If you are planning a trip to Skye, figuring out where to stay on the Isle is probably one of the most important steps of your trip-planning process. While in some places going through all the areas where one can stay can seem overwhelming, Skye is so sparsely populated while still being a large Isle that we found it a slightly easier decision to make. There is no “wrong” place to stay on Skye, it truly depends on what your interests are and how long you plan to stay on the Isle. Below we present our Where to Stay on Skye Guide to help simplify the decision process and to help you get the most out of your stay on Skye.
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You might also be interested in these pages:
Top Things to See and Do on Skye
4-Day Roadtrip Isle of Skye Itinerary
Isle of Skye Travel Guide: Things to Know Before You Go
Skye’s Best Hiking and Walking Trails
Skye – Orientation
The Isle of Skye comprises several peninsulas that radiate from a mountainous hub known as the Cuillin range, which can be further divided into the Black Cuillin to the west and the Red Cuillin to the east. Skye’s most famous peninsula is the Trotternish peninsula to the northeast – this is where you’ll find the most popular hiking trails on the Isle such as the Quiraing and the Old Man of Storr, in addition to Skye’s largest town, Portree, which lies at the base of the peninsula along the eastern coast.
If you were to drive all over Skye non-stop over most of the main roads, it would take you over 8 hours — this is a best-case scenario and assumes little to no traffic. So deciding where to base yourself can have a significant impact on how much driving you’ll have to do each day to visit the attractions you are most interested in.
Where to stay on the Isle of Skye
There’s no wrong place to stay in Skye – it really depends on which “Skye must-sees“ you have on your list and how much time you have to spend in Skye. Once you’ve determined these, you can narrow down your options; as you can see below, accommodations options exist all over Skye (all the red dots), but not all of them will be ideal for your preferred itinerary.
It is important to note that there are very few “large” hotels on Skye, the vast majority of the accommodation options are of the B&B and self-catering type.
Long Skye stays
If you plan on staying 3 days or more on Skye, then a central location is probably ideal to minimize the driving you will have to do every day when heading out to see the various attractions that Skye has to offer. The best choice in this instance is to stay in Skye’s largest town, Portree. Not only is it fairly centrally located on the isle, but it’s also where you will find the most accommodation options and the most options for dining out.
If you would prefer to be somewhere a little more secluded without being too far from town, we highly recommend looking into the Berninsdale area. It’s only a 10-15 min drive from Portree, and you are definitely surrounded by more sheep than people in that area.
Short Skye stays
If you only plan on staying on Skye for 2 days or less, you might be inclined to choose an accommodation location that is closer to the sights you want to see.
The stars on the map below are the locations of our favorite attractions on Skye, further detailed in our Top Things to See and Do in Skye Guide.
If you are more interested in southern Skye attractions such as the Fairy Pools, the Talisker distillery or the Cuilin Mountains, good areas to stay include Sligachan and Carbost.
If you are more inclined to visit western Skye attractions such as Dunvegan Castle and Neist Point, then staying around Dunvegan could be advantageous. Another advantage of staying in this area is that you won’t be too far from Skye’s most famous restaurants such as Loch Bay (currently has a Michelin star (2023)). The Three Chimneys restaurant (previously held a Michelin star) is also in this area.
If you are more interested in northern Skye, such as the popular Trotternish Peninsula, then staying anywhere around the peninsula would make sense, including staying in Portree or Berninsdale, as mentioned earlier.
Other villages with several B&Bs that could be of interest to you:
Edinbane – A quaint village roughly halfway between Portree and Dunvegan. It’s more centrally located to visit northwestern Skye (Dunvegan Castle and Neist Point Lighthouse) and the Trotternish Peninsula (Old Man of Storr and the Quiraing). But it’s further from the southern attractions (Talisker, Sligachan, Fairy Pools) than Portree is.
Glendale – A small village location in such a beautiful area. If it wasn’t so remote (near Neist Point Lighthouse) we would definitely have considered staying here.
Uig & Staffin – Two villages on opposite coasts of the Trotternish Peninsula. Ideal for those who want to spend most of their time in this area. Both are perfect for those with short stays wanting to see the Quiraing and the Fairy Glen. Staffin is close to An Corran Beach and the dinosaur museum, and is closer than Uig to two additional great hiking trails: Old Man of Storr and Brothers Point.
Broadford – Skye’s second largest town. It wouldn’t be our pick as it’s near the Skye Bridge and thus further from most of the attractions and hiking trails on Skye.
How Long to Stay on Skye
To get a proper sense of everything Skye has to offer, we think you should try to stay anywhere between 3 and 5 days. If you can only afford two days or less, that’s fine too. You’ll have time to see a few popular highlights and perhaps a few under-the-radar spots.
But with more time, you will get to visit several of the smaller lesser-known villages, hike some more scenic trails, go waterfall chasing, and explore the different corners of Skye, each more enchanting than the other.
In our Skye Itinerary Guide, we outline different itinerary suggestions for stays of 1 up to 4 days.
Best Time to Visit Skye
Technically Sky can be visited year-round, but off-season daylight hours will be very short, rain is more likely, and several accommodation options will be closed. It’s not uncommon to see snow on the Isle of Skye but most of it falls in the hills and mountains rather than the lowlands. Roads can however still get icy all over the island.
We generally recommend shoulder season for most destinations. For Skye, the same logic applies, but for even more reasons than most. As with most destinations, there are fewer tourists during shoulder season, minimizing the chance of reaching your attraction of interest only to find the parking lot full, or that you will be annoyed by how many people you have to share the hiking trails with. You will also probably have a better choice of accommodation options, with lower daily rates daily rates.
In our view, the best months to visit Skye are May, June & September. In addition to the reasons listed above, the weather is almost as warm as it is mid-summer without being too rainy and, perhaps most importantly, you are less likely to have to deal with the notorious highland midges, Scotland’s version of the mosquito, which can become quite bothersome during the summer as their numbers peak during July and August. They aren’t too bad if it’s sunny or windy, but on calm overcast days, they can come out in numbers. October can be a good month to visit with some nice autumn colors, but the days are getting shorter quickly, reducing the amount of time for outdoor activities.
The best months for aurora sightseeing are March, September and October around the equinoxes. You’ll never see them in June or July as the nights are too light. But there’s no guarantee, although we visited Skye in September, we didn’t get lucky with clear night skies.
How to Get to Skye
Technically Sky can be visited year-round, but off-season daylight hours will be very short, rain is more likely, and several accommodation options will be closed. It’s not uncommon to see snow on the Isle of Skye but most of it falls i
By Car
Getting to Skye will require a fair bit of driving. Assuming that you will arrive in Scotland by plane to either Edinburgh or Glasgow, you are looking at a 5h30 drive from Edinburgh or a 5-hour drive from Glasgow to reach Portree, Skye’s largest city and main hub. These times are only valid if use the Skybridge from the east – if you prefer to take the ferry from Mallaig to Armadale in southern Skye, you are looking at approximately an additional 45 min to complete the journey. Before 1995, when the Skyebrige was completed, the only way to get to Skye was by ferry.
If coming from Inverness, you’re looking at a much shorter drive, about 2h30 to get to Portree.
For advice and tips on how to drive in Scotland, check out our Scotland Roadtrip Driving Guide. For advice and tips that are more specific to Skye with a focus on single-track roads, check out our Isle of Skye Road Trip Driving Guide.
If you haven’t booked your rental vehicle yet, we highly recommend using Discover Cars to get the best rates on your rental in Scotland.
By Public Transport
You can reach Portree by bus from either Glasgow (Citylink Bus 914/915, with stops in Loch Lomond, Glencoe and Fort William, runs twice daily, 7hrs) or Inverness (Citylink Bus 916/917, with several stops along Loch Ness, runs twice daily, 3h30hrs).
By Tour
If you don’t have your own vehicle, joining an organized tour might be the best way to see what the Isle of Skye has to offer.
Preparing a trip to the Highlands?
You might be interested in these pages:
Top Things to See and Do on Skye
4-Day Roadtrip Isle of Skye Itinerary
Isle of Skye Travel Guide: Things to Know Before You Go
Skye’s Best Hiking and Walking Trails
Skye Road Trip Driving Tips
Preparing a trip to Scotland?
You might be interested in these Scotland pages:
10-Day Scotland Roadtrip Itinerary (Edinburgh and Highlands)
Scotland Driving Guide and Tips
7 of the Best Castles to Visit in Scotland
Best Things to See in the Scottish Highlands
Best Hikes to do in the Scottish Highlands
We also highly recommend these guidebooks:
Rick Steves Scotland
Lonely Planet Scotland’s Highlands
Photography Gear
If you like our photography, you might be interested in some of the gear we use to shoot our travel and hiking destinations.
Camera Body – Nikon Z 6ii Fx-series Mirrorless Body
Main Lens – NIKON 24-120mm F/4G ED VR AF-S
Zoom Lens – Sigma 745-306 150-600mm f/5-6.3
Polarizing filters – Urth Circular Polarizing (CPL)
Camera Tripod – K&F Concept 64-inch Camera Tripod
Mini-tripod – Lammcou Flexible Camera Tripod
Camera/hiking backpack – Vanguard Alta Rise 48 Backpack
Universal Travel Adapter – VYLEE Universal International Power Travel Plug
Other Travel Essentials
Travel Insurance
SafetyWing is a travel insurance company that offers comprehensive coverage for travellers. Includes Medical Insurance and Travel Insurance. Primarily geared towards long-term travellers, digital nomads, and expats.
e-Sim cards
Airalo is the world’s first and largest eSIM store with eSIM plans for 200+ countries and regions worldwide. With Airalo eSIMs, travellers can get connected the moment they land at their destination and avoid nasty data roaming charges
eSIMS are a sustainable alternative to single-use SIM cards – they are 100% digital, require less energy to produce and be re-used rather than disposed of.
Car Rentals
Discover Cars is our go-to website for car rentals. We almost always find our preferred rate there.
Transfer from Airport
Welcome Pickups is our favourite private transfer service, which you can pre-book at a fixed price. Currently available in 220 cities all over the world (mostly in Europe, but with several major cities in Asia, the Middle East and the US).
Kiwitaxi is another private transfer service – we haven’t tried it yet, but it’s currently available in a few more countries (102 as of 2024).
Hotels and Accommodations (coming soon)
Photography Prints
If you found this blog useful, you can help support our blog by purchasing low-cost digital prints. Printed physical prints are also available for purchase.
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Well, that wraps it up! We hope you enjoyed our Where to Stay on Skye guide and that it will prove useful for planning your trip to Scotland’s beautiful Isle of Skye.
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