ISLE OF SKYE ACTIVITY GUIDE

JANUARY 2023

One of the must sees in Scotland is Isle of Skye. For such a little island, it is incredibly diverse in nature and you can fill your days with beautiful hikes and activities in nature. We visited in July, which is part of the high season, and were blessed with three incredibly sunny days. Apparently, this is very rare, but it helped us make the most out of our days. Because of the amazing weather, we were able to do all activities that I had planned and I will summarize our Isle of Skye itinerary in this blogpost.

Practical information

You can reach Isle of Skye for free via a bridge from the Scottish mainland. You also have the option of taking a ferry, but it doesn’t go very often, so it is usually not of much use. If you visit Isle of Skye during the high season, like we did, it is sensible to book your lodging well in advance. There aren’t a lot of hotels on the island and they fill up quickly. We visited with our campervan, also made reservations in advance, but with a campervan you have to be less quick. It seemed like there were still some spots in some campsites if you are lucky and decide to visit spontaneously. I found Isle of Skye the perfect destination for campers, as most campsites are very beautifully located, with sheep roaming around the campsite. During the summer season you will find midges in Isle of Skye and you need some protection against it. During the day it wasn’t bad, but at night they did come out to annoy you. Scotland is not your typical summer destination, so this is just another thing you have to deal with 😉 Absolutely worth it in my opinion!

Activity guide

We were able to do all these activities in three days, without rushing, but we got super lucky with the weather… I wrote some longer blogpost about several activities, but this guide summarizes everything we did on Isle of Skye!

Eilean Donan castle: This castle is technically not located on Isle of Skye, but it is located very closely to the Isle of Skye bridge, so why not make a quick stop and enjoy the views? There is a paid parking lot with sufficient parking, so no need to rush. The castle itself can be busy, as lots of tourbuses stop here, so we just decided to do a quick walk near the lake. Eilean Donan is exactly how I expected Scotland to look, so you can take your quintessential pictures here.

Old man of Storr: The Old man of Storr is a 2 hour hike with gorgeous views along the way. This was definitely my favorite activity of Isle of Skye. Please put on your hiking shoes and do this hike!

Fairy Glen: Fairy Glen was one of the reasons that I wanted to visit Isle of Skye, it looked so incredibly lush and green and strange. The rounded hills are such a fun sight, definitely worthy of your Isle of Skye itinerary!

Fairy Pools: The other Fairy activity is also a must do. It turned out to be one of the more adventurous things we did.. We climbed all the way over the rocks, so Hielke could take a dip in the ice-cold water. If you want to enjoy the Fairy Pools, getting into the water is the best thing you can do. Getting to the pools from the parking lot takes quite some time, you will share walking there with many, many people. Because most people don’t want to get into the cold water, that is exactly where you can enjoy your beautiful surroundings!

Neist Point Lighthouse: Neist Point Lighthouse is one of the most scenic locations on Isle of Skye. The drive over to this side of the island is worth it by itself. Don’t expect to like walking around in this area as it is incredibly windy. But beautiful it is!

Dunvegan Castle: This is one of the things that I wanted to skip on Isle of Skye. Originally we wanted to do a whiskey tasting, but because we didn’t make reservations well in advance this turned out to be impossible. Some movies had filmed at Dunvegan Castle, making this is a top activity for many people, which is exactly why we didn’t want to visit. Luckily, we did bring a visit to the gardens because they were absolutely gorgeous! There are several areas, some felt a bit exotic, which is very strange in Scotland. Because everything blooms a little later in Scotland, we found many flowers in bloom in July. If you are a fan of gardens, you should not miss out.

Portree: Portree is one of the bigger towns on Isle of Skye and this is where you will find the largest concentration of restaurants. I expected a lot of the viewpoint of the old harbor, the views indeed were lovely, but it is located roadside and very dangerous to get to. Portree is the most atmospheric town of Isle of Skye, but to be honest it looks a bit run down. If you want to have dinner in a good restaurant, you have to make reservations several days in advance.

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