Best Activities for a Rainy Day in the Isle of Skye

It rained most of the night, as it has every day of the trip. But this rain isn't expected to stop today until the afternoon - putting a kink in our only day to see Isle of Skye.  

Best rainy day activities on the Isle of Skye?  Ha!  There is nothing to do here in the rain so I just went with the itinerary I already had planned. 

Today the gods are ignoring the 5-minute weather rule. It is downright blustery, rainy and windy. The dreary Scotland weather is living up to my expectations, which is why I have never visited before. Supposedly July and August are "the window" to visit. Our host says the weather is unusually rainy this year; a few weeks ago it rained nonstop for 5 weeks. Just my luck. She said there was no point continuing our plans for the day because with the low-lying fog we wouldn't be able to see anything. So I changed up the order of events.

Ignoring the rain, we started with a drive all the way across the island to the island's most westerly point. One minute we were driving on a normal road in Portree and then all of a sudden, we crossed over cow guards, and it felt like we were pulling up to someone's private barn. 

"Where the hell are we going. I would not have expected a road like this." -- driver

Looking to us for help, these poor sheep were trying to find shelter from the rain

That's ok. Take your time.

If our day had gone as planned, we probably wouldn't have made it to the Neist Point Lighthouse, one of the most famous lighthouses in Scotland. My notes to myself say not to make the drive if the weather isn't nice - but we went because we had nothing else to do in the rain.

It is a 45-minute walk down to the lighthouse and back. (You can't see the lighthouse from the parking lot.)

This picture is deceptive - you can't tell that we are being blasted with gusty wind and heavy mist

The most scenic spot to take a picture of the Neist point is, ironically, not on the little peninsula at all. It is from the cliffs alongside the (tiny) parking lot.  Ideally that is where we would have been on a clear afternoon close to sunset.  However, it was so incredibly windy when we got there that I was afraid to go anywhere near the cliff - and wanted to test the path first. I never got the picture because when we made it back to the parking lot the fog was so heavy we couldn't even see the first hill. 

Next we went to Dunvegan Castle, the home of the MacLeod chief. The place was packed - other than Talisker Distillery, this is the only rainy day activity of the isle. The castle's claim to fame is that it has been lived in for the last 800 years, making it the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland!

Even in bad weather you can go down to the sea loch (where the seal tours leave from) for a grand view back up to Dunvegan Castle.

Looking at the family tree, I was trying to figure out why the oldest brother isn't the current chief. It turns out that his parents are divorced so now he is considered illegitimate, and therefore is no longer the rightful heir. Brutal.

I know people recommend Dunvegan Castle but it is the one thing we have done so far that I would say is skippable. There is an informational video about the MacLeods and the castle straight out of the early 80s. It reminded me of a boring high school history lesson. However, I would have liked to see the current heir drink a half gallon of wine out of the Rory Mor's Horn in one gulp to prove himself deserving of the role of Clan Chief. (Sounds like a good clan to belong to!)

We continued on our trek to see sites that are normally best on a sunny day (if there is such a thing). If we had something else worthwhile to do in the rain then I wouldn't have gone but this was our current best option and I was curious ... Beyond Dunvegan Castle is a beach made out of crushed white coral-like seaweed. Its turquoise water makes the location look downright tropical.

On a shore lined with black stones, the white "sand" at Coral Beach appears like a mirage.

I could tell by all the nearby 'no parking' signs that Coral Beach is obviously very popular. If you want to see it, you'll probably either have to go in the rain or early morning because the parking only holds 20 cars and there is nowhere else to park.  In our dreary weather, the lot was already half full. From the parking lot you walk 25 minutes to the beach. 

I was excited when we finished up at the beach and it had stopped raining - that meant that maybe there was a chance we could do my most anticipated activity of the day  hike the Quiraing! But as we drove back to the east side of the island, the weather only worsened. It was so misty out that we couldn't even see the Isle of Skye's most popular feature, the Old Man of Storr rock outcrop - which was visible to us yesterday from a great distance away. Today we were up close and it was shroud in a cloudy mist. We continued on anyway, hoping the weather would improve by the time we got there.

But then, on our drive to the Quiraing - near Seadrift B&B - something magical happened…

Every single shop in Scotland is selling something with a highland cow on it which is baiting on my obsession of trying to find one of those sweet hairy coo! I know they aren't just a marketing ploy and really do exist because strangely there are some right next to my work in California. But they sure are proving to be elusive! I thought that the Isle of Skye, supposedly near the Sconser golf course was my best opportunity. You know what I found there? Sheep! Sheep are like 7-Elevens here … they are on every corner. They are not the creature I am looking for. I was beginning to lose hope.

All of a sudden on a hillside above us and at least 100 feet away, my eagle eyes spotted a dozen adorable coos!  Greg screeched the car to a stop and I scrambled through the long grass up the hillside - and could hardly make out their long hair. A couple of them were closer (20-50 feet) so I called out to them. I was so excited when they slowly meandered over to me! Yes, now we could leave Scotland!

Heilan coos lush long hair protects from them the fearsome weather. They are renowned for their friendly nature so don't be intimidated by their menacing horns.

Both these babies came over to say hello to me!

As part of the Trotternish ridge, the Quiraing (pronounced "Ki-rrrrung") has been formed by a massive landslip which created its high cliffs, hidden plateaus and pinnacles of rock. It is a must see!

Every view from the Quiraing trail is gorgeous!

It was so windy you could lay your body into the wind and it held you up!

The trail is a loop (4.2 miles). The bottom portion of the trail is easy and flat; climbing up/back down from the top portion is where it gets technical.

Determined not to turn around like everyone else, we followed four boys from Virginia up the ridge to the high table for 2 miles of walking through flowing water and mud.

I think it is funny how in the beginning we were so careful to stay out of the water - when in the end it was our chosen, easier pathway

If the cliffs above are fogged in then don't bother going up to the top to continue on with the loop. It was a swampland of water and mud up there. I was being very careful to stay away from the cliff's sheer drop off, fearful the wind would blow me off. But due to the lack of visibility, we couldn't tell where the edge of the cliff was. 

Somehow in all the rain today we managed to rack in 11.3 miles. It felt great to be exercising again!

The benefit of having poor weather in Scotland is that the midges don't like it either. They are out in force on summer days. Similar to a mosquito, they love feasting on people and have mouths that work like saws to cut through skin. Scots say, "If you kill one midge, a million more will come to his funeral." We came prepared with Avon's Skin So Soft but in Scotland you can also buy "Smidge" spray.

Greg hates this single-track driving. I hate this weather. But it sure made for an adventure today!