Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
13
Skye and the Small Isles
For many visitors the Isle of Skye (An t-Eilean Sgiathanach) is the Highlands
in miniature. With its shapely summits and shifting seascapes, its superb
hiking routes, wildlife and crofting villages, it crams much of the region's
appeal into one manageable island. It even has classic Highlands weather.
According to one theory, Skye is named after the Old Norse for “cloud”
(
skuy
), earning itself the Gaelic moniker
Eilean a' Cheò
(Island of Mist).
Despite unpredictable weather, tourism has been an important part of the
economy since the railway reached Kyle of Lochalsh in 1897. The
Edwardian bourgeoisie swarmed to its mountains, whose beauty had been
proclaimed by the Victorians ever since Sir Walter Scott visited in 1814,
arguably the most successful tourism PR campaign in Scottish history.
People still come in droves, yet Skye is deceptively large. You'll get the
most out of it - and escape the worst crowds - if you explore the remoter
parts of the island.
he Clearances saw an estimated thirty thousand indigenous
Sgiathanachs
(pronounced “ski-anaks”) emigrate in the mid-nineteenth century; today, the
population is just over nine thousand. Tourism is now by far the island's biggest
earner and has attracted hundreds of incomers from the rest of Britain over the
last couple of decades, including an increasing quota of artists. Nevertheless,
Skye remains the most important centre for
Gaelic culture
and language outside
the Western Isles. Over a third of the population is fluent in Gaelic, the Gaelic
college on Sleat is the most important in Scotland, and the Free Church maintains a
strong presence.
In contrast to the crowds on Skye, the so-called
Small Isles
- the improbably named
Rùm, Eigg, Muck and Canna - receive only to the south a trickle of visitors. Each with
a population of fewer than a hundred and with its own identity, they are easily
accessible by ferry from Mallaig and Arisaig, though limited accommodation means
that an overnight visit requires planning.
Skye
Skye
ranks among Scotland's most visited destinations, with all the summer coach
tours that suggests. Yet the island also has twenty Munros to bag and year-round
hikers and climbers pay homage to the
Cuillin
ridge, whose peaks dominate the island;
you'll need experience and determination to explore them. For years, the hiking-and-
heather side of Skye was all you could get. So, the most interesting development is
that a new generation of islanders has introduced a vibrant arts and crafts scene and
updated the food and accommodation. Nowadays, Skye holds its own against
anywhere in Scotland. In fact, so sophisticated is some of the relaxation on offer that
the island is no longer the preserve of hikers and coach tours. he former congregate
around Cuillin or the impressive rock formations of the
Trotternish
peninsula, the
latter
Dunvegan
and its castle or
Portree
, the island's capital, with its modest charm
and amenities. And if the summer crush really gets too much there's always the
Isle
of
Raasay
off the east coast to escape to.
