Isle of Skye

Why Isle of Skye works

Skye is connected to the Scottish mainland by a bridge at Kyleakin, but nothing about the island feels tethered to the mainland's pace once you cross it. The Old Man of Storr, a 55-metre basalt pinnacle detached from the Trotternish Ridge by an ancient landslip, is reached by a steep hour's walk and remains Skye's single most photographed formation, especially in the low light of early morning before the tour buses arrive. Further along the ridge, the Quiraing is an even stranger landscape — a still-active landslip that continues to shift the single-track road running through it by centimetres each year, its jumbled towers, hidden plateaus and pinnacles unlike anywhere else in Scotland. The Cuillin range, Skye's jagged mountain spine, offers everything from gentle valley walks to some of Britain's most technical scrambling, its black gabbro rock giving the range its brooding, near-permanent cloud cover. Neist Point, on the island's western tip, holds a lighthouse perched above sheer cliffs that make for one of Scotland's best sunset viewpoints, with a chance of spotting minke whales or dolphins offshore in summer. Portree, the island's only real town, offers a harbour of pastel-painted buildings and the practical base for exploring — though Skye's weather, famously changeable even by Scottish standards, means most visitors plan for rain regardless of season.

Trip Snapshot

Suitable For