Isle of Skye Itinerary

Before we get to the Isle of Skye Itinerary, a quick context on what where the Isle of Skye is and why it should be in every itinerary of Scotland

Where is the Isle of Skye?

Scotland has two Hebrides (named after the Norse word Harbredey which means Isles at the edge of the sea) – There is the outer Hebrides the most westerly islands off the Scottish mainland and the Inner Hebrides that are closer to the mainland. The inner Hebrides themselves are split into two parts Northern and Southern and the Skye or the Isle of Skye is found in the Northern Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known for its rugged landscape and beauty, The Isle of Skye has been a favorite among tourists for all the right reasons. Having visited several countries before myself, I must admit, the landscape I witnessed in the Isle of Skye literally had my jaw dropping in entirety.

How many days should you visit the Isle of Skye?

Another quick, but an important concern is how many days does one need to explore the beautiful Isle of Skye after all tickets to Europe from India are not cheap. The Isle of Skye is spread out geographically and a minimum of 2 days is recommended to be able to cover most of the ideal spots, a 3-day itinerary is comfortable especially if you want to hike to several of these points. Of course any time, money or resources you have to stay longer than that will not harm you at the Isle of Skye.

Read more on how you can spend 7 Days in Scotland

Why the Isle of Skye is called The Misty Isle ?

A word of caution, no matter how many days you are planning to spend at the Isle of Skye. As stunning as the landscapes are, they come at a price with insanely high unpredictable weather. Rains are expected even in the summers and all the jokes you hear about the Scottish weather are actually true. There is a reason the Isle of Skye is called the Misty Isle, she can be very very moody and the minute the clouds come down, visibility turns zero and you are pretty much stuck either at Parking Lots waiting for the weather to clear up or stuck indoors.

We had bad weather 2 out of 3 days and we still fell in love with the place, so you can imagine. It is a heavy price to pay, but worth it. The good news is, it clears up just as quickly as it gets cloudy.

Getting There:

There are two ways of getting to the Isle of Skye through the Skye Bridge or the ferry, it is preferable to take the Skye Bridge.

We drove directly from Urqhart Castle to Isle of Skye, a drive approximately 2.5 hours long. However, it took us slightly longer to get there as made a stop at the Eilean Doonan Castle as well enroute. Read more on that here.

Where to Stay in the Isle of Skye

Portree is the largest city at the base of the Isle of Skye. All tourists use Portree as a base to cover different parts of the highlands. Portree is a beautiful city in itself, small, quaint by the ocean with a lot of small restaurants catering to the heavy continuous flow of tourists all season.

We stayed in Cruinn Bheinn AirBNB slightly away from the main square of Portree, but absolutely worth it. Read more about my stay on TripAdvisor

Pro Tip: Start the day a little early in the morning to give yourself a headstart to catching as many points in Isle of Skye possible in a day.

The Isle of Skye Itinerary:

I’m arranging the points in descending order of importance along the route that is most feasible given how spread out the spots are, so you can plan according to your time available for the treks.

1. Quiraing

A stellar view of the mighty glens, Quiraing that falls en route from Uig can be the starting point if you begin clockwise into the viewpoints along the northern part of the Isle of Skye. We did not have enough time and hence started from Quiraing, however, you if have a little bit longer you can begin this journey from the beautiful fairy glens.

While we were not able to see anything by the time we got here, from what I learned from our AirBnB hosts is that there is a view of the highlands about 10 minutes away from the parking lot and those who wish to follow down the trail can do the hike that should take approximately 4 hours. So if you have just a day or 2 in the Isle of Skye, you might have to satiate yourself with just the view near the parking lot.

Also, the parking here in peak hours is quite limited so you might want to begin at this point if you are having an early start to the day.

2.Kilt Rock & Mealt Falls

If you were to drive south towards Portree by the coast from Quiraing, you will be welcomed with a view of the cliffs one behind the other and a stunning waterfall right about 200 m from the parking lot (or even lesser). One of the many beautiful views of the Isle of Skye.

A positive factor is that it is not very hampered by bad weather either. You can still manage to get there

3.Brother’s Point

A quieter point with lesser tourists, this is one of the few hidden gems within the Isle of Skye. A 5-minute drive south of the Kilt Rock, it is a beautiful place to just stop by on the road and to just feel the wind blowing in your ears in a calm and eerie quiet.

4.Old Man of Storr

One of Isle of Skye’s iconic locations, you might recognize the picture of the Old Man of Storr even if you have not visited the Isle of Skye. Located 10 minutes south of Brother’s point, it is a short hike up, the view of the highlands is supposed to be magnificent alongside those curious rock formations.

Bad weather kind of hurted us here as well with little visibility. So much that many of the visitors before us actually discouraged us from even climbing all the way up. We still did for we wanted to be absolutely sure and of course eventually found out that they were right. But you never really know till you try, right?

5. Fairy Glen

If you have time for one more spot in the Isle of Skye, we have heard that this one is stellar. Given our lack of any luck with the weather on our first day in the Isle of Skye, we decided to give this one a skip. But if you one of those lucky few who had a chance of a sunny day in the Isle of Skye you must visit it.

This was our day 1 of Isle of Skye. If you have just one day in the Isle of Skye, my recommendation would be to start out early, finish points 1-4 and cover Neist Point at sunset.

Now if you have another full day  or two at Isle of Skye like we did, you can cover these points additionally

Day 2 in the Isle of Skye

6.Fairy Pools

Near Glen Brittle, fairy pools are beautiful blue waters of the River Brittle. Just a little outside of Carbost village, it is a dream for photographers and those with courage who are willing to take a dip in those cold waters.

On rainy days like ours, the paths are muddy at best and really slippery, so be a little cautious. The first waterfall is hardly a 10-minute walk from the car park and is the deepest of them all. A steady walk along the road to the next waterfalls will require causing a few paths across streams by jumping from one stone to another.

Being again a very popular tourist destination, it is much preferable to do this early in the morning to avoid crowds.

7.Talisker Distillery

One of the best places to  visit during off-days with the weather in Isle of Skye. The whiskey is of course great and they offer a tour of their distillery followed by tasting. It is a good one hour, be sure to get your slots for the distillery tour beforehand though depending on what time you plan to visit there for the slots get full pretty quick.

8.Lunch at the old Inn

If you are a fellow vegetarian like me, food in the Isle of Skye might get a little difficult. Not just Isle of Skye though, there were limitations in food options across Scotland. So you can imagine my surprise when the Old Inn offered Indian Curry, Rice and Papad <3. After savoring the delicious spices and reviving my taste buds, we hit the road again.

9.Dunvegan Castle

Our last stop for the day and my oh my I was floored. Another indoor option in the Isle of Skye on bad weather days is the Dunvegan Castle, one of the oldest inhabited castles in all of Scotland. Off the west coast of Scotland, the Dunvegan castle is the seat of the chief of the Mcleod clan. However, for me, the charm was not the castle itself but the castle grounds. The grounds around the castle I think were three times the size of the castle and the garden was nothing short of a forest. Tall trees, waterfalls, tulip gardens, the grounds are a paradise. 

Read more about the beautiful Dunvegan Castle

10. Neist Point

This was one of the dream destinations for me in Isle of Skye, the hills of varying sizes leading up to the ocean with a lighthouse at the tip of the cliff. It sounded like a fantasy. This is one point one should try and catch the sunset at on a clear day of course.

Given the weather we were in, we really hoped to that by evening the clouds will clear up and we could see the point. Scotland clouds proved us wrong, it got even more gloomy and cloudy, that we could barely spot the light house. Despite that, we truly loved the point, for it was a beauty being so near the ocean. There were hardly any folks around, most assuming the lack of visibility chose to stay indoors. So, it was just, the two of us, some sheep and the landscape in front of us.

Things to Remember while travelling to the Isle of Skye

Given the distances and the geographically spread out points across Isle of Skye and the lack of consistent good weather, it is recommended that you give yourself a little while longer at the Isle of Skye to be able to maximize your trip there. The Misty Isle is not easy to catch in one visit and we for sure will want to come back for more.

Also, the dramatic landscapes of Isle of Skye are not restricted to these specific points alone. These are the most popular ones, however, do not restrict yourself to just these top spots. We drove around several parts of Isle of Skye and found ourselves parking at several random points where the landscape took our breath away. There could be hundreds of hidden gems in the Isle of Skye so ensure you venture out and discover some for yourself even if they cannot be named.

Comment if you found some of those hidden gems driving around the Isle of Skye in the comments section below.