At the foot of the Black Cuillin, close to Glen Brittle and only a few miles from the Taigh Ailean Hotel lie the Fairy Pools. Featuring on many international to-do lists, they are series of crystal clear pools linked by streams and waterfalls that provide a wonderful gentle walk, extraordinary photo opportunities and, for the more adventurous, glorious wild swimming with great jumps into deep (if somewhat chilly, even in summer) water. (Please note the pools get very very busy in summer. If you’d like advice on other, more peaceful spots, just ask).
Photo by Eric Farine
The pools are… delightful, and few are immune to their charms. We visit them in late autumn, when the Isle of Skye is springy with marsh grass and ablaze with bracken. We approach from the bottom of a wide, smooth glacial basin, the glen marking out a single deep groove like a linocut.
Suspense builds as we pass a series of crystal clear, aqua blue pools, each seemingly more appealing than the last. Under a cliff the grey rock has been carved into a perfect oval bath tub with a view of the waterfalls. Beyond that a grassy island gives access to a high, natural infinity pool, bounded by the natural stone wall.
Kate Rew, author of Wild Swim from an extract in The Guardian.