Getaway

Why not combine your North Coast 500 tour with a trip to the beautiful Isle of Skye? Here’s what you can see

See superb Skye Combine a North Coast 500 trip with a visit to this glorious Scottish island. Here’s where to go

THE ISLE OF Skye is the largest of the Inner Hebrides and popular with those who love the great outdoors. Mountains, waterfalls, ‘fairy’ glens and pools, and some truly stunning wildlife attract visitors to the island from all over the world.

The landscape is dominated by the Black Cuillins, said to be Britain’s most challenging mountain range, and the Red Cuillins – both offer fantastic walking and lots of opportunities for fabulous landscape photography.

To the north is Trotternish Ridge, for yet more rugged, spectacular landscapes. For further information about walking on Skye, check out www.isleofskye.com/skyeguide/top-ten-skye-walks.

As well as some great hiking, there is superb wildlife watching, and you can do much of this by taking a boat trip (www.isleofskye.com/activities/boat-trips), the ideal way to spot whales, dolphins, seals and sea eagles – or you could try your hand at kayaking and salmon fishing.

For a little retail therapy, seek out Portree, on the east side of the island and the capital of Skye. Surrounded by hills, it began life around 200 years ago as a fishing port and is now a busy hub, with banks, churches, cafés and restaurants, a cinema, a swimming pool, library, good independent shops, a tourist information centre, petrol filling stations and supermarkets.

Getting there

From the mainland, use the free road bridge from Kyle of Lochalsh, a village in Ross-shire on the north-west coast of Scotland, to Kyleakin on Skye.

Alternatively, you can use the Calmac (www.calmac. co.uk) ferry from Mallaig to Armadale on Skye’s Sleat Peninsula. This takes about 45 minutes and is a great chance to glimpse seals in the sea and on the beaches. Two other ports run by Calmac connect Skye to the Inner Hebridean island of Raasay (from Sconser) and the Outer Hebridean islands of North Uist and Harris (from Uig).

The walk is just over 2km long and takes around an hour, with stops on the return ascent for a breather. Access is from a car park at the end of a single-track road.

5 Dunvegan Castle

You can easily spend a whole day at the 800-year-old Dunvegan Castle, ancestral seat of the chiefs of Clan Macleod.

The oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland and now in the hands of the 30th chief, it overlooks Loch Dunvegan.

It covers 10 different building periods, from the 13th to the 19th century, and was first opened to the public in the 1930s. The castle was restored, with its facade giving a unified look, in the mid-19th century.

Today, you can enjoy the formal gardens – Water Garden, Rose Garden, Walled Garden, woodland walks and pools fed by waterfalls and streams flowing to the sea – and boat trips to see the loch’s seal colony. Best of all, the castle also has a campsite, with its own café and facilities (www.dunvegancastle.com). Job done!

4 Waterfalls

The vertical basalt columns of the cliff face in north-east Trotternish, resembling the pleats of a kilt, have given the 90m Kilt Rock waterfall its name. Stop at the large car park on the road between Portree and Staffin by the waterfall on the A855, at Ellishadder.

Closer by is the Mealt Waterfall, which falls from the cliff for 60m into the Sound of Raasay. On the same road further south are the Lealt Falls. 6 Coral Beach

Just north of Dunvegan, at Claigan, is Coral Beach, made from sun-bleached fossilised algae rather than coral, making the water appear a deep turquoise. This is a fantastic place to spend a day exploring.

Access is along a single-track road to a car park, then a 25-minute walk on a farm track to the beach. The round trip is about 3.5km.

7 Quiraing

Trotternish Ridge, in the northern part of the island, was formed by a large landslide, which has created a stunning landscape of cliff faces, plateaus and pinnacles.

The name Quiraing comes from the Old Norse Kví Rand, which means ‘Round Fold’. This circular walk of nearly 7km is accessed from Staffin or Uist along a single-track road, at the end of which is a car park.

The walk takes around two hours.

8 Skye Museum of Island Life

If you’ve fallen under Skye’s spell, you might want to step back in time and experience island life 100 years ago. The Skye Museum of Island Life at Kilmuir (www.skyemuseum. co.uk) displays thatched cottages and old crofting tools, all that was needed for life spent mainly in the open.

Close by is Kilmuir Cemetery, where Flora Macdonald is buried. Flora was famous for helping Bonnie Prince Charlie escape after the defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden in 1746. The graveyard also has a memorial to fashion designer Alexander Mcqueen, whose ashes were scattered on Skye.

17 Isle of Skye Distillers

Rathad na Slignich, Portree IV51 9EJ

› www.isleofskyedistillers.com/our-portree-shop

› 01478 611 117

Ever fancied trying your hand at making your own gin? You can, under the expert tuition of the makers of Misty Isle Gin at the Isle of Skye Distillers Gin School. Learn the history of the distillery and its gins, with tastings, then make your own, choosing the botanicals, running a miniature copper-pot still, bottling and labelling. • Gin School Three hours, £85 (includes taking home your own 500ml bottle of gin)

18 Talisker Distillery

› Carbost, Isle of Skye IV47 8SR

› malts.com/en-row/our-whisky-collection/talisker

› 01478 614 308

The oldest working distillery on Skye traces its origins back to 1830. The distillery was built at Carbost on the shores of Loch Harport. By the end of the 19th century, it was one of the best-selling single malt whiskies in the country and its success meant the company was able to build its own pier, tramway and housing for workers.

A Talisker single malt takes at least 10 years to mature in oak barrels. There are three types of distillery tour. • Talisker Classic Includes a taste of the single malt, 45 minutes, £10 • Whisky and Chocolate Includes a taste of three malts with locally made chocolate, 90 minutes, £30 • Talisker Masterclass In-depth tour and tutored tasting of five Talisker malts, two hours, £45

19 Torabhaig Distillery

› Teangue, Sleat IV44 8RE

› www.torabhaig.com

› 01471 833 447

Torabhaig Distillery is still in its infancy, having only been established in January 2017. And with three years the minimum time that the spirit must spend in cask to produce a whisky, its peaty single malt is simmering away in a variety of wooden containers.

It will be a while before the makers decide which wood is best suited to enhance the flavour of the spirit they have produced, but in the meantime, you can take a tour of the distillery and watch the different processes that go into producing the tipple. • Distillery tour 45 minutes, £10

20 Cuillin Brewery

› Sligachan IV47 8SW

› www.cuillinbrewery.com

› 07795 250 808

This microbrewery has a range of four beers – a blonde, a lightly hopped malty beer, a bitter and a dark mild – using water sourced from the Cuillins.

21 Isle of Skye Brewery

› Uig IV51 9XP

› skyeale.com

› 01470 542 477

The brewery has been producing award-winning ales for some 25 years now. Visit the shop and put together your own case to take home with you.