September trip to Skye

I think it was watching Skyfall that inspired a trip to the Scottish Highlands. Bond in his trunks striding out of the Caribbean seems appropriate in spring, come Autumn I'm more into the idea of him greeting me with a tartan blanket and a whisky soaked hot chocolate.....

So here we are flying into Inverness airport in mid September for 4 days of the northwest of Scotland. I'd booked us a lovely little Scandi chic house on the island of Skye which is a few hours drive from Inverness. Philippa had flown in from NY the previous day and was knackered; I'd had 3 months in a new job full of 9pm finishes - rest was needed. Our drive was easy and beautiful - who knew Scotland was this goddam beautiful.the roads were surrounded by forests, mountains and heather. We drove onto Skye already happier. When we pulled into the drive of our home ' Skeabost Wood Cottage' we were very, very happy. The perfect house - cosy with stunning views from every window. Em got busy lighting the fire. Philippa got into her PJ's and I got the red wine open.........

Day 2 had us visiting Skye's castle ( Dunvegan) - run down but with lovely gardens. We then headed to the far west of Skye for a walk down to Neist point and lighthouse. 10.000 steps done we lunched at Skye's oldest bakery ( you can tell...and not in a good way.....) and made our way home before a Scottish dinner in the nearby pub. Lovely. 

Our third day had us driving up to the Totternish peninsula where we had stunning views of the Old Man of Storr - a 50m high pinnacle rock along with the gorgeous cliffs which go up this Coast. We lucked out by stopping at a cool little cafe called single track. It was started with crowd funded support last year and serves incredible drinks and homemade food, the views are awesome. We arrived at The Three Chimneys for our swanky lunch shortly after. A gorgeous little cottage restaurant - I had the seafood menu, Philippa and Em both had the set lunch. We feasted on local croft eggs, Scottish beef, marmalade pudding, cranachan and freshly caught scallops. Lovely. 

Our final day on Skye was full of blue skies - we started with an amazing drive on the road from lower breakish to kylerhea - easily the most beautiful road I've ever had the pleasure to drive on. I channeled my best rally driver mode and got us there safely. We did a walk to an otter hide which was gorgeous. After this we headed for lunch at the Oyster Shack just past the Talksker Distillery. I had 3 oysters ( (£1 each!) and a seafood platter and chips (£10) - it was all wonderful. We then waddled down the road to the distillery for a tour of the distillery, sipped a dram of talisker 10 year old and are definitely leaving Skye a lot more chilled out than we left London. Perfect. 

We stayed: Skeabost Wood Cottage, sleeps 4, £100/ night - a wonderful place

We ate: The Three Chimneys - Michellin starred but relaxed cosy room, £37.50 set lunch. Recommend.

The Oyster Shack - bargain seafood served from a shack just past the Talisker Distillery. BYO.

Single Track -amazing coffee shop on the Totternish peninsula, best hot chocolate the girls have ever had. My coffee was great and the homemade lunches looked awesome. You have to go.