Dunvegan Castle is a castle a mile and a half to the North of Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, situated off the West coast of Scotland. It is the seat of the MacLeod of MacLeod, chief of the Clan MacLeod. Dunvegan Castle is the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland and has been the stronghold of the chiefs of the clan for 800 years. Originally designed to keep people out, it was first opened to visitors in 1933. Since then, the castle is consistently ranked as one of Scotland's premier visitor attractions. Over the years, the castle has been visited by Sir Walter Scott, Dr Johnson, Queen Elizabeth II and the Japanese Emperor Akihito.
Currently visitors can enjoy tours of the castle and highland estate, enjoy its 5 acres of formal gardens, take boat trips on Loch Dunvegan to see the seal colonies (home to common seals, grey seals, great black-backed gulls, Arctic Terns, herring gulls and oystercatchers), stay in one of its holiday cottages, enjoy a homemade snack at the MacLeods Table Cafe and browse in one of its four shops. Activities in the area range from walking, fishing and sightseeing to fine local cuisine, shopping and camping at the foot of the estate’s Black Cuillin mountain range. The castle houses a number of important clan relics; chief among them is the Fairy Flag of Dunvegan, the Dunvegan Cup and Sir Rory Mor's Horn.
Read more about Dunvegan Castle: Gallery
Famous quotes containing the word castle:
“The splendor falls on castle walls
And snowy summits old in story;
The long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)