Isle of Skye - 3 day itinerary
- Jordan Sinclair
- Jul 17
- 8 min read
3 days is the ideal amount of time to explore the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Whether you're camping, staying in hotels, self guided, or on a tour, this is our perfect 3 days for this whimsical island.
Disclaimer - this article contains affiliate links, which means we receive a commission if you decide to book/purchase via the link, at no extra cost to you. We will only ever recommend services, tours and operators that we have personally used and consider good value.
Skip to:
For even more Isle of Skye info in one place, check out our FREE Isle of Skye Guide
3 day itinerary
While Skye may look compact, the windy single track coastal and rural roads mean that it takes longer to get to places than you might think. The most logical itinerary divides your days into each section of the island, grouping locations together.
Day 1 - The Trotternish Loop
Start from Portree - if you’re not staying in the town, take a quick stop to see the coloured houses on the harbour - best seen from the top of the hill on Bosville Terrace.
Drive 5 minutes to Untethered Skye Co. for a coffee and to see some friendly Highland Cows - you can buy treats to feed them in the coffee shop.
Drive 10 minutes to the car park for Old Man of Storr. You may want to stop en route at the Brides Veil Waterfall for a quick photo snap. The Old Man of Storr is notoriously shrouded in cloud - we have never managed to get a really clear view, even when we hiked up to it. It’s £8 to park in the car park and can be pretty busy. The hike takes about 1.5 hours depending on your fitness level - it’s an easy well marked path but is quite steep.
Drive 20 minutes to An Corran beach to see dinosaur footprints. Again, there are viewpoints along the way that you might want to stop in at, such as Lealt falls and Mealtfalls (but we didn’t find them overly impressive). We had a picnic at the beach for lunch, but there are some cafes along the way and one at the beach too. Here, you can spot dinosaur footprints along the rocks - it’s best to aim for mid-low tide. If you’re struggling - use what3words location clerics.bracing.finishers to find one. You can also book the Staffin Sea sauna here, if you fancy a cold dip in the sea and sauna session.
Drive 10 minutes to the Quiraing. Optional hike here (start from the Flodigarry layby near Loch Langaig - free to park) - this is a moderate 2-3 hour hike with incredible views of the Quiraing. No climbing or scrambling is required. The path can be tricky to spot in places so I would advise using a map - we use Alltrails and download the maps for offline use. Find the hike here on All Trails, or here on Walk Highlands.
Most likely, if you’ve done the Old Man of Storr and Quiraing hike, you’ll be ready to head back to Portree or your accommodation for dinner and call it a day. Save the Fairy Glen and the Skye Museum of Island Life for another day.
If you didn’t do the hikes, you may have time to continue around the Trotternish loop to see the Fairy Glen and/or the museum, completing the circuit before arriving back in Portree.
Day 2 - Fairy Pools and Whisky
Start your day with dipping your face into the water at Sligachan Old Bridge - legend says that the fairy will bless you with eternal water if you hold you face in the water for 7 seconds (we did it twice, just to be sure!).
Drive to Talisker distillery and get a coffee from Caora Dhubh just opposite - the views are lovely and there are a number of brave birds who’ll come for your cake crumbs. Take the whisky tour at Talisker (you will need to book in advance, especially if rain is forecast! You can book here.) and drive to the beautiful Talisker Bay (if you get a clear day - we did not!).
Have lunch at the Oyster Shed or Cafe Cuil (we actually went to both, on different days - which I would recommend!).
Drive to the Fairy Pools. You can park in the main carpark for £6 and walk along the path along the pools and back (go right to the end to see the most picturesque pools). Alternatively, there is a free car park before you get to the main one, but it will add a steep uphill walk after you’ve been to the pools. You can also incorporate the fairy pools into a longer loop walk - see here for details. Take a dip if you dare - the water is always freezing, no matter what time of year you go!
Day 3 - A big hike or castles
If you’re not into hiking, or the weather isn’t on your side, then you can head to Dunvegan Castle and on to Neist Point to see the picturesque clifftop lighthouse.
Hiking in the Cuillin Hills
On our visit visit to Skye several years ago, we were a bit worried about hiking - lots of people had warned us not to mess with the Cuillin Hills or munros on Skye unless you’re a serious climber.
We instead found the Coire Lagan hike, which was challenging enough but definitely suited to us - hikers but not climbers. It's one of our favourite ever hikes in Scotland! I would highly recommend it as a moderate 3 hour hike on Skye. At the peak, you’re rewarded with a tiny secluded loch surrounded by the huge rock peaks. Find it here on AllTrails and here on Walk Highlands.
Alternatively, for a full day hike, if you fancy the challenge of a munro without climbing or technical equipment, Bla Bheinn, Sgurr na Banachdich or Bruach na Frithe are said to be the “easiest” munros on Skye (“easiest” meaning no technical climbing, but still rated as difficult and may require some scrambling).
Mix and Match
Alter the itinerary to suit your preferences, and take the weather into account. We have combined the Coire Lagan hike with a visit to the fairy pools in the same day in the past.
Tours
If you don’t fancy the idea of driving yourself, there are many multi-day tours from Edinburgh and Glasgow.
3 day Isle of Skye tour from Edinburgh: Click here
3 day Isle of Skye tour from Glasgow: Click here
Where To Stay
We stayed at Sligachan campsite with our rooftop tent (£12.50 per person per night) and found it well located as it’s quite central for visiting different areas of the island. No need to book for grass pitches - just turn up and find a spot, but booking is recommended for hard standing or electric hook-up pitches. We liked this flexibility, as we hadn’t decided how many nights we would stay (we ended up staying 3 nights in our rooftop tent here). They have an on-site taco van which is open every night - which was much appreciated the first night of our arrival. There’s also a pub/restaurant right across the road. We had a couple of drinks here but didn’t try the food.
Other campsite options:
Glenbrittle Campsite - South west point of the island, near Cuillin Hills
If you're not camping, most visitors will aim to stay in Portree, the main town on Skye, because it’s location is ideal for exploring most areas of the island.
Accommodation options here:
Budget:
Mid Range
Luxury
Cuillin Hills Hotel, Portree
Getting There
Road - you can drive across the Skye bridge from Kyle of Lochalsh, which provides reliable access to the island and doesn’t require any planning. It does occasionally shut in severe weather or storms.
Bus - There are buses that run from Glasgow and Fort William all the way to Skye via the bridge (from Glasgow, journey time is around 5 hours)
Boat - you can get the ferry to and from Mallaig on mainland Scotland or onwards to/from other Islands such as Raasay, Harris and North Uist. The ferry from Mallaig to Armadale (Skye) takes around 45 minutes.
Getting around
Driving - We’re definitely of the opinion that the best way to see the Isle of Skye (and much of Scotland in general), is with the freedom of a car/campervan. However, if you’re not from the UK and most likely not used to driving on the left hand side or on narrow, windy country roads, consider whether you’d rather take a tour. Many of the roads on Skye are narrow, one track roads, with passing places, and we came across a lot of questionable driving - probably visitors who were terrified!
Public transport
There are buses that run around the island and stop at some of the tourist stops but you will be limited to the bus times and routes. Find more information here.
Food Recommendations
Pizza in the Skye - takeaway pizza van which is based in the Skye Shinty Club car park. Shinty is a Scottish sport - look it up, and maybe even try to catch a match here. Fun fact, Jordan played this at university! The pizza was amazing, but you do have to book a slot on their website - we tried one day and it was fully booked, but managed to order the day after and it was definitely worth it! Order here.
Cafe Cuil - Make sure you find time for lunch or brunch here - award winning food and rightly so. It’s open 10-4pm and not all weekdays, so be sure to check online.
The Oyster Shed - a must if you like seafood - this is very close to Talisker and is a family run oyster farm. Here, you can buy fresh or cooked seafood. We had the lobster, soft shell crab and oysters - they were to die for!
Coffee on Skye
We were blown away by the number of really good quality coffee places on Skye. A mixture of roadside takeaway cabins with minimal outdoor seating and actual coffee shops, the quality was incredible. Here’s our favourites:
Untethered Skye Co. - a well placed stop en route to Old Man of Storr, with the added bonus of friendly highland cows.
Caora Dhubh - opposite Talisker Distillery. Great coffee and views from the seating area.
Lean to Coffee - near Broadford. Fantastic coffee and pastries. The toasties looked awesome too. Note, there are no toilets here (but there are public toilets in Broadford)
Birch, Portree. While we didn’t actually visit Birch, Lean To serves Birch’s roast so the quality will be on par!
More more info and recommendations, download our free Isle of Skye guide.
All of our resources are FREE, but if you found them helpful, you can buy us a coffee here, so we can get a much-appreciated caffeine hit and keep providing you with travel hacks and budgeting tips.
Enjoyed this post? Subscribe below to be the first to receive updates on blogs, travel guide releases and more!
Comments