The Isle of Skye is one of Scotland’s most breathtaking destinations. But if you’re planning a trip, there are a few things you need to know. After our visit (complete with torrential rain, scenic drives, and more sheep than people), I’ve put together a list of tips, highlights, and honest takes to help you make the most of your time on Skye.
General Tips
1: Length of stay
Minimum: 2 nights
2 nights enables you to do ~2 hikes, 1 nice dinner, and 1-2 castle tours. If you’re more adventurous than we are, stay an extra night and try a more challenging hike!
2: Pack for bad weather
Isle of skye in July was 40F degrees and windy with torrential downpour. I didn’t believe it when I was checking the weather beforehand, and had to buy an expensive new coat at an expensive sportswear store as a result. Do not be like me – bring warm and waterproof layers.
3: Book restaurants ahead of time
There’s only a few places to eat, which tend to get booked up. We were able to make some same day reservations, but needed to go a few hours ahead in person to do so.
4: Driving
You need to rent a car to get to, and around, Isle of Skye. Driving isn’t easy – the main thing to be aware of is there are a ton of single lane roads; you’ll need to pull over quite a bit to let oncoming traffic pass. The rain made this especially challenging; the roads get muddy and the rain limits your field of vision. Drive slow and you’ll be okay!
5: Way In/Out of Skye
We rented a car from Inverness Airport, drove in/out of Skye, then dropped it off in Glasgow. This was great, because it allowed us to stop by Loch Ness on the way in, and Glencoe on the way out (as well as cool Harry Potter and 007 filming locations).
Things to Do
Highlighting some of the things we did and loved (or didn’t!) – for more recommendations, check out my full list of Scotland recommendations here.
1: Hiking
We’re not big hikers, so the bulk of our research was for ~2 hour hikes. The hikes we ended up doing were Old Man of Storr and Fairy Glen.
- Old Man of Storr was beautiful, and would recommend it as a moderate hike with unique scenery. We got one of the rainiest and windiest days, but it was still a ton of fun.
- Fairy Glen offered an easy walk, but it didn’t feel worth it. The main attraction was a stone spiral, which looked much smaller and less impressive than in the pictures – very underwhelming.
2: Harry Potter
For my fellow Harry Potter nerds – we went to two HP filming locations on the way out of Isle of Skye:
- Glenfinnan Viaduct (aka Hogwarts Express) was soooo super cool. Make sure you time it so you can see the train go by! Get there early and get to our viewpoint: walk along the path, under the bridge, and up the hill.
- Ballachulish hike is where Hagrid’s Hut scenes were filmed! The hut is no longer there so its just a hill without any real signs that it was a filming location, but… cool in theory?
3: Other
- Dunvegan castle and gardens – surprisingly homey castle and nice surrounding gardens
- Neist point lighthouse – we didn’t do the walk to the lighthouse, but saw it from afar from the car park, which was good enough for us
- We stayed in Portree, which had some really cute shops and pubs around
Food
One main rec for Isle of Skye: The Three Chimneys.
The Three Chimneys is a hotel + restaurant – while we didn’t stay there, we booked a chef’s table reservation after we did a tour of Dunvegan.
The food was fantastic, and while I’m typically not a dessert girlie (to the typical benefit of my fiance who gets to finish my half-eaten desserts), I devoured all (three!) of the desserts from this menu.
The true highlight though, was the open-kitchen and round table concept of the restaurant.
There are only ~8 people seated at a time at a large table next to the kitchen. They encourage such a feeling of openness and connection – it’s easy to get to know your tablemates, and you’re encouraged to walk around and interact with the chefs whenever you want throughout the dinner. We sat with an adorable family of entomologists and a soon-to-be college student, as well as one other couple, and truly had the loveliest time.
Thank you for reading! Hoping you enjoy a sunnier, and just as adventurous time in Isle of Skye.