The Fairy Pools

The weather was forecast to be sunny so we planned to visit the Fairy Pools which were only a 20 minute drive from our cottage in Fernilea. The Fairy Pools are a series of small pools and waterfalls situated at the foot of the Black Cuillin Mountains. It was a beautiful morning so on the drive we kept stopping to take photographs of the scenery.

^{Drive to the Fairy Pools}

When we arrived it was actually really hot (which we had not expected) so the kids and I put our shorts on in the car before heading on our walk.

Just before you reach the first waterfall there is a stream you need to cross using stepping stones.

The waterfalls are all really pretty. When we had visited a few years ago I didn’t let Tom and Izzy climb down to the water as they were quite little but this time we let them. Izzy spent ages collecting rocks to try and build dams to slow the water down. We all really enjoyed climbing down to each pool and luckily it wasn’t too busy so we always seemed to have a little rock pool to ourselves. There were also people swimming in some of the pools but unfortunately I didn’t have our swimming kit – although the water was freezing!

^{Fairy Pools}

At one point the mountain rescue helicopter flew over head but we think it was just doing a training run as it was just flying low over the landscape.

Stu and I wanted to walk to the end but Tom and Izzy had found a stretch of river to play in so we left them to it and finished the walk. They were still in the water when we returned so we let them walk down the stream as far as they could. When we got back to the car park it was full so it was a good job we had arrived early.

^{Fairy Pools}

Loch Brittle

We decided to continue down the road to have a quick look at Loch Brittle. There was a campsite there and we played on the beach for a bit. There were views towards the Isle of Canna and Rum but we didn’t stay long and decided to head to Talisker beach instead which was close to our cottage.

^{Loch Brittle with views towards Rum and Canna}

Talisker Beach

Talisker beach is a secluded black sand beach surrounded by cliffs with a waterfall coming down off the cliffs. It is a bit of a walk from the parking area to the beach along a country path but I had promised Stu that the beach was worth it. Unfortunately because it was summer and there can’t have been much rain – there was no waterfall – although you could see the marks on the cliffs where it normally would be!

It is still a lovely beach and there were cows grazing next to it. It starts off very stony which was quite hard to walk on but then you reach the sand. It was still surprisingly hot so Tom and Izzy ventured into the water in their clothes as we didn’t think to take the swimming kit! I didn’t imagine for one minute it would have been warm enough to get into the sea! Luckily we did have towels in our rucksack.

^{Playing in the sea}

After 20 minutes or so it was time to head back to the car as we were worried the kids would get cold.

The Quiraing

The next morning we ventured to the north of Skye so we could visit the Quiraing, Kilt Rock and the Fairy Glen. Our first stop of the day was The Quiraing (an area of landscape where there are lots of cliffs and rock formations) to do a bit of walking. When I visited with the kids a few years ago we were wearing flip flops so only got out of the car to take a photo.

The scenery is beautiful and we followed the path for a bit but it became very narrow with quite a steep rolling slope to the right so we gave up!

As the sun was trying to break through the clouds we were able to take some lovely photos!

^{Photos of the Quiraing}

Kilt Rock

Next we visited Kilt Rock which should have had a waterfall flowing over it – however as we should have guessed from Talisker beach – the rivers were quite dry so there was no waterfall!!! It was still nice to look at the coastline.

^{Views from Kilt Rock}

The Fairy Glen

Our final stop was the Fairy Glen. We parked up and had a wander and climbed some of the mounds.

We walked round the lake which I did last time I visited but we continued along the path where we came to the actual Fairy Glen – somehow I missed this last time!!!!

It was really cool and there were loads of paths you could follow and some little stone circles. Tom and Izzy went off to explore whilst Stu and I watched some people who were trying to film content for Instagram or tiktok.

^{The Fairy Glen}