The Isle of Skye (an t-Eilean Sgiathanach in Gaelic) takes its name from the old Norse sky-a,meaning ‘cloud island’, a Viking reference to the often-mist-enshrouded Cuillin Hills. It’s the second-largest of Scotland’s islands, a 50-mile-long patchwork of velvet moors, jagged mountains, sparkling lochs and towering sea cliffs. (Lonely Planet)
Skye is the largest and most northern island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland and “parted” in several peninsulas. It is known for its dramatic and beautiful mountain scenery to cliffs falling into the sea, white beaches and old castles – you´ll feel like you’re in a fairyland where fairies and trolls still rule.
Skye’s history reaches back to dinosaurs roaming around the island and has been inhabited since 10.000 BC (Mesolithic period), was ruled by the Vikings and for a long time being dominated by the Clan MacLeod and Clan Donald. The Jacobite Rising in the 18th century lead to the breaking up of the Clan system and in subsequence to the “Highland Clearances” when whole communities had to leave their homes and villages and the mostly aristocratic landowners farmed their sheeps in these areas.
On the way to ones of Skye´s white beaches – the Coral Beach up in the northwest of the island, just north of Dunvegan.
