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Skye on Screen – Eight Film Locations

Two days by car, from Portree and back.

The route

Skye has been Stormhold, Giant Country, old Japan, Islay and Scotland in the year 2089, and almost every place the cameras came to is one of the island's great sights.

These two days, both from Portree, go to them with the films in mind. The first crosses Trotternish to the Storr, the Quiraing and Uig's Fairy Glen, back to Portree's harbour. The second heads south to Sligachan and Glen Brittle, then west past Dunvegan to Claigan's Coral Beach, ending at Neist Point. Know before you go: much of Skye's screen time was shot from helicopters or by second crews, some reshaped by computer, and nothing built for a film is left. Macbeth is different: much of it was made here in winter 2014, with its stars, a crew based in Portree and islanders as extras. Save a still or two on your phone to hold up to the view.

Before you go

  1. Book a bed near Portree for both nights

    Both days start and end in Portree, and the first leaves at quarter past seven for the Storr, so stay in the town itself. Beds on Skye go early for June: book once your dates are set.

    The BosvillePortreeThe BosvilleA hotelMarmalade HotelPortreeMarmalade HotelA hotelCuillin Hills HotelPortreeCuillin Hills HotelA hotelSkeabost House HotelSkeabost BridgeSkeabost House HotelA hotelRaasay House Hotel6 miles awayRaasay House HotelA hotelSligachan Campsite8 miles awaySligachan CampsiteA place to staySligachan Blackhouse9 miles awaySligachan BlackhouseSleeps 6Skyewalker Hostel10 miles awaySkyewalker HostelSleeps 1Half of One12 miles awayHalf of OneSleeps 8The Cowshed Boutique Bunkhouse13 miles awayThe Cowshed Boutique BunkhouseSleeps 1The Dunvegan14 miles awayThe DunveganA place to stayGlenbrittle Campsite15 miles awayGlenbrittle CampsiteA place to stayMonkstadt 1745LinicroMonkstadt 1745A place to stayThe Three ChimneysColbostThe Three ChimneysA place to stayLochview17 miles awayLochviewSleeps 4Tigh an TobairSouth ClunesTigh an TobairSleeps 8Coruisk HouseElgolCoruisk HouseSleeps 4Black Box CabinGlendaleBlack Box CabinSleeps 4The Net StoreArdheslaigThe Net StoreSleeps 4Rhuroin21 miles awayRhuroinSleeps 3Milovaig HouseMilovaigMilovaig HouseSleeps 4Kinloch Lodge22 miles awayKinloch LodgeA place to stayEilean Sionnach Lighthouse Cottage24 miles awayEilean Sionnach Lighthouse CottageSleeps 8

Day one

Trotternish

Over Trotternish from Portree and back, to the Storr, the Quiraing and the Fairy Glen, where Prometheus, Macbeth, Stardust and The BFG were filmed, and home to Portree's harbour front by mid-afternoon.

1 hr 26 min at the wheelAbout 44 miles

  1. The Old Man of Storr

    The Old Man of Storr

    An attraction

    Leave Portree at quarter past seven: it's 15 minutes' drive to the Storr, whose car park fills by mid-morning in June. The Old Man is two hours there and back. In Prometheus, the scene after the prologue is captioned Isle of Skye, Scotland, 2089: archaeologists find a star map in a cave beneath the pinnacle, though there is no cave here. Macbeth rides towards battle with the Old Man in shot, and in Transformers: The Last Knight, Merlin comes to a crashed alien ship that was never on the hill.

    More about The Old Man of Storr

  2. 23 min by car

    The Quiraing

    The Quiraing

    An attraction

    The pass is 23 minutes' drive on, through Staffin and up the hairpins above Brògaig. The last loos are at Staffin's harbour, past An Corran. By half past ten the car park is often full: go on to the council's bays towards Uig; never park on a hairpin or in a passing place. Here Macbeth's army marches home and he is made Thane of Cawdor. In Stardust, Michelle Pfeiffer's witch stands on a cliff above, a stunt double in the long shot. The path under the crags is steep-sided: 90 minutes out and back.

    More about The Quiraing

  3. 18 min by car

    Fairy Glen

    Fairy Glen

    An attraction

    The glen's car park is 18 minutes' drive over the pass, through Uig and up the narrow Sheader road. In Stardust, Lamia finds the witch Ditchwater Sal here, her caravan among the grassy cones. The BFG filmed here in 2015, and Weta Digital made it Giant Country: you'll know the shapes, not the spot. Leave every stone where it lies. Lunch is at the Uig Hotel's bar, 12 to 2.30, or the Galley at Earlish on the way home: eat first if the car park is full.

    More about Fairy Glen

  4. 30 min by car

    Portree

    Portree

    An attraction

    It's 30 minutes' drive home down the A87, into Portree by mid-afternoon. Walk down to Quay Street on the harbour front: in Made of Honour, Patrick Dempsey's romantic comedy, this row of coloured houses is the Scottish village, and the Pier Hotel plays the pub, though its inside was filmed in England. Macbeth's crew made the town their base in 2014. Las, the small cinema on Viewfield Road, paused its screenings in autumn 2026: see if it is showing again before you go.

    More about Portree

If it rains

In low cloud the Storr and the Quiraing disappear, and with them everything the films came for, so wait for the ridge to clear rather than walk into it. Go the other way round: the A87 to Uig and the Fairy Glen first, then on round the north end to the Skye Museum of Island Life at Kilmuir, whose thatched cottages are open 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday, Easter to late September (2026). Come back by Staffin and the Storr in the afternoon if the cloud lifts.

Worth a detour

  1. Eilean Donan Castle

    If you came over the Skye Bridge, you've already passed two film locations. Eilean Donan at Dornie is Connor MacLeod's home in Highlander and, from outside, the McMurrays' castle in Made of Honour; at the airstrip at Ashaig, beside the A87 east of Broadford, the opening of Flash Gordon (1980) was filmed.

  2. Lealt Falls

    Beside the A855 a few minutes past the Storr, with no extra driving: a free car park at Lealt and a sturdy platform over the gorge, where the river drops through a deep cleft towards the sea. Fifteen minutes is enough, and go no further than the viewpoint.

  3. Kilt Rock

    On the A855 at Ellishadder, in Staffin, with no extra driving: a small car park and a viewing platform over the sea cliffs, where Mealt Falls pours off the edge, and beside it Sùil nam Brà, the memorial to the Staffin crofters who stood against their landlord in the 1880s. Fifteen minutes.

Day two

Duirinish

South to the Cuillin, where Macbeth and Highlander were filmed, then west past Dunvegan to the sea at the Coral Beach and Neist Point, whose cliffs played the coast of Japan.

3 hr 19 min at the wheelAbout 104 miles

  1. 17 min by car

    Sligachan Old Bridge

    Sligachan Old Bridge

    An attraction

    Leave Portree at half past eight: it's 17 minutes' drive south on the A87 to Sligachan, where the old bridge looks up Glen Sligachan between the Red and the Black Cuillin. Justin Kurzel filmed one of Macbeth's cruellest scenes in this glen, the killing of Lady Macduff and her children, and the Cuillin were among the Skye views reworked digitally for The BFG. Walk out onto the bridge for ten minutes, look straight up the glen, and picture it in the depths of winter, when Macbeth was shot.

    More about Sligachan Old Bridge

  2. 30 min by car

    Glen Brittle Beach

    Glen Brittle Beach

    An attraction

    The beach is 30 minutes' drive away, by the Carbost road and down Glen Brittle. Somewhere in the forest on the glen's western slopes, Banquo is murdered in Macbeth. Park at the road's end, short of the campsite, and walk onto the dark sand, one of the places 47 Ronin's crew filmed in October 2012. Up on Sròn na Cìche, reached only by climbers, is the Cioch, the rock where Ramírez, Sean Connery's swordsman, teaches Connor swordplay in Highlander. Seachd, the Gaelic film, took its cameras up Sgùrr Dearg above the glen.

    More about Glen Brittle Beach

  3. 1 hr by car

    Coral Beach

    Coral Beach

    An attraction

    Allow 60 minutes' drive back to the main road and west by Dunvegan to the car park at Claigan, beyond the castle. The Coral Beach is a 4 km walk out and back, along a farm track, then the shore. In Netflix's Outlaw King, this pale shore plays Islay, where Robert the Bruce flees, beaten and hunted: VisitScotland's trail for the film says so. Lunch is at the castle's MacLeod Tables Café on the way back, or Cafe Lephin in Glendale on the way to Neist.

    More about Coral Beach

  4. 35 min by car

    Neist Point

    Neist Point

    An attraction

    Neist Point, at the end of the road, is 35 minutes' drive from Claigan out by Glendale, with lunch on the way. Near the end of Breaking the Waves, Bess's funeral is held in a churchyard Lars von Trier had built on this headland. It stood for some years afterwards, but don't expect to find it now. 47 Ronin used these cliffs as the coast of western Japan. The steps down to the lighthouse are steep, and Portree is 55 minutes' drive home by Edinbane.

    More about Neist Point

If it rains

The Coral Beach and Neist Point are no place in heavy rain, wind or mist: Neist's cliffs are unfenced. Dunvegan Castle is the day's roof, beside the road to Claigan, open every day from 1 April to 15 October, 10am to 5.30pm, last entry 5pm (2026). Talisker Distillery at Carbost, a few minutes past the Glen Brittle turning, is open daily, 10am to 5pm from March to October, with tours through the day.

Worth a detour

  1. Talisker Bay

    Outlaw King also filmed at Talisker Bay: Historic Environment Scotland named it among the film's locations. From Carbost, take the Talisker road to a pull-in for five or six cars short of the road's end, then walk through the estate's sheep farm to the black-sand bay, closing the gates. It adds about 20 minutes at the wheel and 3.5 km on foot, an hour there and back, more with time on the sand; with it the day ends in Portree nearer seven, so leave out Glen Brittle beach to fit it.

  2. Dunvegan Castle

    Right beside the road to Claigan, with no extra driving: Made of Honour filmed its Highland games here, with some of the castle's staff as extras. Allow two hours for the rooms and gardens, open daily to 15 October, 10am to 5.30pm, last entry 5pm (2026); with it, leave out Glen Brittle beach or come home from Neist after seven.

Where to eat