Aros Experience can be found on the southern edge of Portree (Phone: 613649; Viewfield Rd; Open: 9 AM – 5.30 PM). It combines book and gift shop, visitor center, theater and cinema. There is a large parking area in the Center, so drivers may take their car or bus to the front entrance allowing passengers to enter the building quickly, especially during rainy days.

In Aros Experience, you can buy souvenirs and gifts, while listening to the haunting tunes of Gaelic music, you’ll find an interesting range of Skye’s unique gifts. You might even commission your own Skye jewelry during your visit.

The 150-seat restaurant offers daily specials meals written on black boards and a range of snacks. Over the years they have established a reputation for delicious food at affordable prices. The restaurant may provide a catering service for groups however you need to pre-book. The catering service can be performed at any time that suits the group’s schedule. Once booked, they will guarantee that adequate space is reserved for the group in the restaurant. Often groups can order special dishes prior to arriving and the restaurant staffs can make suggestions according to your budget. Alternatively, the visiting group can choose from the current menu which changes each day.

Kids are welcome and they have provided small playing areas, one indoors and during sunny and clear days you can choose out-door playing area. Customers can dine outside, bask under the warm sunlight and revel the scenery of Portree Bay.

The visitor center (adult: £3; child: £2) offers fascinating views through live CCTV images on nearby heron and sea eagle nests. Groups can take advantage of their concession rates for this exhibition. It allows groups to view to the live nest-cam images with the help of RSPB officers. In this center, you can also get a wide-screen view on Skye’s amazing scenery; the aerial shots of Cuillin are worth the wait. The center is a perfect retreat during rainy and foggy days.

In the Isle of Skye Tartan, they offer a Kilt Hire service to cater all kinds of occasions and family photographs. For £40, you will get Kilt, sporran, jacket, shoes, belt & buckle, bowtie, flashes, and Sgian dubh.

Dunvegan Castle is a place that is filled to the brim with mystery and beauty. In 1933, the 27th Chief was the first to invite the public in to enjoy its majestic beauty. The castle was most famous for being a Hebridean stronghold and has not seen a change of ownership for eight centuries. It is a castle that has been impounded by history and historic drama for many years.

The castle’s large, impressive halls hold some very pricey heirlooms and many of them even date back as far as medieval era. The gardens and landscape that surround the castle, matches the stone building with all the grandeur it has. It is nestled between rocky edges on one side and beautiful, bustling plantations on the other. The castle gardens have drawn many botanists and gardeners both near and far.

The gardens also boast of waterfalls and glades and walkway paths to sooth the wandering soul. There is even a formal round garden you can visit when you are there. Most of the land near the castle is moorland that is barren and lacks substance, but the gardens on and around the castle grounds are lush and full of life. Many plants and tree species take root and grow in a thriving atmosphere here around the castle and its grounds and you would swear that the soil has some special, magic qualities to it. There are many different Rhododendron bushes that you will find in the formal garden as well.

It was built on the rocky edge of the sea for protection. The castle consist of six main building parts to it and five of them are open to the public. The one that is not open to the public and is reserved for the owner and family. The castle has seen many years of additional building and restoration that has all added to the castles alluring pull. If you make a visit to Scotland, no trip would be complete without visiting the castle and partaking of its mystical grounds and glens. Once you visit Dunvegan Castle, you will never forget its magical and special presence. You will always remember its structured walls that have seen as many as ten different building periods and the hauntingly beautiful rooms and halls.

There is evidence that the Isle of Skye has been inhabited since Mesolithic times. Isle of Skye history, as you can imagine, is therefore rich and varied with inhabitants dating back to the 7th century BC. Through the years the island has been home to many peoples and much activity for such a relatively small place.

Isle of Skye history is, for many, all about the Norse invasions. The island was ruled by the Vikings from the 9th century until the 13th century when the Treaty of Perth ended the wars between the Vikings and the Scots. This treaty ceded control of the island from the Norwegian forces to Scottish rulers. There is not a lot of evidence of this Viking rule on the island today but some clans can trace their descendants back to the Norwegian invaders.

Under initial Scottish rule much of the Isle of Skye history at this point was involved with a variety of clans, including the Clan MacLeod and the Clan MacDonald. These were warring factions and the island saw many disputes between the two families including the Battle of the Spoiling Dyke in the 1570s.

One of the most famous events in Isle of Skye history came in the 1700s during the Jacobite rebellion. The Scottish Prince, Charles Stuart, was rescued from under the noses of opposing Hanoverian soldiers by a local island woman, Flora MacDonald and secreted to safety via the Isle of Skye. This famous escape gave birth to the equally famous Scottish folk song — the Skye Boat Song.

From this point the ruling clans of the island were replaced in island rule by a series of estates. This period of Isle of Skye history can still be seen, however, in the castles and buildings that date back to this time including Dunvegan Castle, Armadale Castle, Knock Castle and Dunscaith Castle.

In the 18th century Isle of Skye history entered a darker phase as famine hit the island. The Highland Clearances that displaced people from the Highlands areas also had an effect on the island. This led to frequent skirmishes with the police and the armed forces and led to a significant dip in the island’s population which can still be seen today. In the early 1800s, for example, the island has over 20,000 inhabitants. By 2001 this number stood at just over 9,000.

People interested in learning more about Isle of Skye history might do well to take a visit to the island. Its population now mainly works in the tourism, agriculture, fishing and whisky distilling areas and this has become a popular holiday destination.