Kyleakin, Isle of Skye

Kyleakin offers some lovely walks. Right beside Blairdhu House is a beautiful forest walk, this will take you around 45 minutes, from the top, there is a spectacular view point where you can see for miles. There is also a lovely walk towards the ruins of the Castle and along the shoreline. In the evening many of our guests take a leisurely stroll  to the top of the bridge to see the beautiful sunsets, which are truly spectacular.

History of Kyleakin

Kyleakin is one of the main gateways to Skye and is now a picturesque fishing village. The name of the village Kyle Akin derives from the Scots Gaelic "Caol Acain" meaning the “strait of Haakon” this is where the Norwegian King Haakon anchored his long ships in 1263 on his way to the Battle of Largs; hence the name ‘Kyleakin’ bears his name (the island was Norwegian territory for hundreds of years). It was the victory of Alexander the III of Scotland here that brought large tracts of Scotland back from Norwegian rule and finally broke the power of the Norsemen on this side of the North Sea.

The village of Kyleakin is the site of the Castle Moil, an ancient fortress now in ruins. There is evidence of the strategic importance of the village and of its colourful history at Castle Moil which still dominates the views south from the village even though it is now in a poor state of repair. It was originally known as Dunakin, was built in the 10th Century as a Fortress and a Look-out, stronghold of the Mackinnons. It is also from there that the chain was said to be strung accross the Kyle and all ships had to pay a toll or risk the rougher outer passage. There were however certain rewards to paying the Toll!

Kyleakin used to be a landing point for the ferries which crossed from Kyle of Lochalsh on the mainland. This crossing in now made by the Skye Bridge which opened in 1995. It used to be the most expensive toll bridge per metre anywhere in the world, we are now happy to say that it is Toll Free.