Destination: Fort William

Slán go fóill, Isle of Skye! You were stunning.

Today, we pointed our GPS toward Fort William. We actually got a lot done in the Isle of Skye area so we had a shorter list of destinations today. First, we set off to visit the Fairy Pools.

The Fairy Pools are a series of natural pools and waterfalls found at the foot of the Cuillin Mountains. This place was gorgeous! The trail was about a mile and some change to our end point so a total of maybe 2.3 or 2.4 miles. We started off on a very steep downhill incline toward the first waterfall, then it was a mix of incline and decline until we finally reached the last pool/waterfall. A good hike for us to start the day! It was a nice, calm morning. Yesterday we had crazy wind and it was pretty cold – but today was much milder and slightly warmer. We saw somebody get into the water! You can swim in these pools/falls, but I wouldn’t have today because while it was a nice day, it was still too cold to even think about swimming outside!

After climbing that steeeeep incline back to the parking lot, we had a quick snack of popcorn and some caffeine before we set off for Fort William. The next stop on our list was the Glenfinnan Viaduct.

Why did we want to see a viaduct, you ask. Well, it’s a location that has been used in several movies and tv shows, including The Crown and of course, our old friend, Harry Potter. (Specifically, in Chamber of Secrets where Harry and Ron thought it’d be a good idea to take Ron’s dad’s flying car to Hogwarts and then end up being chased by the train on the viaduct). We thought it’d be neat to check out. The Jacobite Steam Train is the same train they used in the Harry Potter movies too. So a fun nerdy moment for us. We weren’t the only ones doing this! We got to our viewpoint about 35-40 minutes before the train was due to pass through, and there were already a good sized group of people waiting for the train, and even more showed up after Kiley and I secured our spots on the side of a hill.

After watching the train make its journey across the viaduct, Kiley and I made the hike back down the hill and back to our parking spot. At this point, we were starving, so we set off for our hotel to drop off our stuff and find some grub at a nearby pub. Our hotel is in a building that used to be a prison! We are actually sleeping in a room that was a prison cell. We have bunk beds again – but I get the top bunk this time 🙂

Tomorrow we’re gonna continue working our way southeast, toward Loch Lomond/Balloch and checking out more sights along the way! Possibly another castle. 2 more nights in Scotland, then we’re off to London. More later!