Three days on Skye
Three days by car, from Kyle of Lochalsh to Armadale.
The route
Skye is the island many people picture when they think of the Highlands, and three days is enough to see it without rushing.
You cross the bridge from Kyle of Lochalsh and drive through Broadford to Elgol, for a boat into the Cuillin, then on by Sligachan and the Fairy Pools to Portree, your home for two nights. The second day is a loop round Trotternish, from the Old Man of Storr and the dinosaur footprints at Staffin to Duntulm, the thatched cottages at Kilmuir and the Fairy Glen above Uig. On the last day you head west to Neist Point and Dunvegan, then down by Carbost and Broadford to Armadale, for the ferry to Mallaig. It's a trip for a car, with long stretches of single-track road.
Before you go
Book beds near Portree, two nights
Book as soon as your dates are set: here are ours nearest the night.
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
HeastBothan BeileagSleeps 2
HeastBothan BuidheagSleeps 2
ArdheslaigThe Net StoreSleeps 4
21 miles awayRhuroinSleeps 3
MilovaigMilovaig HouseSleeps 4
22 miles awayKinloch LodgeA place to stay
24 miles awayEilean Sionnach Lighthouse CottageSleeps 8The booking the first day is built round: Misty Isle's 11am Standard, Monday to Saturday, three hours and a quarter with about 90 minutes ashore, from £34.50 in 2026.
Book the ferry from Armadale to Mallaig
Book a space for the car on CalMac's site: it strongly recommends booking vehicles on this crossing.
Weeks ahead in summer: groups are no bigger than 16, and Talisker strongly recommends booking.
Day one
Cuillin
Over the bridge to the south of the island, for a boat into the Cuillin from Elgol and the Fairy Pools late in the afternoon, before the first of two nights in Portree. Leave Kyle at a quarter past nine.
2 hr 40 min at the wheelAbout 85 miles
Torrin Pools
An attraction
From Kyle of Lochalsh, cross the Skye Bridge by Kyleakin, and it's 35 minutes' drive through Broadford and down the Elgol road to Torrin. Park on the gravel by the little road bridge, where a burn, a hill stream, runs down into Loch Slapin. Follow the water uphill on the sheep tracks and you'll find a chain of small waterfalls and clear, blue-green pools. Look back and the great bulk of Blà Bheinn fills the view across the loch. Give it 15 minutes this morning, to be at Elgol by half past ten.
15 min by car
Misty Isle Boat Trips
An attraction
Elgol is 15 minutes' drive on, at the end of the road, where the Cuillin rise straight out of the sea across Loch Scavaig. Misty Isle, a family firm, has sailed from the pier to Loch Coruisk since 1969. Take the 11am Standard trip, Monday to Saturday: three hours and a quarter, back at a quarter past two, with about 90 minutes ashore by the loch, for £34.50. Book ahead, as the boats fill quickly, be at the pier by half past ten, and bring a picnic. Watch for seals on the way.
50 min by car
Sligachan Old Bridge
An attraction
It's 50 minutes' drive back through Broadford and up the coast to Sligachan, where the old stone bridge, built in the early 1800s for Thomas Telford's Highland roads, still arches over the river below the Cuillin. Walk out to the middle for the view straight up Glen Sligachan into the mountains. The story goes that if you kneel by the bridge and hold your face in the water for seven seconds, then let it dry on its own, the fairies will give you eternal beauty.
About 20 min by car
Fairy Pools
An attraction
Twenty minutes' drive round into Glen Brittle brings you to the Fairy Pools, a run of clear pools and waterfalls on the burn below the Cuillin. A gravel path with two footbridges runs up to the first and biggest fall, 2.4 km there and back, and the pools go on above it, so allow about two hours. Parking is £8, paid to the trust that looks after the site. In July and August the single-track road up the glen gets very busy, so late afternoon is a good time to come.
40 min by car
Portree
An attraction
It's 40 minutes' drive to Portree, the island's main town and your home for the next two nights. Walk down to the harbour, where the houses along the quay are painted in bright colours and the pier was designed by Thomas Telford. The name is usually said to mean the king's port, after a visit by James V in 1540, though not everyone agrees. The Royal Hotel stands where Flora MacDonald said goodbye to Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1746.
If it rains
The Elgol boats don't sail in strong winds, so ring on the morning; the drive to Elgol is still worth it for the view across Loch Scavaig if the cloud lifts. The Fairy Pools path is no fun in a downpour, so go straight on from Sligachan to Portree, where the Isle of Skye Candle Company's centre on Viewfield Road has its shop, a pizzeria and the town's cinema under one roof. Torrin Pools can wait for a dry spell.
PortreeAntlers Bar & GrillPub grub, Portree Hotel
PortreeDulse and BroseSkye and Highland larder
PortreeThe View RestaurantBay views, Cuillin Hills Hotel
PortreeScorrybreac RestaurantSeasonal Skye produce
SligachanSeumas' BarWalkers' bar, 400 whiskies
PortreeBirchSkye's own coffee roasters
Amy's Place Tea RoomA café
PortreeThe Bar at ScorrybreacCocktails above the harbour
SàtranCafé CùilA café
BroadfordThe Gabbro BarA bar
The Oyster ShedA restaurant
CarbostCaora Dhubh Coffee CompanyA caféDay two
Trotternish
A loop round the Trotternish peninsula, with its rock pinnacles, sea cliffs and dinosaur footprints, from the Old Man of Storr to the Quiraing, the thatched cottages at Kilmuir and the Fairy Glen above Uig. Leave Portree by a quarter to eight, to be at the Storr by eight.
1 hr 27 min at the wheelAbout 58 miles
15 min by car
The Old Man of Storr
An attraction
The Storr is 15 minutes' drive north, and it pays to be there by eight, because the car park has 140 spaces and you can't park on the verges. It costs £6 for up to six hours. The path up to the Old Man and the pinnacles around him is 3.6 km there and back and takes about two hours, climbing steeply. They're part of a landslip that is still creeping towards the sea, so keep off the ground right under the cliffs.
15 min by car
Kilt Rock
An attraction
It's 15 minutes' drive on up the coast to Kilt Rock, where the sea cliffs are made of dark columns of dolerite that look like the pleats of a kilt. Beside the viewpoint, Mealt Falls pours out of Loch Mealt and drops straight off the cliff onto the shore below. It's a level walk from the car park to the railings, where boards tell you about the dinosaurs that lived here. Look out across the water to Raasay and Rona, too.
7 min by car
An Corran Beach
An attraction
Drive 7 minutes into Staffin and down to An Corran, a small beach where meat-eating dinosaurs walked through the mud about 166 million years ago. Their footprints are on the rock shelf, often under sand or seaweed, and they show best at mid-tide, so check the tide times for Staffin before you set out. Two dog walkers found the first one in 2001, and experts have found more since. The Staffin Dinosaur Museum, back along the road at Ellishadder, has more of the island's fossils if you want to see them up close.
10 min by car
The Quiraing
An attraction
It's 10 minutes' drive up the hairpins of the Uig road to the car park at the top of the pass, £3 for three hours. The Quiraing is the wildest part of the Trotternish landslip. Walk the path under the cliffs towards the Prison and the Needle and back, about an hour and a half; the full circuit takes three to four. By late morning it's busy: if its 40 spaces are full, use the council's roadside bays further on towards Uig, never the verges or passing places.
19 min by car
Duntulm Castle
An attraction
Duntulm Castle is 19 minutes' drive down through Staffin and past Flodigarry, round the top of the island, on a headland looking out to the Western Isles. The chiefs of the MacDonalds of Sleat lived here in the 1600s, and left in about 1732 for a new house at Monkstadt. The story goes that it was abandoned after a nursemaid dropped the chief's baby son from a window onto the rocks. The ruin is fenced off, but the 10 to 15-minute walk out is worth it for the view.
4 min by car
Skye Museum of Island Life
An attraction
Just 4 minutes' drive on, at Kilmuir, eight thatched cottages show how crofting families lived on Skye in the 1800s, with a smithy, a weaver's house and an old shop among them. Jonathan MacDonald opened the museum in 1965. It's open from Easter to late September, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, with last entry at 4.30, and costs £8, with under-15s free; late in September, ring first. Then walk up the hill to Kilmuir burial ground, where Flora MacDonald was buried in 1790.
17 min by car
Fairy Glen
An attraction
It's 17 minutes' drive through Uig and up a narrow, steep lane to the Fairy Glen, a little valley of grassy cone-shaped hills and small lochans. Walk up to Castle Ewen, a great knob of rock you can climb for the view over the glen. Use the small car park rather than the verges, as this is the road to people's homes. Please don't build stone circles or move the stones, as it damages the ground.
30 min on foot
Scorrybreac Circuit
An attraction
Drive 30 minutes back to Portree for an evening stroll on the Scorrybreac path, from the small car park below the Cuillin Hills Hotel. The loop is 3 km, with a climb of about 160 metres, and takes an hour or so, round the headland on the far side of the bay. The Nicolson chiefs lived here until the last of them left Skye in 1825, and you'll pass a memorial to them. Watch for sea eagles, and look back across the water to the painted harbour.
If it rains
Trotternish is all outdoors, and in rain and low cloud the Storr and Quiraing paths lose their views and turn slippery. In a downpour, leave out both walks, see Kilt Rock from the railings, and spend the time in the Staffin Dinosaur Museum at Ellishadder instead of on the beach; check its hours before you go. The cottages at the Skye Museum of Island Life are under thatch, so give them longer.
Worth a detour
- Bearreraig Bay
A steep path down to the bay below the Storr.
- Lealt Falls
A deep gorge and falls a minute from the roadside car park.
- Brothers' Point
A short walk out to a headland on the Trotternish coast.
- Kilvaxter Souterrain
An Iron Age underground passage beside the road; bring a torch.
StaffinThe Hungry GullBrunch café
StaffinColumba 1400Charity café under Trotternish
UigThe Ferry Inn RestaurantCosy inn at the head of Uig Bay
EarlishThe Galley CaféA caféPortreeScorrybreac RestaurantSeasonal Skye producePortreeThe View RestaurantBay views, Cuillin Hills HotelPortreeThe Bar at ScorrybreacCocktails above the harbourPortreeDulse and BroseSkye and Highland larderPortreeBirchSkye's own coffee roastersPortreeAntlers Bar & GrillPub grub, Portree HotelDay three
Dunvegan
The last day heads west to the cliffs and lighthouse at Neist Point and the MacLeods' castle at Dunvegan, then south by Talisker on Loch Harport to Armadale's gardens and the evening ferry to Mallaig. It's the longest day at the wheel, nearly three and a half hours, so leave Portree by a quarter past seven.
2 hr 19 min at the wheelAbout 107 miles
1 hr 5 min by car
Neist Point
An attraction
It's 65 minutes' drive west through Dunvegan village and Glendale to Neist Point, the most westerly point on Skye, and the last miles are single-track. Steep steps with a handrail lead down the cliff, and the path runs out along the headland to the lighthouse, which has stood here since 1909. It's 3 km there and back; allow an hour and a half, with the steps to climb again at the end. Keep well back from the cliff edges, and watch the sea for dolphins and basking sharks.
30 min by car
Dunvegan Castle
An attraction
Dunvegan Castle is 30 minutes' drive back through Glendale: the seat of the chiefs of Clan MacLeod for some 800 years and still lived in today. Inside is the Fairy Flag, an old silk banner that, legend says, will bring the clan victory when it is waved. Allow an hour and three-quarters for the rooms and the gardens by the loch. It's open daily from 1 April to 15 October, 10am to 5.30pm, and costs £17.50. On weekdays until September, a seal boat leaves from the jetty below.
40 min by car
Talisker Distillery
An attraction
It's 40 minutes' drive south to Carbost, where Talisker has made whisky on the shore of Loch Harport since 1830. Robert Louis Stevenson named it in a poem as one of the king o' drinks. Book the Distillery Tour and Tasting for about one o'clock: it takes an hour, costs from £22, and isn't open to under-eights. Drivers take their three drams away in a drivers' pack. From 11 October to 1 November 2026 the tour doesn't run, but the shop, the bar and the other tastings stay open.
2 min by car
Armadale Castle Gardens
An attraction
Drive 70 minutes by Sligachan and Broadford to Armadale, for an hour and a half before it shuts at five. Around the fenced-off ruin of the MacDonald chiefs' castle lie 40 acres of gardens and woodland, open daily, late March to October. The estate was sold in January 2026 and the Museum of the Isles is to move, so check it's still there. The ferry to Mallaig leaves from the pier, 2 minutes' drive away, and takes 30 minutes; be in the car lanes 20 minutes before it sails.
If it rains
In wind and rain, don't go down the steps at Neist Point; the view of the headland and the lighthouse from the top is still worth the drive. Dunvegan Castle is the best of the day in the wet, with all its main rooms indoors, and in the village the Giant MacAskill Museum tells the story of Angus MacAskill, who grew to 7 feet 9 inches. Talisker is under a roof, and so, while it stays at Armadale, is the Museum of the Isles. The ferry sails in most weather, but check CalMac's service page before you leave Carbost.
Worth a detour
- Skye Weavers
Scarves, throws and tweed made on pedal-powered looms in a shed in Glendale, on the road back from Neist Point; Tuesday to Saturday from 10am, until 24 October.
- Dun Beag Broch
An Iron Age broch on a knoll above Struan, a short climb from the road.
- Torabhaig Distillery
A newer Skye distillery in an old farm steading near Teangue.
- Knock Castle
The ruin of a MacDonald castle on the shore below the road.
Where to eat
CarbostThe Old InnA restaurant
CarbostThe Three Chimneys at TaliskerA restaurant
DunveganDunvegan Bakery & Coffee ShopA café
GlendaleCafe LephinA café
StruanBog Myrtle CaféA café
SteinThe Stein Inn BarOne of the oldest inns on Skye, on Loch Bay
MallaigThe Tea Garden, MallaigA restaurant
MallaigThe Cabin Restaurant and TakeawayA restaurant
The Chlachain InnA restaurant
WaternishYURTea&CoffeeA caféCarbostCaora Dhubh Coffee CompanyA caféThe Oyster ShedA restaurantPhotograph by Ian McFegan