Stirling is also a long drive. I’d like to leave by 8 am and stop at the Glencoe Visitors Center on the way. Does this sound reasonable if we hope to get to Stirling before dark? Are there other things we would have time to see along the way?

I welcome all suggestions for changes and additions. Thanks!

janisj

Just time for a couple of quick comments right now

You are going to have a wonderful trip. Very good plan.

On your Uig to Stirling day - sure that is doable. It is a long drive, but you knew that. But do not worry at all about it being dark - at that time of year you will barely experience ANY dark. The sun won't set until about 10 p.m. and be dusky for quite a bit longer. You will be to Stirling and settled hours before it gets dark.

You can hike to the church at Glenfinnan - or you can move your car and park right there.

rosslang

I appreciate the quick comments and I look forward to hearing more!

I have read many, many of your postings as I have done my trip planning. What a wealth of information! Many thanks!

rosslang

Just a repeat of one of my questions from above:

During the first week of June would it be safe to just show up for the Armadale-Mallaig ferry or would we need to have pre-booked tickets? I wanted to wait to see what the weather is before deciding which day to take the ferry from Skye to visit Glenfinnan.

twk

I took the ferry going from Mallaig to Armadale in mid-June and had booked advance tickets for the 16:00 ferry, but arrived a little early and they put us on the 14:45 ferry without us even having to ask if we could go early.

I would think that you could show up in the morning and buy tickets not only for your outbound ferry, but also, go ahead and book your return ferry at that time. It doesn't seem, from my very limited experience, that this ferry sells out well in advance.