Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Isle of Skye Tour to Fort Williams

The next town we pulled up in was Fort Williams, and it was just by the lake. If you're an Outlander fan, you would know about Fort Williams. I wasn't a fan when I went on this trip. But after the trip, I did eventually started watching the Outlander. The series hits different after you've visited the area that was mentioned in the series. Usually it's the other way around, I would read about a book or watched a show, and then I go visit the sights. Outlander was a total opposite for me, and to-date, I've completed season one, and half way through season two. Yes, I'm a slow watcher of series. and the Outlander has 8 seasons! The latest season 8 will actually be launched right after my 2nd trip to Scotland this year!

 

I think we got about one hour for our lunch break at Fort Williams. Again, it was kinda like a one street town, and unfortunately this was the only sight photo I got of it. 

As this was now the highlands, I did managed to get some photos of road signs. 

I thought the roadsigns were nice. And was hoping to catch some with Gaelic written on them. 

Here's the other side of the same road sign with a cute purple bus stop next to it. 

We couldn't find anything that wasn't a cafe-like place to for lunch. Eventually we found a fish and chip shop that fitted our budget. We went in, but it was actually run by an Indian family. I have been putting off eating Fish and Chips, but I guess I had no choice now. It was one of the cheapest thing to eat. Above is my husband's order, he selected grilled fish to be healthier. 

I'm more traditional, and I got the real deal Fish and Chips. And I don't regret it. It wasn't half bad! I quite enjoyed it if it weren't for the time crunch. I have having limited time to enjoy my meals!

After our brief lunch, while walking back to the bus, I saw this camel and took a photo of it. I thought it was hilarious. Plus, camels always reminds me of You Bastard from Discworld :P  This whole trip is like me exploring Discworld in real life! Lol. 

Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Isle of Skye Tour to Three Sisters (2/2)

The previous post was about our drive towards The Three Sister of Glencoe. This post is about our stop to view these beautiful gigantic mountains right in front of us. 

 

There were parking stops to best view the mountains. And I'm so glad our tour stopped for us to get a better look outside. 

The viewing area above. There was also a sign there for more information of the sights.  I am totally in love with the dramatic view of the landscape in Scotland. It was so different from other countries that I've visited before. 

The official information. I love these signs as they helped me recall or informed me of the places I've visited. Cause after the trip, almost all the view might be jumbled up together and you forgot which is which. With these signs, it helps guide your memory and help you have a logical order of the places you've visited.

Here's a nice photo of the info sign with the mountains as the backdrop. 

And the wonderful thing about the landscape is, it made you believe that you could just walk right into it. And that was apparently what many people do! I keep reading about the West Highland Way, and would have really love to walk it if only Scotland wasn't so far away from where I live! For now, I would just like to see the country first. And if I have the time and money in future, and energy, I would love to walk these lovely place! Above in the photo, you could see 4 person walking on the track towards God-knows-where! The trail looks endless! 

Here is another photo of some guy walking into the mountains. There isn't a sign that says you can't walk in. And when you are there, it looks very inviting to just walk right in and get lost in the landscape. I know I would. Perhaps that was how fairies lure you into their realm? I would have been so easily walked into their trap. 

Here's another photo of three person walking in the woods with no visible track! We will see many many more of this as we go along our tour. It was just so amazing, and so freeing. So very European!

A wefie before we leave our very first official Highland attraction!

Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Isle of Skye Tour to Three Sisters (1/2)

The drive through through the Highlands itself was truly something. It was just views and views of magnificent landscapes, with rolling hills and rolling clouds. The clouds were sometimes fluffy white, and sometimes dark stormy wool. Weather just changes as we drove past different areas. The road itself was also lovely, winding, turning and waving in and out the country side. There weren't a lot of towns or infrastructure along the way, so it was totally a very natural feel. 

Above is the view as we pulled out of Callender after our first toilet break. You could see the mist starting to gather near the woods, and the sky begin to turned a whitish grey. 

Yet strangely enough if you just turned your head to look at the opposite direction, the sky was filled with white clouds, and bright blue sky! You don't know which weather to believe at this point, and could only hope for the best! As long as it wasn't a pouring rain or a thunderstorm, I was good with it! I've done some sight seeing in rough weather before. So far, everything was still good here!

Lovely 'Window's Screensaver' view of green hills dotted with sheeps. 

Soon we also saw our first Loch (River/Lake in Gaelic). It wasn't anything spectacular, but I still captured a photo of it to mark that very first Loch. I was gonna see Nessie on this tour too. We'll be visiting Loch Ness on our last day.

Soon, the landscape got more and more magnificent as mountains started to appeared. 

We were approaching the Three Sisters of Glencoe. Most mountains in the Highlands have legends and stories behind them.  You can click the link to read more about this place. We were now driving through Glencoe. A Glen is the Gaelic word for Valley in English. I was slowly learning Gaelic! And I think it's such a lovely language, as is Irish :)

The mountain was so high that we could see snow caps on the peak of the mountain. 

And below it, we could see streams and rives from water melted at the top and flowing down to the land below. It made a beautiful sight of nature. 

A different view of the mountains. I was in awed and would just be happy just staring out the window as we passed by the lovely roads of Glencoe. This was the shooting scene from James Bond's Skyfall movie. Here's a clip to share. 

Our guide Jada was excellent in terms of driving the mood of the place. She played the soundtrack of Skyfall as we approached and driving through the glen, and it just made the trip 100x better! An immersive experience with soundtrack!

Mysterious mountain view. 

A small stream of water making their way down.... You could see the snowcapped on top too!

Bonus of the trip, we also saw what looked like the Glenfinnan Viaduct on our drive. That's the track of the Harry Porter Hogwarts Express travels on. I saw many tourist who are fans who wants to ride that train. It wasn't cheap either! Maybe that's why it has never interest me to give it a try. I'll be doing plenty of train rides in my next trip to Scotland, and I am more interested of the views than of the train :P  And just maybe, just maybe one of my train will go pass, or dare I hope, go by this viaduct too? Wish me luck!

Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Isle of Skye Tour to Callendar

 

Our last leg of the trip was joining a 3D2N tour with Timberbush to Isle of Skye. And I guess I was most excited about this trip cause I was finally going to see the real beauty of Scotland! I don't even know why I decided on this tour, as I normally don't join tours. I don't even know anything about Isle of Skye when I booked the tour! It was just something I've perhaps heard off in my subconscious mind. Another theory could also be, I thought it was the island that Luke Skywalker was stuck on in Rogue One..... 

So on the day of the tour, we got up early, and took a Uber to Castle Terrace where the tour company would meet us. An Uber! I was surprised that my account was still active! And it was surprisingly quite affordable and helped solved the issue of how to transport our luggage with us going up and down the roads of Edinburgh! At Castle Terrace, we were met with our guide Jada, and off we went when everyone was there. Day 1 was only going to be driving all the way to Isle of Skye! Lovely gloomy weather to set out! It was slightly drizzling when we set off. 

It was our first time leaving Edinburgh. It was exciting! To see the country side!

We drove passed a few famous landmark along the way. I think above here is Stirling Castle. I read it's one of the best castle in Scotland. Yet somehow, nothing seems to draw me to visit it (yet). 

We also drove passed the Kelpies, two horse metallic sculpture we saw by the highways. It was also a famous sight, but it was way out of Edinburgh and also never drew my attention to spend time visiting it. I think I would only go out of my way to see natural sights, or maybe something of special interest to me. But again, it was a bonus that I managed to see this on my 1st day with the tour! Also a special mention, there are no tolls to use the highway in Scotland, isn't that something? 

We were all given a map of the Highlands by our guide. As the ride was going to be long, we were told to study it and let the guide know which point of interest we would like to visit. I was shocked. I thought this tour was going to follow the itinerary specified? But since I was already on the bus, no refund for me now! We will just make do. Hopefully those in the group also wanted to see the same thing as me. Hopefully....

The first town we pulled into for a toilet stop was Callendar. I remember the name cause it sounded so much like 'calendar'. And this was a small town before we cross over to the official "Highlands' of Scotland. They made it sound like the Highlands was a different country than Scotland. Or at least, that was how I felt. Above was a hotel found in the town as we made our way to the toilet.

We got some time to wander around the town area too, which was really just one street. I saw this cute show above. Rob Roy was a famous character in Scotland. But all I saw was Rob Anybody, which was a famous character from Terry Pratchett's Free Wee Men book. And really, the two have their similarity! If you know, you know.....

Me and my husband walked from the bus stop all the way to the church before turning back. It was just a short toilet break, so we didn't have the luxury to wander further. This was just the first taste of the country side of Scotland for us. 

We saw some shops selling sweets and ice cream too. But I guess it was still too early for desserts. We didn't even have time to go browse the shops! I think we were given maybe just 15 - 20 minutes. 

Saw this chair with their weird pricing outside a barber shop too. I think Scottish people have a weird sense of humour, or perhaps a better word with be 'good nature'? Some of my favourite comedian are Scottish! Hint, you can zoom in on the photo to read the hilarious menu and their pricing :P

Last souvenir shot of Callendar, the sign above by Oscar Wilde. It actually reminded me of a scene from Good Omen. Here, I found a clip of it to share :) In multiple language too! Ah! Don't you just love the internet!

Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Edinburgh Night View, Shops and Dinner

We'll be ending our first chapter of Edinburgh with some  night view photos. This was the last night we're here before we head to the Highlands the next morning. We will be back again in Edinburgh for one night after our local tour, but we decided to see the night view first. Above, Balmoral Hotel at night all lighted up.

We even walked all the way to the castle to see the night view. I said before that we were tired from all the day's walking, but I think we did went back to rest a bit at the hotel before deciding to come out again to see the night view. I mean, it was a must see, right? Especially when the weather was good!

View from Edinburgh Castle Square during the evening as the lights slowly started to come on.

Old streets of Edinburgh around the Royal Mile area. 

It was so quiet on a Sunday evening. Most of the shops were closed by now, so there were less people on the street. I wanted to see reflection on the streets, but perhaps that is best seen on rainy days?

The cross road that we always walk by when we head towards Royal Mile from our hotel. 

One of the hotel/inn we walked by during the day, but looked so different at night. There was the word "Lets Talk About Art, Maybe...." on the top of the building. What is trying to implicate? I did not visit any art museum on my first time in Scotland, not partake in any festival or performances except maybe some buskers on the streets. I do plan to visit one pub on my second trip for some local folk music, and maybe even a Whiskey Flight (Whiskey tasting) at a different pub. 

Another high end restaurant that some reviewer say is over hyped. But I do so love the name of the place - The Witchery. I would love to dine there, if only I was willing to part of an insane amount of money for a single meal. I just can't bring myself to do that! Dining out in Scotland is so expensive. Probably in the range of 20pounds and above per person for a simple lunch. This place would probably cost me 50pounds or more? 

Bars and pub along the road. I didn't went into any. I did stayed above a pub in Skye. To be more accurate it was a bed and breakfast hotel with a pub below. But we were too tired to go. Heck I was so tired that I didn't even went to view the Northern Lights when my app alerted me that there is a high chance I could see some..... It was too cold! And too late at night to get up and dress and go out again......I might or might not have regretted that..... Cause I think even if I went out, I wouldn't be able to see anything. But we will never know now, would we? I hope I have more will power when I'm staying in Orkney next, and that the condition would be right for me to see something!

Lovely sign outside a restaurant. 

Lovely green shop, but closed. It felt like a curiosity shop. Something that wows and enchant you when you stepped into the shop and get lost inside....

The Scotmans Lounge pub/restaurant.

Greyfriars Bobby Pub. Not exactly night view, but I think I've yet to post this pub on this site?

With so much pubs and restaurant and cafe around, we mainly ate out of M&S Food Hall. Above is what we might have bough and stock our hotel room with. It was a lot more affordable than having a sit down meal anywhere. With this knowledge, I am more comfortable now to go back again for my second trip. This time, I'll even be staying for 2 weeks!

Some hummus that was so good that these days I make my own hummus at home with lots of olive oil and cumin. I'm also in love with the Pasta Salad that features the Honey Roast Scottish Salmon. I might have ate that 3 times while I was in Edinburgh, sometimes daily :P  It was just so delicious and addictive. I'm actually looking forward to eating it again!

Signing off with some French cheese I found at M&S. I managed to find the same brand in Little Farm Singapore during Christmas of 2025 and my husband actually bought one set for me. Best Christmas present! I managed to make 4 cheese platter out of it, and it cost around 20sgd or 25sgd. Totally worth it!