A Wet Day in Portree – A Swim, Candles and Pizza
A few hours.
The route
When the rain sets in, Portree's swimming pool is the place for young children.
Àrainn Fhinn, the Fingal Centre, has a 25-metre pool with a floor that rises for the family sessions, so little ones can stand. The Isle of Skye Candle Company is five minutes' drive south: watch candles being poured through its workshop window, then have Neapolitan-style pizza at Gasta, in the same building. It's a good one for a wet day.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book Arainn Fhinn, The Fingal Centre
Book the weekend family session or family fun swim at Àrainn Fhinn, the Fingal Centre, online or on 01478 614819 before going: weekday open swims need no booking, and under-3s swim free.
Tables can be booked with the pizzeria, on 01478 613649.
The day
Portree
A wet-day morning on the edge of Portree, every part of it under a roof and a few minutes' drive apart. A swim first, then candles and pizza.
About three hours
Arainn Fhinn, The Fingal Centre
Àrainn Fhinn, the Fingal Centre, is on Viewfield Road beside the high school, with a car park for customers. The 25-metre pool has a moveable floor, raised for the family sessions so small children can stand. A swim costs £9.10 for an adult, £5.50 for a child and £23.40 for a family, and under-3s swim free with a paying adult. Most weekdays have an open swim for everyone, and at weekends there's a family session with the raised floor for under-8s and a family fun swim, both booked ahead online or by phone. The sessions change with the school terms and holidays, so check the week's pool timetable on High Life Highland's page before going. The centre is step-free throughout, with accessible toilets and a Changing Places room.
5 min by car
Isle of Skye Candle Co
An attraction
Drive 5 minutes south down Viewfield Road to the Isle of Skye Candle Company's visitor centre, a long black timber building with a car park for customers. On weekdays you can watch the candles being poured by hand through the workshop window in the shop, best in the morning. The toilets in the building are free, and one is accessible.
Gasta
Lunch
Lunch is at Gasta, in the same building as the candle company, a few steps from the shop. It's a pizzeria and bar under a high timber roof, making Neapolitan-style pizza, and it's open every day from 9am to 9pm, with the last food orders at 8pm. Tables can be booked, which helps when a whole family has just come out of the pool. It's said to be good for children and to welcome dogs, and the shop, the dining room and the toilets are step-free.
If it rains
All of it is under a roof.
The View Restaurant, bay views, Cuillin Hills Hotel.
Birch, skye's own coffee roasters.
Photograph by Arainn Fhinn, The Fingal Centre via Google