Isle of Skye – Land and Cruise Adventure – Spirit Journeys Worldwide
Description
Enjoy this unique one-week trip around the mystical Isle of Skye, mixing luxury hotel stays with a short 3-night cruise for a real adventure around its beautiful coastlines and mainland. During this time, experience the amazing Highland hospitality of the Sonas Hotels family and enjoy a night at each of their three wonderful hotels on Skye. In the middle of the trip, you will enjoy a short cruise adventure aboard the comfortable and very capable small ship the MV Hjalmar Bjørge with Hebridean Adventures, taking you around the dramatic and scenic coastline of the Isle of Skye. Back on shore, you will explore the island with SKYEFARI 4×4 Wildlife Adventures, spotting and learning about the wildlife native to Skye, both on land and in the seas with their very experienced guide and ecologist. This may include otters, golden and white-tailed eagles, deer, seals and even possibly whales and dolphins. You will also have the chance to see the wildlife that comes out as day turns to night using thermal imaging technology!
Duisdale House Hotel is a luxury, award-winning, family-run boutique hotel on Skye’s southern Sleat Peninsula. With breathtaking views over the sea loch to the mountains beyond, this former hunting lodge oozes character and charm. Each of the individually styled bedrooms is unique and distinctive and complements the historical features of Duisdale House. Comfort and relaxation are paramount, with each room thoughtfully equipped with everything you need for your stay including free wifi, LCD TVs, ensuite bathrooms with rainfall showers, bathrobes, and luxury toiletries.
The hotel boasts an award-winning restaurant and an elegant lounge with high ceilings and log fire, and a patio overlooking the gardens. There is also a stylish, contemporary bar stocked with local gins and malt whisky. With 2 AA Rosettes for food, dining is always a special occasion at Duisdale, with a menu that changes daily and focuses on showcasing the best of Skye’s fresh local produce.
Set in its own private grounds, just 10 minutes from Portree, this historic hotel enjoys stunning views across Loch Snizort. Its location makes it an ideal base for exploring the island's many visitor attractions.
Spacious lounges with open fires make the perfect place to relax with a good book or sample one of the Highland's many fine malt whiskies.
Skeabost began life as a Victorian hunting lodge in 1871, but there has been a home of some sort at Skeabost since Viking times when the name meant The Sheltered House. Just a short walk from the hotel along the river you will discover ruins of two small chapels associated with St Columba – the first Christian missionary to Scotland. Skeabost has its own chapel, now a stunning private dining room and intimate wedding venue.
The River Snizort which runs through the grounds provides some of the best salmon and trout fishing on Skye with ghillie Danny on hand to provide expert advice and tuition.
Lovingly restored and stunningly refurbished, this iconic historic hotel is an idyllic retreat in a jaw-dropping location on the Isle of Skye.
This Hebridean gem has, many times, won the title “Scottish Island Hotel of the Year” at the Scottish Hotel Awards. With its comfortable lounge and bar stocked with local whiskies and open fire, this is a gorgeous place to begin your evening after a day exploring our beautiful Island.
With just 11 rooms, Toravaig creates an intimate home-from-home feeling but with the added benefit of luxurious bedrooms, all named after the Hebridean Islands. Located beside Torabhaig Distillery, the award-winning Toravaig is perfect for family and friends to come together.
MV Hjalmar Bjørge (the correct Norwegian pronunciation is ”YAL-MUH B’YOR-GAY” but we call her the “HAL-MUH GEORGE” to keep life simple) is a former Norwegian ice-class rescue vessel. Since undergoing an extensive refurbishment this outstanding small ship combines luxury and comfort with seaworthiness eminently suited to adventurous sea voyages for up to 12 passengers. The beauty of a vessel the size of Hjalmar Bjørge is that it’s large enough to contain comfortable cabins and saloons, but small enough to drop anchor in the most inaccessible and picturesque locations that passengers on larger cruise ships can only dream about. If you’d like to share this experience with a small number of like-minded guests then you’ve come to the right place.
Itinerary
Arrive in Skye at your own leisure or meet our representative from Spirit Journeys Worldwide at Inverness Airport for a private transfer to the island.
Have a fantastic lunch at the Duisdale House before your group leaves on an afternoon SKYEFARI around the Kylerhea area, and potentially see some otters on your journey! Keep an eye out for the “Skye Five”, the main wildlife species you will see on the island – these include golden and white-tailed eagles, seals, otters, and deer.
In the evening, the whole group will have a welcome dinner at your hotel as you celebrate your first day on tour.
Overnight at Toravaig House Hotel.
Included: SKYEFARI, accommodation, lunch, and dinner
This morning, make sure you have a good breakfast to prepare for the day ahead.
You will be transported to your boat, the MV Hjalmar Bjørge, to start your cruising tour. Cruise along Loch Scavaig and take in the beautiful landscape and wildlife. Look out for cetaceans such as dolphins or porpoises, basking sharks, white-tailed eagles and seabirds, and coastal mammals such as seals and otters!
Make your way to the beautiful Loch Coruisk for a lunch stop, and then continue your cruise to Loch Harport where you will spend the night. Enjoy your dinner at anchor and your first night aboard the ship.
Overnight on the boat.
Included: Bed and breakfast, lunch, dinner
Wake up and have breakfast on the boat. Enjoy a relaxing day cruising around the island, passing Macleod’s Maidens and the famous lighthouse at Neist Point, before having your lunch on the boat where you’ll potentially be able to see Dunvegan Castle depending on the anchorage. Today will be filled with opportunities to spot some more of the beautiful marine wildlife, such as dolphins or porpoises, basking sharks, white-tailed eagles and seabirds, and coastal mammals, seals, and otters.
You will take final anchorage for the night in the Waternish area where you will enjoy dinner on the boat and your 2nd night aboard.
Overnight on the boat.
Included: bed and breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Breakfast on the boat before departing the Waternish peninsula with its small lighthouse on the point.
There may be time to pass by the Ascrib islands in Loch Snizort, a small group of deserted islets where wildlife has taken over before cruising up and around the Trotternish peninsula and the
the northernmost tip of Skye, finally heading down the coast to view Kilt Rock and the Meallt Falls from the sea, and before finally heading into Portree for the night and your last dinner on board the Hjalmar Bjørge.
Overnight on the boat.
Included: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
After a last breakfast aboard, you will leave the boat behind for your second SKYEFARI tour, with perhaps time for a quick look around Skye’s main town of Portree before leaving. Today you will see Kilt Rock, the Old Man of Storr, and all the beautiful coastal and mountain scenery in-between along the Trotternish peninsula, as well as keeping a lookout for the Skye Five along the way of course!
After your tour, we will head to the Skeabost House Hotel for the night where we will have dinner.
Overnight at the Skeabost House Hotel.
Bed and breakfast, SKYEFARI.
After breakfast at the Skeabost House Hotel, we will depart for our third and final SKYEFARI tour.
Heading south along the length of the island, we will have great views of the magnificent Cuillins as well as plenty of shorelines right by the road which means good chances of spotting both eagle species as well as otters and seals.
By the afternoon we will arrive at your final stop, the Duisdale House Hotel where you will have your final dinner that evening.
Overnight at Duisdale House Hotel.
Included: bed and breakfast, SKYEFARI, and final dinner
Today you sadly depart your tour and return home after your breakfast at Duisdale House Hotel. You can depart the Isle of Skye at your own leisure, or a private transfer will be available to take you to Inverness.
Included: Breakfast
Tour info
Why take this tour?
Scotland, land of Celtic myth, history, and breathtaking beauty, has countless treasures crammed into its relatively compact territory – from big skies to ancient architecture, from spectacular wildlife to superb seafood and to top it all incredibly friendly, hospitable, and down-to-earth people.
Outside the ancient and beautiful UNESCO World Heritage capital city, Edinburgh, and other urban centres like Glasgow, once home to the largest shipping industry in the world but now a lively city of art, culture, great dining, and bars, the visitor is entranced by mountains glistening with the silver threads of icy rivers and waterfalls tumbling from highlands to lowlands. Here you’ll find villages with stations where you need to put your hand out to request a train stops and then suddenly, around the next mountain corner, a landscape peppered with gleaming lochs and expansive vistas.
Scotland has some of the last significant wilderness areas left in Western Europe. Here you can see golden eagles soar above the lochs and mountains of the northern Highlands, watch minke whales off the coast of Mull and spot otters tumbling in the kelp along the shores of the Outer Hebrides.
Scotland is also an adventure playground: you can tramp the sub-arctic tundra plateau of the Cairngorms, sea kayak among the seal-haunted mystic isles of the Outer Hebrides, mountain bike on world-class trails near Scotland’s highest mountain, trek along the valley or mountain trails and balance along tightrope narrow ridges between the peaks of the great Cuillins on Skye or take a speedboat ride into the legendary white water of the Corryvreckan whirlpool.
Scotland is a land with a rich and multilayered history. A place where every corner of the landscape is steeped in the past. A deserted croft on an island shore is a testament to generations past.
Included
Tour guiding
Accommodation - mixed standards
Meals where mentioned
Cruise
Excluded
Anything not mentioned in the itinerary
Transfer from and to Inverness - Extra cost on request
Things to know
Essential Info
Please contact us for transportation from and to Inverness. Timings of the tour may differ due to tidal changes.
Please contact us for transportation from and to Inverness. Timings of the tour may differ due to tidal changes.
Tour Suitability
Solo: Yes
Couples: Yes
Children: No
Groups: Yes
Wheelchairs: No
Solo: Yes
Couples: Yes
Children: No
Groups: Yes
Wheelchairs: No