Skye's Great Views – the Storr at Dawn and Elgol at Sunset
Two days by car, from Portree and back.
The route
Each of Skye's great viewpoints faces one way, so each has its hour.
Over two days from Portree, this route reaches the island's best-loved ones when the light is on them. Day one takes Trotternish's east-facing cliffs in the morning, with breakfast in Staffin, then crosses by Uig and Dunvegan to the Coral Beach and Neist Point for the sunset. Day two starts at Sligachan at first light and goes by the Fairy Pools and Talisker Bay to Elgol for the evening. The days are long: with young children, take the dawn or the sunset each day, not both.
Before you go
Book three nights near Portree
Both days start and end in Portree: the first leaves at twenty past six and the second gets back at about nine, so you need the night before and a bed after each day. Book early.
PortreeThe BosvilleA hotel
PortreeMarmalade HotelA hotel
PortreeCuillin Hills HotelA hotel
CamustianavaigThe Crofter's HouseSleeps 2
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 awayHarlosh Black hSleeps 2
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
18 miles awayLusa BothyA place to stay
ElgolCoruisk HouseSleeps 4
GlendaleBlack Box CabinSleeps 4
HeastBothan BeileagSleeps 2
HeastBothan BuidheagSleeps 2
ArdheslaigThe Net StoreSleeps 4
21 miles awayRhuroinSleeps 3
21 miles awayStonechat BothySleeps 2
21 miles awayHarlosh Wood hSleeps 6
MilovaigMilovaig HouseSleeps 4
22 miles awayKinloch LodgeA place to stay
24 miles awayEilean Sionnach Lighthouse CottageSleeps 8Book supper at the Edinbane Inn on the way home
Book the Edinbane Inn, on the A850 home from Neist Point, for about twenty to nine: it serves dinner every day until 9.30pm, last table 9.15pm, you pass at about half past eight, and Portree's kitchens shut at nine, before you're back.
Book supper at the Elgol Bistro
Book a table for five o'clock, Wednesday to Saturday only (evening meals from 5pm, last orders 8.15pm), and check it is open in late September: eat before the sunset and you'll be home by nine.
Day one
Trotternish and Neist
Trotternish's cliffs face east and have the morning, and the headlands of the west have the evening, so the day follows the light across the island, from the Storr at dawn to the sunset at Neist Point. Set off from Portree at twenty past six, with coffee in a flask.
3 hr 19 min at the wheelAbout 106 miles
Loch Fada
A walk
It's 10 minutes' drive north on the A855, in the half-light, to the lay-bys halfway along Loch Fada, on its west shore. Pull in, never in a passing place, and face north to the Storr. The sun rises at about five past seven, almost due east, behind the hills on your right, and won't clear them before you leave. If the east is clear, the Old Man catches it at once, high above the shaded loch. On a still morning the water holds the whole ridge.
About 5 min by car
The Old Man of Storr
An attraction
Five minutes on is the Storr car park, where charging starts at 8am, so take a ticket that runs through the morning. The path climbs steeply for 1.8 km, about 40 minutes to the Old Man with the sun at your back. Go a little higher, to the north of him, and look back south: the low sun now comes from your left and lights the pinnacles side-on, each throwing a long shadow. In the afternoon you'd be looking at them into the light.
15 min by car
Kilt Rock
An attraction
It's 15 minutes' drive north by Rigg and Lealt to the Kilt Rock car park by Loch Mealt, while the morning sun is on the cliff. Its face looks east, and at twenty to ten the sun is in the south-east, about 19 degrees up, coming in from the side so each column stands out from the next. After about one o'clock the sun is round behind the cliff and the face turns flat and grey. Twenty minutes at the railings is plenty.
13 min by car
The Quiraing
An attraction
Drive 13 minutes through Staffin, where the Hungry Gull in the community hall opens at 10am, Tuesday to Saturday, for a late breakfast (Columba 1400's café opens Monday to Friday), then up the hairpins to the pass. The escarpment faces east, and the late-morning sun lights the slip and its towers from your right as you look along them to the Prison. The view starts beside the car park; if it's full, use the council's bays on towards Uig, never the hairpins or a passing place.
1 hr 5 min by car
Coral Beach
An attraction
It's 65 minutes' drive over the pass to Uig, past the turning for the Fairy Glen, and by Edinbane to Dunvegan for coffee, toilets and fuel, then out to Claigan. The beach faces west-south-west, across Loch Dunvegan, and early afternoon is its time, with the high sun on the white shore. It's 4 km out and back, the second of three walks today. If the small car park is full, or the Storr has taken your legs, go on to Neist early; never park on the road.
35 min by car
Neist Point
An attraction
Neist is 35 minutes' drive, back through Dunvegan, the last toilets, then by Colbost, past the Three Chimneys restaurant, and Glendale to the road's end. With two hours before the sunset, walk down to the lighthouse and back first: 3 km, with a steep climb back up, about an hour and a half. Then take the boggy path north-west to the cliff top. The sun sets at about half past seven, over the sea to Benbecula. Stay for the lamp's flash, then walk back while you can still see the path, and carry a torch.
If it rains
A view in cloud is a different view, and this day is only as good as its sky: if tomorrow looks clearer, swap the days, unless today is a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday: the Elgol Bistro opens Wednesday to Saturday only. On a wet dawn, leave the Storr path alone in the half-light and start later at Kilt Rock, 28 minutes' drive from Portree, where Mealt Falls runs fuller after rain and the railings are a few steps from the car. On the way, the falls at Lealt are seen from a railed platform over the gorge. Mist on the Quiraing is a wild sight from beside the car park, but keep off the path in wind or mist. In the afternoon, Dunvegan Castle is the roof: open every day to 15 October, 10am to 5.30pm, with last entry at 5pm in 2026. Neist's unfenced cliffs are no place in wind or mist.
Worth a detour
- Lealt Falls
Just off the A855 on the way north: the gorge and its falls from the viewpoint by the road, a few minutes on foot, in the same early light as the Storr.
PortreeAntlers Bar & GrillPub grub, Portree Hotel
PortreeDulse and BroseSkye and Highland larder
PortreeThe View RestaurantBay views, Cuillin Hills Hotel
StaffinColumba 1400Charity café under Trotternish
StaffinThe Hungry GullBrunch café
SteinThe Stein Inn BarOne of the oldest inns on Skye, on Loch Bay
WaternishYURTea&CoffeeA café
UigThe Ferry Inn RestaurantCosy inn at the head of Uig Bay
EarlishThe Galley CaféA caféDay two
Cuillin
The Cuillin from first light to last: Sligachan at dawn, the Fairy Pools in the morning shade, then the sea at Talisker and the sunset from Elgol. Set off from Portree at twenty-five to seven with breakfast packed, and save Portree's painted harbour for the next morning's sun.
3 hr 20 min at the wheelAbout 111 miles
17 min by car
Sligachan Old Bridge
An attraction
It's 17 minutes' drive south on the A87 to Sligachan's old bridge, in the blue light before sunrise. Look south up the glen to Sgurr nan Gillean. Just after seven the sun rises behind Glamaig, the red cone on your left, and on a clear morning the Black Cuillin's tops take it first. The bridge and river stay in the shadow of Glamaig, then Beinn Dearg Mhòr, until about half past eight, so watch the light come down the peaks, from the bridge or the bank, never from the road.
24 min by car
Fairy Pools
An attraction
Drive 24 minutes west and down Glen Brittle's single-track road to the pools' car park, long before it fills. Walk up the burn (the stream), about 20 minutes to the first big fall. The pools lie under the Cuillin's western side, so with the sun behind the ridge they sit in even shade until about nine, with no glare on the water and the peaks dark against a bright sky. Then the sun clears the tops and reaches the falls. Leave by eleven, when the busiest hours begin.
21 min by car
Talisker Bay
An attraction
It's 21 minutes' drive by Carbost, where the Oyster Shed opens at 11am, Monday to Saturday, for lunch, then up the Talisker road to the pull-in short of its end. If it's full, use the old quarry a little back. Walk in by the farm track, about 25 minutes, closing each gate. Save the sunset for Elgol: at half past one the sun is due south and full on the northern cliffs, where a waterfall runs after rain. The sand shows from half tide down: check the tide table.
1 hr 12 min by car
Elgol
An attraction
Elgol is 72 minutes' drive, back by Sligachan and Loch Ainort to Broadford, the last fuel, then past Torrin, under Blà Bheinn. The Elgol Bistro, three-quarters of a mile up the hill from the jetty, serves supper from 5pm, Wednesday to Saturday: eat at five and you'll be home by nine. Then drive down to the shore north of the jetty and look north-west over Loch Scavaig to the Cuillin. If the sky clears, the sun sets over Soay at about twenty-five past seven, lighting the peaks side-on.
If it rains
Low cloud on the Cuillin takes most of this day's views, so give it the clearer of the two days if you can. The Fairy Pools run fuller in the rain, but the burn rises fast after a downpour: keep to the path and well back from the water. Talisker Distillery at Carbost is the day's roof, open 10am to 5pm from March to October, with tours booked ahead; each autumn the tours stop for a few weeks' maintenance (11 October to 1 November in 2026). At Elgol the shore rocks are slippery in the wet, so watch from the viewpoint by the upper car park instead.
Worth a detour
- Carbost Burn Waterfall
A short walk up the burn above Carbost to its falls: good in any light and better after rain.
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Photograph by Kevin Beuriot via Google