For the second half of our stay in Orkney, we were based in Stromness, on the western end of Mainland. Smaller than Kirkwall, and oozing a bit more old-timy charm, Stromness proved a good base for exploring the western part of the island
hiking
Orkney Islands: hiking Hoy
On our second morning in the Orkneys, we woke up to snow. It was lovely to look at, but made us wonder about our plan to catch the ferry to Hoy for the day. From what we had read, Hoy was supposed to be very beautiful, but there wouldn’t be much to do there if the weather wasn’t cooperating. While we were at breakfast, the sun came out.
Isle of Skye: the Old Man of Storr
The Isle of Skye is a wonderful place for hiking, if you’re lucky enough to have cooperative weather. We spent an afternoon exploring the Trotternish Peninsula, topped off with a hike up the Storr to visit its old man.
Snow, food, wine, Italy
We absolutely love living in Edinburgh, but this city seems to have two major flaws: 1) it doesn’t get enough snow and 2) Italy is no longer within a reasonable driving distance. We were starting to feel it was time to address the deficits of snow and Italy in our lives.
Scotland: soaking up the Isle of Skye
Our road trip through the western Highlands ended with several relaxing days on the Isle of Skye.
Western Highlands: Plockton
It was still raining as we pulled into Plockton, but the charm of this small seaside town was evident even through the dreich.
Western Highlands: the lost days
After Durness and Faraid Head, we spent a couple days slowly making our way back down the west coast of Scotland.
Scottish Highlands: hiking the dunes of Faraid Head
Back to our road trip through the western Highlands. In our last post, we drove the beautiful strip from Ullapool to Durness.
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Scottish Highlands: driving the northern west coast
If you look at a map of Scotland’s west coast, you’ll notice that it’s awfully jagged. One can’t exactly drive along it for any significant stretch; instead you just kind of drive near it, wherever the (often single-lane) road takes you.
Read moreScottish Highlands: driving the northern west coast
Western Highlands: Ullapool
When we moved to Scotland, we started asking everyone we met for travel recommendations. “What’s your favorite place to visit?” “Where should we go first?” Often the answer ended up being something along the lines of “just drive up and down the whole west coast of Scotland.” The first chance we got, we did just that. Our first destination (after a spontaneous stop for a tour of Dalwhinnie Distillery) was Ullapool.