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Iceland has its trolls, Northern Ireland its giants, and the Isle of Skye has its fairies.
Table of Contents
1. Fairy Glens
On my last day at the Spoons, after check out, I ventured out to the Fairy Glens, which is near the town of Uig. It was about a half hour drive from the Spoons, onto a different peninsula of Skye (called the Trotternish Peninsula).
I’ve been to some pretty obscure places. However, considering the Fairy Glens are one of the more famous places on Skye, I expected… at the very least, a sign post. Marie, from the Spoons, warned me that there was limited parking. She pointed out the small road to turn onto, off of the main road (A87). Just as you’re entering in the town of Uig, there is a small turn off, on your right. If you’ve pass the Uig Hotel, you’ve gone too far. It’s genuinely a small turn and a small road, with absolutely no signs. As you drive along, there are a few (very few) farm houses and lots and lots of sheep.
The only way you know that you’ve arrived at the fairy glens, is this small pond off to the side of the road. There’s no marker or sign, but the pond is the sign. It was frozen over in the winter time and luckily there was one car parked there, which meant at least someone is attempting the same thing as me.
There were no signs on which way to go, but I figured just go up. There was also kind of a path, but not really.
The story is that fairies dwell in the area, and still live in the hills to this day. Although there isn’t a specific fairy tale (pun intended) that tells the story of the fairies in the area, it’s common knowledge that this is where they live. After hiking upwards not more than 10 minutes, I came across these large concentric circles of stone, which I’ll be honest – I still don’t know what they are or what they mean. But I assume that I had arrived at the fairy glens.
Here is a 360 degree video of the fairy glens area, with the howling wind for a soundtrack. The lack of steadiness is because I am constantly repositioning my feet for security, as the wind keeps blowing at me and making me lose my footing.
2. Fairy Pools
There is another place in Skye, where the fairies bathe. Personally, it seems a far distance to bathe from the Fairy Glens where they live. Located on the Duirinish peninsula, the Fairy Pools are a series of waterfalls, near a forest, at the base of the Cuillin Mountains. Unlike the glens, there is a large parking lot for tourists to the Fairy Pools. However, there is no sign to point you in the direction of the Fairy Pools. You’ll have to walk across the street, and towards the river to start your journey.
There is a big path (above) from the road down a hill towards the river or creek. You do have to cross the waters sometimes, but there are very large rocks in place for you to cross safely. Just be careful of slipping, and if you are like me and carrying a backpack, you’re not as light on your feet when you need to jump across sometimes. No, don’t worry, I didn’t fall, but I definitely landed shorter than where I expected to, once or twice. haha
I don’t know if there is a specific fairy pool (online guides say you need to walk about 20 minutes before reaching it), but there were several small waterfalls, which were mostly all frozen over. In most places the water was frozen or semi-frozen, given the unusually frigid temperatures. But there was no wind, so it was generally a very relaxing and brisk hike. Some incline on the way up to see more waterfalls, but not too bad. The more exhausting incline was on the way back up to the parking lot.
Conclusion on the world of fairies on Skye
So, as you can see, the fairies on Skye live a very magical life in a magical place. I tend to think of fairies as warm weather creatures, so I can’t imagine they were fairing very well in the freezing temperatures. But hopefully they survived this unusual frigid weather, as I did, and hopefully spring is just around the corner!
Until next time, the fairies wish you a wonderful day!
Lannie is a perpetual wanderer and loves to share her travel adventures and the food she eats along the way with everyone.ย She works during the day while bouncing around the world and dreams about new places and faces at night!ย She has a home on the magical Isle of Islay in Scotland, where the whisky flows freely and happily.
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