Isle of Skye Things to Do Tips by globetrott Top 5 Page for this destination

take the coast-road towards the north

Take the coast-road towards the north of the Isle of Skye.
Some parts of the road are still "single-track-roads" with passing places and are not yet so very crowded like other roads in Scotland.
You will pass by plenty of lovely lakes and mountains in a completely unspoilt landscape.
I took these photo in 1990 and I am quite sure that the road is much better now !

Directions: This photograph was taken on the way to Portree.

Quiraing

Quiraing is a huge mountain massive in the north of the Isle of Skye, and a small road will take you across the Quiraing to the village of Uig on the West-coast.
This road is much steeper than it seems on my photograph, but my motorhome made it anyway.
Up there on Quiraing you will find a small path to walk around the mountain within 4 hours, offering great views over the surrounding landscape with all the lakes and the open sea. And you will also find some small places to park your car !

Directions: Quiraing is about 15 Km north of Portree on the Isle of Skye.

Uig - the gate to the Western Hebrides

Uig is a small town on the West-coast of the Isle of Skye and from there you will be able to take the ferry-ships to the Western Hebrides :
To Lochmaddy on North Uist and
To Stornoway at Lewis .

It is essential to make reservations for these ferriesalready a long time in advance, especially when you have a motorhome that is higher than an ordinary car, as all the trafic goes with these few ferries.
And when you happen to see the big gasoline-truck boarding the car-ferry togeather with you, you will understand, why the petrol is 30 % more expensive there on the island of the Western Hebrides.

Directions: Uig is on the North-west coast of the Isle of Skye.

Website: http://www.uig-isleofskye.com/

take the road to Trotternish

Trotternish Island is the very top of the Island of Skye, and there you will find only a very few buildings and farms, surrounded by heather and lovely mountains.
Most of the sheep will run freely on all of the meadows and they will be marked by colors in order to be "sorted" by the farmers at the end of the season.
Get more infos about Trotternish Island in my link below !

Directions: Trotternish Island is on the very top of the Island of Skye.

Website: http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye/bedandbreakfast_trotternish.shtml

remote bays all over the Island

Drive any road that you will findon the Isle of Skye, because so many of the great bays have no names and are not indicated by signposts as worth a visit.
After driving such roads with a dead end it sometimes was not easy to reverse with my large and heavy motorhome, as many of these roads will end inside the private area of a farm, but all of the farmers were helpful in opening their gate and letting me in to turn around my car again.
And we always had a little chat about this and that, I could buy some eggs from them etc.

Directions: Somewhere on the east coast

A small lake near Broadford

This lovely lake is close to Broadford and I passed by it on my way to Elgol.
Be careful, when stepping into these meadows, as most of them are really muddy and you might sink in half a meter and it will be hard to get out again, withouth the help of someone else.
When you are driving a car in the Isle of Skye, make sure you always "test" the surface of any place OUTside of a road, where you might want to turn around your car and have to drive through some grass or so !!!

Directions: I made this photograph on the way from Boardford to Elgol.

Broadford

Broadford is the place, where you may take the road to the Westcoast and to some remote places to go hiking in the Cuillin Mountains.
There you will also have a footpath to Lough Corruisk and a big camping and youth hostel.
You will find some more infos abot this place in my link below !

Directions: Broadford on the Isle of Skye is about 10Km north of Kyleakin.

Website: http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/skye/broadford/index.html

The Old man of Storr

The old man of Storr is a rock, 50 meters high, and it is shown in the back of my photograph, standing up like a needle on top of the mountains.
Watch out for the car-parking, when you get closer to these mountains, to walk up there takes about 2 hours, but it also makes a really great panorama-view over the island and the mainlands of Scotland !

...and there is still my old, very first motorhome. It was a bit slow, but a great car to explore Scotland, and it had an extra Motorscooter on the back ( a Velosolex, that had the engine sitting on top of the front-wheel).

Directions: The Old man of Storr is about halfway to Portree and you will see this special landmarkof the Old Man of Storr already from a big distance !!

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Man_of_Storr

The O'l man of Storr from the back

This is now a part of the panorama-view that you will get , when you walk up to the Old man of Storr.
This is the view towards Kyleakin and the Cuillin Mountains in the south of the Isle of Skye.
There is a small parking for maybe 10 cars at the foot of the mountains and walking up needs about 1-2 hours one way. The first part is rather easy, but finding a good spot for a photograph might take more time and could be dangerous as well and quite exhausting !

Directions: This picture was taken next to the Old Man of Storr and I had to climb up a bit in order to find a good place.

Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Man_of_Storr

Kyleakin - the place to enter the Isle of Skye

The small village of Kyleakin was founded in the 19th century with a very few houses only and a tiny shop. For plenty of years it was the port, where the ferries from the Scottish mainland to the Isle of Skye landed every few minutes.
But some years ago there was a huge bridge built connecting the mainland with the Island of Skye, and most people simply pass by the village of Kyleakin, as the bridge ends outside of town.
In case that you need to do some shopping, Kyleakin is still a very good place and you will also find some tourist-boats leaving from there to watch seals.

Directions: Kyleakin is on the south-east of the Isle of Skye. More details are on the link below !

Website: http://maps.google.ch/maps?hl=de&cp=8&gs_id=2&xhr=t&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bpcl=35466521&biw=1680&bih=881&wrapid=tljp135146647144500&q=kyleakin&u