Things to do in Isle of Skye
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Isle of Skye
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best overall with May to early June light and September heather, harvest menus and thinning crowds.
Maximum daylight with sunset after 10pm in late June, everything open, highest prices and midges.
Connoisseur shoulders. April waterfalls and quiet roads, October colour and no midges but short days.
Heather in August to September, especially the Red Cuillin, with peak summer crowds.
Worst for a first trip. Short light, ferry disruption and many restaurants, boats and the castle closed.
What's on
- Skye Live 7-9 May
Flagship music festival on The Lump above Portree harbour. Portree sells out when dates are announced.
- Skye Highland Games Usually the first Wednesday of August
Caber, hammer, dancing and pipe bands on The Lump in Portree since 1877.
- Isle of Skye Half Marathon June
Scenic hilly road half in Portree. Book Portree early that weekend even if not running.
- Skye Accordion & Fiddle Festival May
Smaller traditional festival, often the music visitors remember most.
- Blas Festival September
Highlands wide Gaelic music festival with Skye venues in the shoulder weeks.
Best things to do in Isle of Skye
The Quiraing
A still moving landslip with a hidden plateau and pinnacles, the single best landscape walk on Skye.
Old Man of Storr
Skye's postcard pinnacle above the Sound of Raasay, best at sunrise before the procession arrives.
Fairy Pools
Blue green plunge pools and waterfalls under the Black Cuillin, magical early and crowded at midday.
Neist Point Lighthouse
Cliff edge lighthouse at Skye's western tip, the classic sunset spot over the Minch to the Hebrides.
Fairy Glen
A miniature landslip valley of conical hills and a small loch, weird, mossy and genuinely enchanting.
Dunvegan Castle & Gardens
Clan MacLeod castle best for its woodland gardens, Fairy Flag story and the short seal boat trip.
Talisker Distillery
Skye's oldest distillery making peaty maritime single malt with the Cuillin behind the stills.
Torabhaig Distillery
Smaller newer distillery in a restored steading, the quieter tour to pair with Talisker for whisky fans.
Where to stay in Isle of Skye
Portree
first trip, all-round base, best without a car
Walk to dinner, pubs, supermarket and harbour boats, 15 minutes from the Storr.
Broadford & Kyleakin
gateway, budget, Cuillin and Elgol days
First villages after the bridge with supermarket, fuel and hostels, saving time on southern days.
Sleat Peninsula
luxury-rural, honeymoon pace, second stay
Green sheltered south with Kinloch Lodge, Duisdale House, Armadale ferry and Torabhaig Distillery.
Dunvegan / Colbost / Stein
foodie-rural, sunsets, second base
The west for Dunvegan Castle, Coral Beach, Neist sunsets and destination dining in small villages.
Staffin / Flodigarry (Trotternish)
walkers and photographers
Wake under the Quiraing and walk the Storr at dawn, with very few places to eat outside hotels.
Sligachan / Carbost
Cuillin climbers
Junction base by the old bridge and climbers bar, minutes from Talisker and Glen Brittle trailheads.
Think twice about
- Remote croft and off-grid stays without a car
No lighting, pavement, shop or pub in walking distance and patchy signal. Wonderful with a car, miserable without.
- Uig as a sole sightseeing base
A working ferry port that is functional rather than attractive, with fewer places to eat than Portree. Use it tactically.
- Main-road rooms in Broadford / Kyleakin
Noise and charm issue on the A87 that carries every vehicle entering Skye. Ask for a back or sea facing room.
Best restaurants in Isle of Skye
Loch Bay Restaurant
Sixteen seat starred cottage in Stein serving one seafood tasting menu, Skye Fruits de Mer.
The Three Chimneys
Skye's most famous restaurant for Dunvegan langoustine, hand dived scallops and hot marmalade pudding.
Scorrybreac
Tiny eight table Portree fine dining room with a seasonal tasting menu from foraged island produce.
Kinloch Lodge Restaurant
Multi course produce led dinner in a calm drawing room setting in Sleat, best paired with a stay.
Sea Breezes
Best mid range seafood dinner on Portree harbour, generous unfussy mussels, langoustines and scallops.
The Old School Restaurant
Converted Victorian schoolhouse doing accomplished Scottish seafood cooking in a warm unhurried room.
Café Cùil
Bright modern cafe in Carbost with restaurant ambition, Hebridean brunch, superb baking and coffee.
The Oyster Shed
Farm shop shed above Carbost shucking daily harvested oysters to order at outdoor tables over Loch Harport.
Best bars in Isle of Skye
Am Pràban Bar
Low beamed Gaelic bar at Isleornsay with a loch view and a great whisky shelf in the south.
The Isles Inn
Busy harbour pub in Portree, go for live music and order simply from the pub classics.
Antlers Bar & Grill
Portree bar and grill in the town pub bench, a reliable dinner and drinks option in season.
Seumas' Bar
Climbers whisky bar at Sligachan Hotel under the Cuillin, the mountain day debrief spot.
Best coffee in Isle of Skye
Birch
Specialty coffee and homemade food in Portree, rated among the best cafe stops of a Scotland trip.
The Coffee Bothy
Broadford coffee stop with very high scores, the gateway pause after the Skye Bridge.
Outdoor things to do in Isle of Skye
Misty Isle Boat Trips
Family run boat to roadless Loch Coruisk past seals, a dark loch walled in by the Black Cuillin.
Seaflower Skye
Luxury catamaran day to Rona with wildlife watching, a walk ashore and a proper seafood lunch on board.
Bella Jane Boat Trips
Comfortable Elgol boat for the Loch Coruisk sailing, the relaxed sibling to the faster RIB trips.
AquaXplore
Exhilarating RIB wildlife trips to the Small Isles for puffins, sea eagles and dolphins in season.
Skye Adventure
Guided Cuillin Munros, ridge sections and the Inaccessible Pinnacle with qualified local guides.
Isle of Skye Golf Club
Nine hole seaside course with 18 tees looking to Raasay and the Red Cuillin, superb value golf.
Stardust Boat Trips
Two hour Portree boat targeting white tailed sea eagles, seals and porpoise in the Sound of Raasay.
Rubha Hunish
Northernmost point walk with sea cliffs and seabird colonies and the best end of island feeling on Skye.
Best hotels in Isle of Skye
Cuillin Hills Hotel
Classic Portree luxury in a Victorian house above the harbour with the view every brochure uses.
The Bosville Hotel
Harbour front boutique stay on Bosville Terrace, food led and walkable to everything in Portree.
Edinbane Lodge
1540s hunting lodge turned restaurant with rooms, a food first luxury base 15 minutes from Portree.
Skeabost House Hotel
Former shooting lodge on Loch Snizort with its own pier, country house calm a short drive from Portree.
The Skye Inn
Solid mid tier Portree inn in the harbour and square bench, choose for parking and breakfast times.
Royal Hotel
Solid mid tier harbour hotel in Portree, one of the deep bench of reliable square and harbour stays.
Portree Hotel
Solid mid tier hotel on Somerled Square in Portree, walkable to dinner, pubs and harbour boats.
Flodigarry Hotel
Proper hotel in the shadow of the Quiraing with its own restaurant, built for walkers under the ridge.
Is Isle of Skye expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | £75 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | £145 a person |
| Splurge | £290 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Dunvegan Castle & Gardens: a few days ahead
- Talisker Distillery: weeks ahead
- Torabhaig Distillery: weeks ahead
- Skye Local Tours: weeks ahead
- Misty Isle Boat Trips: weeks ahead
- Seaflower Skye: weeks ahead
- Bella Jane Boat Trips: weeks ahead
- AquaXplore: weeks ahead
- Beds book 6 to 9 months ahead for summer prime in Portree, 3 to 5 months in shoulder season.
- Dinner at Loch Bay, Three Chimneys and Scorrybreac books weeks to months ahead, even in pubs in season.
- Talisker premium tastings, Coruisk boats and Cuillin guides for May, June and September book out.
Is Isle of Skye safe?
- Weather changes in minutes. Carry waterproof jacket and trousers, layers, boots and offline maps.
- Midges late May to September at dawn and dusk near water. Bring repellent and a head net for camping.
- Sea swimming is 10 to 12 degrees even in summer. Short dips only, no alcohol, never alone.
- Emergency is 999 for Police and Mountain Rescue. Keep dogs on leads around livestock and close gates.
Isle of Skye travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The Inverness day trip means 12 plus hours with 20 minutes per sight. Stay overnight instead if you can.
- Fairy Pools at midday in August feels like a theme park queue. The same place at 7am is a top experience.
- Dunvegan Castle is for gardens, seals and clan history, not grand state rooms.
- Do not treat the Cuillin Ridge or Inaccessible Pinnacle as a photo walk. Hire a guide or pick a safer hill.
Getting around Isle of Skye: public transport and more
- You need a car for Skye as described. Drive via the Skye Bridge at Kyle or ferry from Mallaig to Armadale.
- Driving times lie. Allow 30 to 50 percent more in season on single track roads with passing places.
- Parking at Storr, Quiraing, Fairy Pools and other icons is managed and paid, and fills 10am to 3pm in summer.
- Ferries and boats cancel in weather. Keep the day after a must do boat free and check the morning notice.
Who Isle of Skye suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Isle of Skye your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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