Skye Made Easy – Castle Gardens, Waterfalls and a Distillery
Two days by car, from Portree and back.
The route
Skye is known as an island for walkers, yet a great deal of it can be enjoyed from a level path, a car park or the deck of a boat.
These two days, based in Portree, keep to two-lane roads apart from about 3 km of single track each day, and stop only where the parking and the path work from the car. Day one heads west to the gardens of Dunvegan Castle, the Talisker distillery at Carbost and the Cuillin from Sligachan. Day two runs up the Trotternish coast to the Storr, Lealt and Kilt Rock, with lunch facing the Quiraing in Staffin, then sails from Portree on a boat you can roll aboard. Sligachan, Lealt and Kilt Rock have no loos, and the accessible toilets at the Storr and on the Green in Portree need a RADAR key, so bring one.
Before you go
Book beds near Portree, from the night before day one
Rooms that work for a wheelchair are few on Skye and go first, so book two nights near Portree from the night before day one, and ask exactly what the room has: level entry, door widths, a roll-in shower and grab rails.
PortreeThe BosvilleA hotel
PortreeMarmalade HotelA hotel
PortreeCuillin Hills HotelA hotel
Skeabost BridgeSkeabost House HotelA hotel
6 miles awayRaasay House HotelA hotel
8 miles awaySligachan CampsiteA place to stay
9 miles awaySligachan BlackhouseSleeps 6
10 miles awaySkyewalker HostelSleeps 1
12 miles awayHalf of OneSleeps 8
13 miles awayThe Cowshed Boutique BunkhouseSleeps 1
14 miles awayThe DunveganA place to stay
15 miles awayGlenbrittle CampsiteA place to stay
LinicroMonkstadt 1745A place to stay
ColbostThe Three ChimneysA place to stay
17 miles awayLochviewSleeps 4
South ClunesTigh an TobairSleeps 8
ElgolCoruisk HouseSleeps 4
GlendaleBlack Box CabinSleeps 4
ArdheslaigThe Net StoreSleeps 4
21 miles awayRhuroinSleeps 3
MilovaigMilovaig HouseSleeps 4
22 miles awayKinloch LodgeA place to stay
24 miles awayEilean Sionnach Lighthouse CottageSleeps 8Book Stardust, Portree harbour
Book Stardust's two-hour Skye and Raasay cruise for 2pm.
Book the Made by the Sea tasting, half an hour in the one-level Brand Home, for about 2pm; not the Distillery Tour, which climbs stairs.
Book a RADAR key, before you leave home
The accessible toilets at the Storr car park, on the Green in Portree and in Dunvegan village's car park are locked, and open only with a RADAR key.
Day one
Dunvegan and Sligachan
West to a castle garden made for wheels, a distillery on one level and the Cuillin from beside the car, on two-lane roads but for the 3 km lane into Carbost. It's about an hour and 50 minutes of driving, home to Portree by four.
1 hr 51 min at the wheelAbout 61 miles
Dunvegan Castle
An attraction
It's 40 minutes' drive from Portree on the A850, by Edinbane, to Dunvegan Castle, open from ten. From the disabled bays opposite the ticket office the gardens are level to enter, and accessible paths link the three formal gardens, though a few stretches are steep; scooters and powered chairs are welcome. The castle's rooms are up 12 steps with no ramp, so whoever stays out can ask for the armchair visit, a virtual tour on a tablet. The café, up a ramp by the gift shop, has an accessible toilet.
40 min by car
Talisker Distillery
An attraction
Carbost is 40 minutes' drive south on the A863, then down the single-track lane. Have lunch on the way at Café Cùil, on one level with two bays at its door, open Wednesday to Sunday for walk-ins. Talisker's Brand Home, beside Loch Harport, is level too, with five disabled bays about 60 metres from the door. The tour climbs stairs, so book the half-hour Made by the Sea tasting and ask for a driver's pack. Under-eights can't join it, but can wait in the shop.
14 min by car
Sligachan Old Bridge
An attraction
Sligachan is 14 minutes' drive back up the lane and the A863. The Cuillin fill the view up the glen from the little car park, which has two disabled bays. A short footway leads 100 metres to the statue of Collie and Mackenzie, the climber and the Skye guide who explored those peaks together. A barrier stops vans over 2.1 metres. There are no public loos: Seumas' Bar, 250 metres away across the river, has toilets for customers, so ring ahead about access. Back in Portree, Skye's Changing Places toilet is at the Fingal Centre on Viewfield Road, open until 9pm Monday to Thursday, 7pm on Fridays and 4pm at weekends.
If it rains
Dunvegan's gardens are fine in a shower but hard going in a downpour, and the castle and gardens can shut at short notice in high winds, so look at their website that morning. On a wet day, give the gardens less time and the armchair visit more, then let a longer lunch at Café Cùil and Talisker's Brand Home carry the afternoon. Back in Portree, the Isle of Skye Candle Co on Viewfield Road is level throughout, with bays by its door, accessible toilets and Gasta for supper.
Worth a detour
- Fairy Bridge
On the A850 where the Waternish road turns off, with no extra driving: a lay-by just along the B886, with the old stone bridge, long out of use, beside the road. It's seen from the car or the verge, so five minutes is plenty.
- Giant MacAskill Museum
In Dunvegan village, on the way from the castle to the A863: the story of Angus MacAskill, the giant of Berneray, in an old thatched cottage with room inside for a wheelchair. Two spaces at the door, and the village car park opposite, whose accessible toilet takes a RADAR key. It publishes no hours, but usually opens from Easter to October. Half an hour.
PortreeAntlers Bar & GrillPub grub, Portree Hotel
PortreeThe View RestaurantBay views, Cuillin Hills Hotel
PortreeScorrybreac RestaurantSeasonal Skye produce
CarbostCaora Dhubh Coffee CompanyA café
SligachanSeumas' BarWalkers' bar, 400 whiskies
PortreeBirchSkye's own coffee roasters
DunveganDunvegan Bakery & Coffee ShopA café
SàtranCafé CùilA café
GlendaleCafe LephinA café
StruanBog Myrtle CaféA café
SteinThe Stein Inn BarOne of the oldest inns on Skye, on Loch Bay
WaternishYURTea&CoffeeA caféDay two
Trotternish
North along Trotternish's east coast: the hydro road by the Storr lochs, then the Old Man of Storr, Lealt and Kilt Rock, all seen from level ground, with lunch facing the Quiraing and the afternoon at sea from Portree. It's about an hour of driving, leaving Portree by nine.
1 hr 5 min at the wheelAbout 34 miles
13 min by car
The Storr Lochs road
Just out of Portree the A855 narrows to single track twice, about 3 km in all: pull into a passing place on your left to let traffic by, and never park in one. It's 13 minutes' drive north, and as the road widens by Loch Fada, two-lane from there to Staffin, the Old Man of Storr appears over the water. Just before the Storr car park, there has been room for a car or two by the bus stop on the right, never in the stop itself: check on the day. The hydro road runs from here along the lochs on smooth, fairly level tarmac, with the Old Man above you and Raasay ahead. Both cattle grids have a gate beside them. Turn whenever you like.
2 min by car
The Old Man of Storr
An attraction
The Storr car park is 2 minutes' drive on, free for Blue Badge holders. Be here by about ten, before it is at its busiest. A height barrier keeps motorhomes and high vans out, so in a tall adapted van use the roadside bays by the toilets. The accessible toilet takes a RADAR key. The Old Man stands on the skyline, as close as he comes without a steep, rough climb. Our photograph is taken from Loch Fada, a few minutes back, where the lay-bys give you the same view from the car.
9 min by car
Lealt Falls
An attraction
It's 9 minutes' drive on to Lealt. Turn in slowly: the disabled bays are the first spaces on your left, signed on the fence rather than painted, and they're the ones to use, as the main car park's way to the gorge is through kissing gates. Cross the entrance lane with care, and a short slope brings you to a sturdy platform with handholds above the gorge. That is the end of the easy ground, and there are no loos.
6 min by car
Kilt Rock
An attraction
Kilt Rock is 6 minutes' drive on, and its rebuilt car park is level, with four disabled bays by the gate to the viewing area. It fills from late morning, so be here before noon. A loop of packed gravel leads to the railings, where Mealt Falls drops off the cliff to the shore. There are no loos, so carry on five minutes to Columba 1400 in Staffin, with a ramp and an accessible toilet, for lunch from 12 facing the Quiraing. Leave by ten to one for the boat.
35 min by car
Stardust, Portree harbour
It's 35 minutes' drive by Staffin back to Portree. When you book, tell Stardust a wheelchair is coming, so a boat that takes one is sent. Quay Brae is very steep, so be dropped at the Harbour Fish and Chip Shop to check in for the 2pm cruise, and park at Bayfield, free with a Blue Badge. A wheelchair boards at the pontoon behind the Harbour Offices by a walkway and a stern ramp: check on the day. Afterwards the driver brings the car round to the chip shop.
If it rains
Lealt and Kilt Rock are fine in rain, and their falls are at their best after it, but the platform and the railings are open to the wind, so in a gale see them from the car. Stardust sails in rain but not in strong wind, and refunds or gives credit when it cancels: ring that morning. If the boat is off, spend the afternoon at the Isle of Skye Candle Co on Viewfield Road, level throughout, where you can watch candles being poured through the workshop window on weekdays.
Worth a detour
- Loch Fada
On the A855 with no extra driving, just after the single-track stretches: the lay-bys halfway along Loch Fada look up the water to the Old Man of Storr, a view to have from the car seat. Never stop in the passing places just south of them.
