Also: 1 further notice on the roads and the sailings.
Ferries and roads as of 20 September 2026, 20:50 (Europe/London).
Portree has roadworks at the Staffin Road roundabout on the A855, where traffic is squeezed into the west lane with temporary lights. It has been like that since 14 September and should run until around October, so allow a little extra time for Staffin and the Trotternish trips. Sadly, the BBC reported on 14 September that a body was found in the search for a missing hillwalker on Skye. Please tell someone your route before heading up high.
Headlines as of 20 September 2026, 20:50 (Europe/London).
Skye is bigger and far more varied than it looks on a map — the weather at Glen Brittle is routinely nothing like the weather at Staffin, twenty miles up the road. This map picks a side of the island to drive to first, then somewhere to go once you are there, with the mountain forecast bound to every point so that a ridge is never judged on the wind in a car park.
Conditions as of 20 September 2026, 20:50 (Europe/London).
The north-east peninsula: the Storr, the Quiraing and a cliff coast of waterfalls — Skye's best-known views, and its busiest car parks.
Old Man of Storr hill not safe
The rock pinnacle everyone comes to Skye for, a steep hour above Loch Leathan.
Not safe on the tops — 50 mph up there, and they'll be in cloud
Quiraing circuit hill not safe
A landslip of cliffs, spires and hidden tables — the strangest ground on the island.
Not safe on the tops — 50 mph up there, and they'll be in cloud
Kilt Rock & Mealt Falls viewpoint breezy
A waterfall off a basalt cliff straight into the sea, a hundred metres from the car park.
Blustery
Brothers' Point walk not safe
A short, sharp headland below the Trotternish cliffs, with a chapel site and big sea views.
Not safe on the tops — 50 mph up there, and they'll be in cloud
Rubha Hunish walk not safe
Skye's northern tip, with a cliff-top lookout bothy and whales offshore on a settled day.
Not safe on the tops — 50 mph up there, and they'll be in cloud
Fairy Glen, Uig walk good
Miniature green cones and hollows above Uig — twenty minutes' wander, odd and lovely.
Light winds
Skye Museum of Island Life place any weather
Seven thatched blackhouses showing how Trotternish actually lived. A good wet-day hour.
Not weather-dependent
The island's town, with a harbour walk that starts at the pier and a steep little hill above the Braes for anyone wanting more.
Scorrybreac circuit walk good
A one-hour shore loop straight from Portree harbour, under the crags and back into town.
Light winds
Portree harbour place any weather
Painted houses round a working pier: boat trips, chips, and the island's shops and cafes.
Not weather-dependent
Ben Tianavaig hill not safe
The steep grassy hill above the Braes, with the best view back over Portree and the Storr.
Not safe on the tops — 50 mph up there, and they'll be in cloud
Aros Centre, Portree place any weather
Cinema, exhibition space and a cafe on the edge of Portree — the standard wet-afternoon plan.
Not weather-dependent
Dunvegan Castle, the Atlantic cliffs at Neist Point and white shell sand at Claigan — the far west, and often the driest corner.
Neist Point lighthouse walk not safe
Steps down to the westernmost lighthouse on Skye, with the Outer Hebrides on the horizon.
Not safe on the tops — 50 mph up there, and they'll be in cloud
Coral Beach, Claigan beach good
Crushed white shell sand and turquoise water north of Dunvegan. Flat, easy, good with children.
Light winds
Dunvegan Castle & gardens place any weather
The MacLeod seat for 800 years, with formal gardens, a seal boat and a lot of indoors.
Not weather-dependent
Dun Beag broch viewpoint breezy
A 2,000-year-old drystone tower ten minutes above the A863, looking over Loch Bracadale.
Blustery
MacLeod's Tables (Healabhal Bheag) hill not safe
The flat-topped hill you see from every Duirinish road — steep, pathless and usually deserted.
Not safe on the tops — 50 mph up there, and they'll be in cloud
The Black Cuillin and the glens under them: the Fairy Pools, Glen Brittle, Talisker Bay and the distillery at Carbost.
Bruach na Frithe hill not safe
The one Cuillin Munro you can walk up, with the whole ridge laid out from the summit.
Not safe on the tops — 50 mph up there, and they'll be in cloud
Coire Lagan hill not safe
Boulders up into a rock bowl and lochan beneath the highest peaks in the Cuillin.
Not safe on the tops — 50 mph up there, and they'll be in cloud
Fairy Pools walk good
Clear blue plunge pools and small falls in the glen under the Cuillin. Short and very popular.
Light winds
Sligachan old bridge viewpoint good
The classic Cuillin photograph, from a three-arch bridge at the head of the glen. Pub alongside.
The tops will be in cloud
Talisker Bay beach breezy
Black and white sand under a waterfall and a sea stack, at the end of a track from Talisker.
Blustery
Talisker Distillery, Carbost place any weather
Skye's oldest working distillery, on the shore at Carbost. Book the tour; the bar takes walk-ins.
Not weather-dependent
Limestone country and cleared townships, the boat from Elgol to Loch Coruisk, and Bla Bheinn standing on its own over Loch Slapin.
Camasunary Bay walk wild
Over a pass to an empty bay and a bothy, facing the Cuillin across the water.
Wild in the open
Boreraig & Suisnish walk breezy
Two townships cleared in 1853, reached by an old marble railway and a coastal shelf. Sobering.
Blustery
Elgol harbour & the Coruisk boat place breezy
A small boat from Elgol pier into the heart of the Cuillin, with seals on the way in.
Blustery
Bla Bheinn hill not safe
The Cuillin Munro that stands on its own, straight up from Loch Slapin with the ridge opposite.
Not safe on the tops — 50 mph up there, and they'll be in cloud
Torrin & Loch Slapin viewpoint viewpoint good
The best roadside view of Bla Bheinn there is, across a tidal loch. Cafe in the village.
The tops will be in cloud
The green southern peninsula — native woodland, quiet beaches, two distilleries and the otter hide at Kylerhea.
Kinloch Forest & Leitir Fura walk good
Old oak and hazel woodland with a cleared township at the far end — the best shelter on Skye.
Light winds
Armadale Castle & Museum of the Isles place any weather
A ruined castle, forty acres of gardens and a proper museum of the Lordship of the Isles.
Not weather-dependent
Point of Sleat walk breezy
A long, lovely walk to the lighthouse at Skye's southern tip, past a hidden sandy beach.
Blustery
Ord beach beach sheltered
A quiet strand looking straight across Loch Eishort at the whole Cuillin ridge. Little visited.
Blustery
Kylerhea otter hide viewpoint good
A roofed hide above the narrows where otters fish. Bring binoculars and be prepared to wait.
Light winds
Torabhaig Distillery place any weather
Skye's second distillery, in a restored farm steading at Teangue. Small tours, good cafe.
Not weather-dependent
The quieter island across the Sconser ferry: one flat-topped hill, one famous hand-built road, and a distillery by the pier.
Dun Caan, Raasay hill not safe
Raasay's flat-topped summit: the Cuillin one way, the Torridon hills the other. Boswell danced here.
Not safe on the tops — 50 mph up there, and they'll be in cloud
Isle of Raasay Distillery place any weather
Ten minutes from the ferry: tours, a Cuillin view from the bar, and rooms if you miss the boat.
Not weather-dependent
Calum's Road & Brochel Castle viewpoint good
The two-mile road one man built by hand to Arnish, starting at a castle ruin on a rock.
The tops will be in cloud