When director Peter Jackson wanted an otherworldly backdrop for the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, he chose New Zealand. But when British filmmaker Guy Ritchie needed a supernatural setting for his mystical epic “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” (out Friday), he looked closer to home.
To tell the ancient tale, several locations throughout the UK were put to use. But for a foreboding and unforgiving backdrop where a young Arthur would morph from street rat into warrior hero, it was the Highlands of Scotland that beckoned.
In his interpretation, Ritchie places 5th-century Arthur (Charlie Hunnam) in fictional Londinium, which is reeling in a post-apocalyptic lawlessness after being abandoned by the Romans. After his uncle Vortigern (Jude Law) assumes the throne, street-tough Arthur is unaware of his birthright as the leader of the Celts. Cue some magic with a sword drawn from a stone, slow-mo scimitar fights and some oversize elephants and flying dragons (the latter of which has had the Comic-Con set salivating for months).
“We were looking for a magical place to represent the Darklands, a mythical place where Arthur becomes a man,” Amanda Stevens, location manager for the film, said in a statement.
The Isle of Skye fit the bill perfectly. One of the largest of Scotland’s 780 islands — of which only 74 are inhabited — it makes up part of the Inner Hebrides in the country’s northwestern tip. Skye has a ragged coastline made up of cliffs, beaches and lochs, and a mountainous interior, making it an “extreme and stunning location, one of the most beautiful places in the world, remote and far from any signs of modernity,” added Stevens.
It’s also sparsely populated: Only 10,000 people call the 639-square-mile island home. Wannabe king Bonnie Prince Charlie was a famous visitor in 1745, when he was ferried there in secret after the failure of the Jacobite rebellion. Today’s visitors, however, can arrive via a much more convenient bridge, constructed in 1995.
With heather, moss and bracken layered over sandstone and lava formations, Skye has a sloping, twisted terrain interspersed with giant crags and buttresses, easily evoking a fairy tale. Ritchie’s crew wasn’t the first to notice its compatibility with movie magic. Skye has starred in such (ahem) classics as 1980’s sci-fi flick “Flash Gordon,” Ridley Scott’s space-age “Prometheus” and the recent “Snow White and the Huntsman,” which features Skye’s 50-foot-tall Old Man of Storr rock formation.
The island is even said to have provided the inspiration for the alien world Pandora in James Cameron’s “Avatar.”
In particular, Ritchie’s team was drawn to the Quiraing, a 20-mile ridge in the area known as Trotternish. Its dramatic scenery was created at the end of the Ice Age by the biggest landslide in Europe, when a thick bed of solidified lava gave way. If you think you feel the earth move under your feet, you might be right — the ground is still slipping, so much so that the local road has to be repaired every year.
The Quiraing (it means “round fold” in ancient Norse) is a hiker’s must-do, offering outstanding views over the sea toward the Outer Hebrides along a 4.2-mile loop that takes you past rock formations with enticing names like the Table, the Prison and the Needle.
It’s considered an easy hike in good weather. But bear in mind that you don’t visit Scotland for the climate — temperatures might reach a balmy 55 degrees here in summer, if you’re lucky — and precipitation logs in at a whopping 53 inches (or 4.4 feet) a year. When we visited in late October, the drenching rain pelted us sideways. It did, however, make for dramatic swirling mists and torrential waterfalls, both during filming in 2015 and our visit the following year.
Time seems to have stood still along Skye’s Jurassic coast, and you can easily imagine a pterodactyl (or dragon) circling the cliffs. Aside from one small, winding road, there’s no trace of humanity.
It’s the same remote and ancient geology that also posed challenges for the film crew, who often had to hike 45 minutes into valleys loaded down with equipment. Park rangers were on hand with ropes to aid crew members and guide them through any required rappelling.
For sustenance, the “King Arthur” production team headed 20 miles south to the small fishing port of Portree. The largest town on the island, it’s home to the Bosville Hotel (from $213), a crew favorite that also welcomed visiting reporters with some much-appreciated warm towels. For a delicious lunch, location manager Stevens suggested the langoustines, and we reiterate the recommendation. The locally sourced crustaceans are fresh off the fishing boat.
Portree itself looks like a movie setting, with colorful cottages clustered around a natural harbor, backed by dramatic hills and cliffs.
With a crew of 300, though, Ritchie’s team had to look further afield for accommodation.
Ingeniously, they arranged for a pop-up Snoozebox hotel made up of shipping containers to be erected in the Kyle of Lochalsh area, 50 miles away on the mainland side of the bridge. This also helped lodge the corps while they worked at film locations throughout the Highlands area known as Wester Ross, including the remote peninsula of Applecross, where inclement weather forced them to eventually abandon shooting.
Many visitors to Skye, too, choose to use the more citified Kyle of Lochalsh as a base for visiting the area. An alternative is nearby Plockton, six miles farther north, which also boasts a vibrant arts and music scene.
A pretty, sheltered harbor, Plockton and its shores are bathed in warmer Gulf Stream waters, which is why you’ll see palm trees and open-air seaside bars. For maximum enjoyment, it’s light until 11:30 p.m. during the summer months.
Our stay at the Haven Guest House (from $110) was welcoming and warm, with live fiddlers popping up ad hoc at the local bars in the evening. Sitting by the fireside with a local whisky and some Celtic tunes has to be the perfect end to a day in the wild and wondrous Scottish countryside. The place is positively magical in its own right — even if we were short a few mythical flying beasts.
Getting there
The Isle of Skye is a three-hour drive from the nearest airport at Inverness, where there’s also a rail link to Kyle of Lochalsh. British Airways flies from JFK to Inverness via London’s Heathrow airport with prices from $740 round-trip.