Scotland Visiting Skye

For a while we’ve been thinking of visiting Scotland. At the moment we often visit the Lake District and I gather Scotland is just a better version! We were thinking of doing the NC500 but it’s probably not the best idea as our first visit. So we are now thinking the Isle of Skye would be a good option. I thought I’d ask for general thoughts on Skye and how others have visited.

1/ What’s the best time of year to visit?

Currently we are thinking September 2022 as sunrise and sunset times are just a bit friendlier, but happy to amend if there’s a better time of year.

2a/ What’s the best accommodation?

We are thinking of renting a house for a week as it would give us a base and not need to rush around if there for 7 days.

B & B’s are another option as we could move around a bit more.

Another thought is hiring a camper but I’m really not sure on that based upon where to park overnight. I’m not sure the wife would do 5-7 nights in a camper without a toilet or shower (I thinking I’d be happy driving a VW T5 sized van having driven similar sized van for several years). It also doesn’t feel right hiring off Skye and not putting that money into Skye itself.

2b/ where to base ourselves? Skye is still quite big and takes a while to get about so location of the base could be quite important.

4/ what’s the do not miss things? (Especially the hidden gems). I’d be interested in both landscape locations (most are pretty well known) but also visitor places, pubs, cafes and restaurants that are recommended.

Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Have you seen any of the Photography Online shows on Youtube Rob? They are based on Skye and have been shooting most of their programmes there in the past year due to Covid. A good starting point is the one below which lists their top ten views on the island.

There isn't really a best time to visit, though anytime from about May to about the end of September you will probably get better weather but you will need to be prepared for midges. You can get superb and truly awful weather just about anytime of the year.

Although Skye is a largish island being based somewhere a bit south of Portree would place you well for trips north and south. I reckon any day trip to the north, north west, west or south would not be much more than a 100miles. Self catering gives you a base to relax in and a bit more flexibility(and comfort), particularly if the weather turns.

There are plenty of B&Bs but the holiday is then different. It depends what you fancy.

If you go for a camper van then I would urge booking nights on campsites, rather than stopping by the roadside. The question I always ask anyone who says they are going to use a camper van and 'wild camp'(though stopping by the roadside from a motor vehicle is not wild camping) is, "Where are you going to go to the toilet?" You will get all the facilities at a campsite and will be helping the economy a bit .

Unfortunately many of the hidden gems are no longer hidden and are very popular. You can overcome this effect by getting to places very early, but also just exploring anywhere that looks interesting on the OS map.

I recommend the walks section on the excellent WalkHighlands site. Link to the walks on Skye here - https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/
It has loads of walks ranging from gentle strolls to mountain ascents, all with good descriptions and photos to give you and idea of what you will see. Although some are of the most popular areas(eg The Old Man of Storr) there are many in much quieter places.

Skye, and indeed the rest of highland Scotland is a wonderful place so be aware you might become addicted. I've only been one for about 40 years.

Dave

Peter B said:

Have you seen any of the Photography Online shows on Youtube Rob? They are based on Skye and have been shooting most of their programmes there in the past year due to Covid. A good starting point is the one below which lists their top ten views on the island.

Click to expand...

Thanks I will take a look at that.

Tringa said:

There isn't really a best time to visit, though anytime from about May to about the end of September you will probably get better weather but you will need to be prepared for midges. You can get superb and truly awful weather just about anytime of the year.

Although Skye is a largish island being based somewhere a bit south of Portree would place you well for trips north and south. I reckon any day trip to the north, north west, west or south would not be much more than a 100miles. Self catering gives you a base to relax in and a bit more flexibility(and comfort), particularly if the weather turns.

There are plenty of B&Bs but the holiday is then different. It depends what you fancy.

If you go for a camper van then I would urge booking nights on campsites, rather than stopping by the roadside. The question I always ask anyone who says they are going to use a camper van and 'wild camp'(though stopping by the roadside from a motor vehicle is not wild camping) is, "Where are you going to go to the toilet?" You will get all the facilities at a campsite and will be helping the economy a bit .

Unfortunately many of the hidden gems are no longer hidden and are very popular. You can overcome this effect by getting to places very early, but also just exploring anywhere that looks interesting on the OS map.

I recommend the walks section on the excellent WalkHighlands site. Link to the walks on Skye here - https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/
It has loads of walks ranging from gentle strolls to mountain ascents, all with good descriptions and photos to give you and idea of what you will see. Although some are of the most popular areas(eg The Old Man of Storr) there are many in much quieter places.

Skye, and indeed the rest of highland Scotland is a wonderful place so be aware you might become addicted. I've only been one for about 40 years.

Dave

Click to expand...

I think we are pretty much set on getting a place for a week. Hiring a Campervan probably is going to be doable for us. The lack of facilities would be the big issue. Also I wouldnt be happy feeling I wasn’t putting back into the economy of Skye if it was hired off the island. B&Bs don’t give you same advantage as a self catering place.

Im looking at places in the north/central areas of the island. I’ve found a nice place in Staffin but it’s in the very north. Somewhere near Portree would probably be ideal. Having had a look on Google maps and ideas what to do Im thinking of staying to the north and central areas of the island. This mainly due to journey times being over an hour to quite a few of the places. Skye is far larger than I was expecting with some journey lengths 50+ miles. It will give us a chance to return some day to do the south of the island.

thanks for the link to walking guide. I shall take a look at that.

I'm staying in Flodigarry (on my own, in a house in the middle of nowhere!) in a few weeks time, although it's not central I think probably 6 or 7 of the 10 things I have planned are relatively local, I will have one afternoon trip right over to the West and then will do the very south of the island on the way back to Inverness Airport.

Planning on mainly sunrise and sunset trips to avoid crowds as much as possible, in June that means being out till 11pm ish and up at 3.30am, but even with some 3-4 hour walks that leaves plenty of time to get a good rest in during the day.

In the description in the YouTube video mentioned earlier there is a link to purchase an excellent photographers guide that those guys have put together, £10 spent on that has made the money I spent on a couple of conventional guide books (i.e. Rough Guide) look very foolish, it's fab.

The Collins Map (about £2.99) is a good purchase, I typically use OS maps but due to open access nature of Skye those maps, which I find essential in England, are essentially redundant for planning walks.

It's not that big a place, you can get to the top and bottom of the Island within 90 mins, maybe an hour if you drive in a more sporty way. If you want to be central - I'd say somewhere between Portree and Broadford.

Accomodation gets booked, and booked fast - I would aim for May to October, the Moorland takes on a lovely vivid autumnal hue - it's quite special. I love the summer but it does get busy but the early sunrise and late sunsets are actually a blessing as only the most dedicated photographers are committed to the 4am sunrises in June. Late May - early June can be very special also. During the day the roads can be busy but not in the early or late hours. I love Skye in the lightest months. Nicest time to be there in so many ways.

Go for at least a week - odds are only a couple of the days in a week will be nice, weather up there is not fun.

Don't take a campervan - they are wretched obnoxious things that are rolling chicanes for ordinary car drivers and as you say do nothing for the local economy. The roads are really exciting to drive on - I'd be hiring a sports car if I were you, not a campervan.

Location wise, Old Man, Quiraing, Fairy Glen, Fairy Pools, Sligachan, Loch Cill Chriosd are all top notch - Neist point is popular but so meh. Waste of time and petrol that one.

We stayed just north of Staffin in in a lovely cottage, and didn't have a problem travelling as far South as Elgol for the day. It also puts you close to Storr, Quiraing and Neist Point, all of which I enjoyed.

I can recommend a boat trip to Canna out of Elgol too - It was the highlight of our week, we went for the puffins but also saw dolphins, minky whale, golden eagle, sea eagle and Orca!

Take plenty of midge repellent, the bloody things will drive you insane

Rob - Skye gets very busy, even in a ‘normal’ year. If the traffic we‘re getting already this year, over here on the less popular side of the Highlands, then I’d be inclined to wait until September, at the earliest. By mid to late September, midges have packed their wee suitcases and moved to sunnier climes. As with any of the UK, weather can be great or downright atrocious at any time of year. We have had great weather in November and been rained on all week in May.
We always stay at Torrin when we visit, that’s on the road from Broadford to Elgol. It suits us, as we love Elgol and there are some beautiful views along that road, including Cill Chroisd as mentioned above.
I wouldn’t recommend a motorhome personally, some of the roads are very narrow and you could spend a lot of time reversing into passing places. There’s a very picturesque road that goes between Uig and Staffin, but it’s narrow and you’ll probably find motorhomes parked up on the verges making it very difficult to pass and very time consuming. Last time we were there, it took us 90 minutes to move about 1.5miles and that was because of the vehicles parked half on, half off the road.
Not sure if you’re into wildlife, but if you are, keep an eye out on the sea lochs for otters, they can show up anywhere and at any time of day. Sleat peninsula is good for Golden Eagles and Trumpan, on the NW of the island is excellent for White-tailed eagles.

Thanks for all the replies. We will be looking at 2022, most likely September. Where to stay is very much in the air. I’d like to be near some nice photography locations within say a 10-20 min drive rather than 45-60 min drive. That will mean making a choice on base location based on what’s near there rather than the accommodation itself. When I looked and measured the distances on Google maps I was surprised how big Skye is. I wasn’t expecting the different locations to be as far apart as they are.

I love the photos of Elgol I’ve seen but probably feel I’d be more at home in the mountain areas (there is Neist point which could be my coastal fix). I’m hopefully off to Wales in a few weeks so I will probably fall in love with the coast once again.

rob-nikon said:

Thanks for all the replies. We will be looking at 2022, most likely September. Where to stay is very much in the air. I’d like to be near some nice photography locations within say a 10-20 min drive rather than 45-60 min drive. That will mean making a choice on base location based on what’s near there rather than the accommodation itself. When I looked and measured the distances on Google maps I was surprised how big Skye is. I wasn’t expecting the different locations to be as far apart as they are.

I love the photos of Elgol I’ve seen but probably feel I’d be move at home in the mountain areas (there is Neist point which could be my coastal fix). I’m hopefully off to Wales in a few weeks so I will probably fall in love with the coast once again.

Click to expand...

I guess then somewhere in and around Sligachan / Sconser / Portree area would serve you well if you really don't want more than 20 mins in the car. And I repeat - forget a Campervan - take a car or hire a fun powerful thing. The roads are really special to drive on.

Honestly - forget Neist point - I've been once and I've never felt the need/want to ever go back there. It takes a proper age to get there also.

If it's anything coastal you are better served with Elgol (and go there in the morning also) or indeed the lesser know Sleat Peninsula with places like Tarscavaig etc. That said - the coast isn't something I like massively - mountains and mountains/lakes are much more "me". In and around Sligachan area you have some lovely lakes, the river up from the bridge, not long in the car you are at the Fairy pools etc. You've got the walk up to Eas Mor Waterfall also. Good place to be around Glen Brittle/Sligachan area.

You will really want to explore Trotternish - that's Old Man and the Quiraing.

Peter B said:

Have you seen any of the Photography Online shows on Youtube Rob? They are based on Skye and have been shooting most of their programmes there in the past year due to Covid. A good starting point is the one below which lists their top ten views on the island.

Click to expand...

I believe they also publish a photographer's guide as well

SFTPhotography said:

I guess then somewhere in and around Sligachan / Sconser / Portree area would serve you well if you really don't want more than 20 mins in the car. And I repeat - forget a Campervan - take a car or hire a fun powerful thing. The roads are really special to drive on.

Honestly - forget Neist point - I've been once and I've never felt the need/want to ever go back there. It takes a proper age to get there also.

If it's anything coastal you are better served with Elgol (and go there in the morning also) or indeed the lesser know Sleat Peninsula with places like Tarscavaig etc. That said - the coast isn't something I like massively - mountains and mountains/lakes are much more "me". In and around Sligachan area you have some lovely lakes, the river up from the bridge, not long in the car you are at the Fairy pools etc. You've got the walk up to Eas Mor Waterfall also. Good place to be around Glen Brittle/Sligachan area.

You will really want to explore Trotternish - that's Old Man and the Quiraing.

Click to expand...

Agree with most of what SFT has said, but disagree about Neist Point, really wild place, not as dramatic as much of the landscape but well worth a visit in my view. If you go for the honeypot shot of the lighthouse off the top take your wellies and, if you get weather like I have had, some ballast to weigh down your tripod, and possibly yourself

Just got back from a few days on Skye, what an incredible place. Went alone, stayed in an isolated cottage and didn't want to come back!

My approach was...

Up at 3am (ish, sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later) to be at my first destination by 4am at the latest and usually back at the cottage by 11am. My early walks were the most popular ones, day one was Old Man of Storr (empty car park) and then Quiraing (still empty), day two was Fairy Pools (empty), day three was Fairy Glen and Quiraing again (empty!), day four was Sligachan and Old Man of Storr again (yes, empty). Did Quiraing and Storr twice just to try and get decent conditions, it was absolutely horrific at times, didn't see the Old Man properly till day 4, and at the furthest point from the car park on the Quiraing the rain was so hard and wind so strong my face actually hurt, I had to huddle down behind some rocks for 5 minutes as I physically couldn't move!

I'd then do a less popular walk a bit later, Rubh an Danain and Coire Lagan (both from Glenbrittle campsite), Kilt Rock, Fingal's Pinnacles, Sligachan waterfalls (which were every bit as impressive as the Fairy Pools, but even at midday completely empty!), Staffin for the dinosaur footprints etc. The only place/walk I wasn't fussed about was the Fairy Glen, nice to see it once but a bit like the Fairy Pools - sticking 'Fairy' on it seems to make it exceptionally popular without it actually being any more impressive than any number of similar places.

I thought there might be a few people out early as I had heard it was exceptionally busy on the island this summer, but I guess busy in Scotland is still nowhere near what I'm used to living down in the south west, I drove from Flodigarry to Sligachan without seeing a single car, for example. I'd typically go to bed around 7pm, but I did head out at 9pm one evening to do a few short walks at the top of the island and at that time it was very, very quiet again. I spoke to 1 couple in 4 days.

As a running joke I'd send home a photo of my car in an empty car park to my wife each morning as 'proof of life', this was the Fairy Glen...

DSC_2453 by Chris Harrison, on Flickr

My cottage was actually right on the A855 above Flodigarry, bit worried about it being on a 'main' road, until a) I saw the road, and b) counted a handful of cars at most per hour. Driving was utterly fantastic, despite being based on a single track road and covering over 300 miles whilst on Skye I could count the number of times I actually had to use a passing place on both hands. I was offered a few cars at Sixt (I booked a lucky dip) and opted for a new Peugeot 208, which was a perfect blend of fun (very nippy) and small enough to feel comfortable on those roads.

Cottage...
Z5A_3751 by Chris Harrison, on Flickr

Personally I'd say anywhere between Sligachan and Flodigarry would serve anyone very well as a base for the 'main' stuff. I stopped off at Co-Op in Broadford on arrival for fuel and to stock up on food for the cottage and that was the last time I interacted with civilization (a brief hello to one couple aside) for 4 days solid, bliss! One very brief encounter with midges at the Fairy Pools, but the Smidge I had applied seemed to keep them from actually landing on me, I guess the weather kept the rest away. I planned all my walks on Walk Highlands and using the Photography Online guide mentioned earlier in this thread.

Z5A_4242 by Chris Harrison, on Flickr

thanks for sharing the info chaps, planning to go to Skye around October/November time.

+1 for the photographer’s guide

quite the. Best written I’ve ever seen

not just directions but sound advice on the time of day/ year

And all graded according to difficulty getting there

it’s invaluable

and don’t forget that you can hire Marcus, Nick and Harry who can read the weather patterns and get you to the very best of locations on theisland

dave

@ukaskew that 208 looks ace - and better than the obligatory van for getting around. The roads are mega - and that main road is a blast. One of my favourite runs in all of the UK is the drive from Portree to Staffin. It's a very exciting road to drive on.

I've just had a trip to Mallaig and really enjoyed looking over to Rum and Eigg, don't forget also the Sleat Peninsula for these views and you might want to drive there via Mallaig, taking the Ferry, and back by the Skye Bridge via Kyle of Lochalsh.

isobarik said:

and don’t forget that you can hire Marcus, Nick and Harry who can read the weather patterns and get you to the very best of locations on theisland

dave

Click to expand...

Probably the trickiest thing to work out if you're not local. None of the forecasts I tried were even vaguely accurate and there was no way of knowing if, for example, the Old Man of Storr was hidden away in thick cloud till you actually got there. I found it was often clear where my cottage was (north of Flodigarry) but low cloud quickly appeared as I travelled South.

The storm I was caught in on the Quiraing was absolutely brutal, ruined the walk as I couldn't see anything, 100% concentration required just to walk back to the car, finished the walk and just as I got in the car it cleared completely!