Portree, Ben Tianavaig, Dunvegan Castle

Today we traveled to the city of Portree, hiked Ben Tianavaig, and visited Dunvegan Castle.

We started our morning visiting the same cute coffee shop from yesterday with the shipping container built into the abandoned building; it was fantastic yet again! Next we headed to the town of Portree, which is the main residential area on the Isle of Skye. The town was super cute, and we enjoyed walking through it before going to a grocery store to pick up ingredients for tonight’s dinner.

Next we headed to the base of Ben Tienavaig, which was a smaller mountain outside town. We got here via single lane road just like the routes yesterday, but it was much less busy over here so the driving was actually relaxing! The hike itself was overgrown at the beginning so we were a bit worried, but the foliage quickly broke and we were on the side of the mountain with uninterrupted views. Eventually we got to the mountain ridge, which afforded us 360 degree views of Portree and the surrounding mountain ranges, as well as the ocean. The day was so clear that we could see what felt like the entire Isle. It was incredible!!

Following the hike we headed to Dunvegan Castle, which is the oldest continually inhabited castle in Scotland. This was and continues to be the clan seat for the MacLeod clan, and they had fortified and expanded the castle many times over hundreds of years. We toured the inside of the castle, where they had many modernized rooms that had been retrofitted in the 1800s. One relic of the past was the dungeon, which was just a hole in the ground in the base of one of the towers. The only entrance was this hole, and prisoners would be dropped in to starve to death. Sadistically, the dungeon was next to the kitchen, and a small hole was installed so prisoners could smell the food cooking.

After touring the castle interior, we checked out its expansive gardens. These were hugely impressive, and included a woodland walk, water garden(waterfall and river installed area), and a walled garden with a greenhouse and walking path inside. From here we were able to also access the castle docks and servant buildings, and get great views of the castle itself!

After the castle we headed to our home for the night, which was a tiny home! It was a studio with a kitchen, bathroom, and bed, all built into essentially a prefabricated shed. It was really unique and fun to stay in, and we were shocked that Chris mostly fit 😂 We cooked dinner here(curry again) and enjoyed some episodes of Yellowstone before calling it a night.Read more