The most northern prominatory of the Isle of Skye is Trotternish, an area of outstanding natural beauty with it’s amazing lava and basalt landscapes.

The islands main town of Portree is in Trotternish, and is often known as the Kings Harbour as King James V landed there with his fleet of ships for Hebridean tour. Portree is a lovely fishing town, with (unsurprisingly) a number of restaurants serving up a host of locally caught fish dishes.

On leaving Portree heading North, you will come across the amazing basalt landscapes. The action of the weather on the rock has led to amazing rock formations, the pinnacle of which is 165ft high and known as the Old Man of Storr.

Narrowly avoiding a herd of sheep, we headed on up the road and visited a couple of waterfalls, Lealt and Mealt. On a fine day you can take the short path down to the beach at Lealt falls and enjoy the view of the distant hills.

The coast road takes you onto Kilt Rock, huge black basalt columns have folded to form what appears to be pleats resembling a highland Kilt.

The coastline then flattens slightly and you come across the spectacular Staffin Bay and Staffin Island, and wide curved bay where the slate roof was built. This is a typically crofting area, and many residents have held onto their Gaelic tongue.   

The very tip of the Island takes you to Duntelm – this was originally an ancient pictish fort, and in later years was fought over and changed hands many times between the MacLeods and the MacDonalds. 

The Museum of Island Life near Kilmuir is definitely worth a visit. Visit original croft houses, learn about island life of times gone by agriculturally and educationally. And learn about the troubles and the hardships that islanders have had to endure over the years with harsh landlords and emigration.

Heading south, the road heads downhill towards the sea and the small town of Uig, another beautiful bay. From here you can take ferries to other Hebridean islands such as Harris.

Unfortunately, our day trip to Skye was over and we had to leave, however Skye whilst much written about is definitely worth a visit – and not just for the day!!!!. 

LGT's KT & BT Visited Skye June 2006