“Previously on ‘Outlander,’” I joke to my husband as our wind-whipped selves stare out at the dramatic cliffs plunging into the northern Atlantic Ocean during our Neist Point Walk on Isle of Skye.
It’s part of a 7-day trek nearing the end of Scotland’s tourist season, and this Scottish sojourn is providing actual respite (the limited cell service on this stretch of Isle of Skye certainly helps). We jokingly refer to ourselves as reverse commuters, those who prefer traveling to destinations in their shoulder or even off season, and it’s a trend that travel advisors and the broader travel community are taking note of. Airlines like Delta are even expanding their seasonal transatlantic flight schedule to capture more business of folks like us, who venture out once school is back in session.
The case for Scotland specifically, beyond the windswept drama and the drams of whisky, is that the country doesn’t really have an “off” season so much as it has a season when the landscape is far more pleasant to navigate. The midges are mostly gone. The single-track roads are navigable without the white-knuckling of peak-summer passing places. There’s more time to break free of deadlines and explore side streets and small towns and genuinely unwind.
Loch-Side and Lovely
We landed in Edinburgh, collected the rental car, and kept moving — The Pierhouse Hotel, a waterfront property near Port Appin outside Oban, was the first stop, and it was worth the nearly three-hour drive. The route takes you through increasingly green scenery that starts making one wonder just how hard it is to run a farm and dream of passing time raising sheep and writing a novel. By the time the road narrowed in Port Appin and Loch Linnhe came into view with the Isle of Lismore floating beyond it, decompression from city stress had fully set in just as the sun was about to dip below the horizon.
I quickly warmed to the Pierhouse thanks to its cozy accommodations, afternoon tea and cocktails at The Ferry Bar, and creative dishes at Michelin-recognized The Lismore Dining Room. The seafood platter — langoustines, scallops, mussels, and oysters arriving from local waters — is the main show, but don’t miss out on hearty roasts and even a savory soufflé with Isle of Mull cheddar. While dinner might be the culinary star attraction, I found myself drawn more to The Ferry Bar during the afternoon for a fireside seat with a book and enjoying the flurry of locals coming in and out for socializing with their many well-behaved dogs. Just don’t tell mine he would have been able to stay here.
While nearby Oban offered more of a slate of amenities of a bustling seaside town for those in need of coffee runs, whisky tours, and retail therapy, Port Appin and the Loch Linnhe waterfront were my preferred on-ramp to a tranquil week in Scotland.
The Skye’s the Limit
The drive up through Glencoe toward the Isle of Skye is one of those journeys that redefines what “dramatic” means. While the weather went from crisp to blindingly snowy at times, the sudden landscape transitions from pastoral to a lunar-like rocky to seemingly gravity-defying meant frequent pulling over for a photo. After several of these vista breaks, we crossed the Skye Bridge and arrived at The Three Chimneys, a restaurant-with-suites near Dunvegan that has anchored numerous culinary pilgrimages to the island for decades.
Chef Paul Green oversees the menus that read like a love letter to the Hebrides: hand-dived scallops, Skye langoustine, and Vatten Farm hogget (a lamb dish), to name a few of the standouts. The cozy dining area meant we also easily made friends with a few of our fellow diners (a special thanks to the one who pointed out which waters in the vicinity were home to good luck from fairies — some of the snowy driving needed all the fairy good luck we could find!).
The restaurant’s partnership with Talisker Distillery, whose legendary single malt is produced just up the road, adds to the overall message that The Three Chimneys is here to elevate all of Skye’s producers. Skye Weavers blankets used in the comfortable suites are great take-home gifts (and the nearby shop even opened up for us during off-hours to do a little perusing for parents before our departure). Guests planning their stay around dining or the Kitchen Table chef’s tasting experience might find two nights is enough, but I felt our three-night stay was ideal for exploring and unwinding (and the Three Chimneys team kindly adjusted the menu down for night three so we weren’t gluttonously going for a tasting menu three nights in a row — though, we were tempted to try!).
But we also attempted to work off some of those hearty courses. The Neist Point Walk — four miles round-trip out to the westernmost tip of Skye — was the cardio-forward, scenery-stealing piece of the trip. The path drops down past a lighthouse to where the cliffs meet the Atlantic. On a clear day, the Outer Hebrides are visible on the horizon, and you can soak in the solitude and feel grateful that, just for a few minutes, you’re unreachable save for the bleating of many sheep wandering the land.
Drams, Cows, and the Case for Boutique
From Skye, we headed east and south toward Perthshire, where The Old Manse of Blair presented a dilemma: enjoy fireside drams in the sitting room or quality time with the property’s two Highland cows, who (forgive me if I’m projecting here) regard guests from the paddock with genuine affection — likely due to the guests bringing baked goods out to the cows for their enjoyment and to win them over.
We did both. The cows (Seamus and Séoras) win on personality; the drams win on warmth; the Old Manse wins overall for being a deeply Scottish boutique property that serves as a great base for exploring all the surrounding greenery (Perthshire is known as “Big Tree Country”). The family-run, restored Victorian manse near Blair Atholl delivers on warmth and character, and the staff’s care for the place backs it up. Blair Castle is nearby for the historically inclined, but the Old Manse provides hospitality fit for a modern royal for those looking to kick back and have a more leisurely stay.
For those wondering: Seamus and Séoras, while Scottish, appear to have a French affinity for croissants. Unfortunately, I just had brown bread to offer the morning of check-out. They didn't seem to mind the carb letdown.
Homebound
The final night returned us to Edinburgh — specifically The Balmoral, a Rocco Forte Hotel and the granite landmark at the head of Princes Street whose clock tower is famously set three minutes fast to help travelers say goodbyes and catch trains at Waverley Station below. The city that had been little more than a jet-lagged blur on arrival was now more leisurely and lovely. (A fuller take on the property is forthcoming in our next issue, but the short version is: It’s as stellar as its reputation.)
A week of loch-side reflection, new Highland cow pals, and the kind of limited cell service that would send some travelers spiraling had recalibrated things where yours truly was feeling perfectly content to kick back with a book in a pub and not think twice about checking Instagram or work emails.
That’s the off-season argument: You get the landscape without the scrum, the hospitality without the strain, and the “real” version of a country. Scotland doesn’t need the sun to stand out. I even find that my Outlander jokes simply land better when there’s no one else around to hear them. My husband would agree.
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