Some info for my readers on our trip to Skye
We organized our trip around a rough tour of ancient castles in
Scotland. Of course Dunvegan Castle is the most incredible one, but
more on that later. Our trip started in Callander with Doune Castle
(of Monty Python fame), then on to Oban with the massive Dunstafnage
Castle (The ferry to the western isles, including Lewis, leaves from
Oban), Glen Coe with Inverlochy Castle, Skye with Dunvegan Castle and
the Duntulm ruin, Laide, and finally Bridge of Allen.
You have to hike along the shore to get to it. We got about an 1/2 hour into the hike, before deciding that it looked smallish and lunch was more important...
We drove the lower loop on one of the days we were there. I
believe that the Duntulm ruin is along that loop. Duntulm Castle was
originally occupied by the MacDonalds, with whom the MacLeods has some
run-ins. It has long since fallen into decay. It used to be an "ocean
view residence;" be very careful when looking around in it. The outer
walls go straight down to the ocean, hundreds of feet below. Also, the
"car park" is back at the main road. Once you park, you must walk
along the ocean cliffs to the castle ruin. Fortunately, the path
treads inland, so there is no need to worry about the heights unless
you are near the outer walls of the ruin itself. Make sure you have a
full tank of gas before departing, I do not recall many stations around
the loop, and you only travel at 30 miles an hour on the single lane roads. Dunvegan
Beyond the gardens is a path that takes you out to the point opposite the castle. If I recall correctly, boat tours of the surrounding coastline launch from here. That is the point from which I was able to take the shots of the whole castle. The point lies just far enough away to fit the castle in typical camera's field-of-view. Dun Struan Beag Broch
Customs
-Adam
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Copyright 2007, Adam Keck. Some rights reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Creative Commons