carl170

Hello, I am planning for an August stay on Skye. We have reservations at the Bradford Hotel and also at the Three Chimneys. I was looking for something centrally located, maybe Portree that would be another good base, but The Spoons (Fodor's Choice) has closed. The Flodigarry seems like it is too remote at the far north of the island. Any other suggestions on where to stay?

For activities we are most interested in some easy to moderate hiking trails.

Thank you

janisj

I'm almost certain you mean the Broadford - right?

The most central hotel on Skye is the Sligachan . . . (More than Portree, or Broadford)

Three Chimneys is a fabulous place.

historytraveler

When you say you have reservations at the Broadford Hotel, do you mean dinner reservations or have you booked a room there?

carl170

Yes, sorry, the Broadford Hotel. We have a room there. Is there a good place nearby for dinner?

Rubicund

There's the Harbour Restaurant, which offers a Spanish orientated menu. Portree is the largest town on Skye, with Broadford second and has a larger range of restaurants, bars and hotels. We've stayed at the Broadford's sister hotel, the Marmalade and enjoyed it a lot.

frencharmoire

If you are most interested in walks and moderate hiking, don't rule out the northernmost end of Skye. It is terrific for that. I stayed in Duntulm and there was a wonderful variety of hikes right out the door. I visited Portree, but wouldn't have wanted to stay there. If you don't want to stay in Flodigarry or Duntulm, the Skeabost Hotel seemed rather nice to me. The best time I had on Skye was outdoors walking, not "sightseeing". Food on the northern end of the island was terrifically fresh, as was the air. Just in general in was wonderful not to be in towns but truly on country lanes.

janisj

The north end of the isle is totally fabulous (as is the rest) but the problem w/ staying up there is it will put you 90 min to 2 hours drive from other scenic areas. Driving on Skye is slow hen there are no visitors and when it is 'crowded' in August just that much slower.

So it depends on what you want out of your visit -- to see one or two areas more on foot or do you want to take driving tours to more corners of the island. Both strategies are fine -- just depends on what you want to do.

But if you do want to get around to more parts of the island - that is why I recommended Sligachan since it is sort of in the middle.

But Three Chimneys is much more upscale and would be a wonderful place to stay.

carl170

Thanks for the advice. The North sounds nice, but I did check how far it is from other areas. Sligachan is not available for my dates. Any other ideas?

janisj

This place in Carbost would be a little more central than Three Chimneys and is quite nice (not in the same league as Three Chimneys though)

http://www.wilmarbedandbreakfast.com

I'm curious -- do you mean you want to stay in three different places? I wouldn't -- just that much more packing/unpacking. The Broadford and Three Chimneys would place you in two different areas.

carl170

Not ideal, but Broadford is our first night there. Coming from the US, we didn't want to drive too far on small roads. Three Chimneys was too expensive for more than one night. We are looking for four nights total on Skye.

historytraveler

My suggestion would be to spend a couple of nights in what is essentially the southern part of the island then a couple of nights farther north. This doesn't solve the problem of being near to the Three Chimmey's if you've booked dinner there. Portree is about 30 + minutes from Dunvegan and other than Sligachan or Carbost would be the closest.

I've often stayed on the Sleat Penisula and managed to get around the island without much problem. It may mean leaving a bit earlier but still doable. All of Skye is beautiful, I hate to see anyone deciding to stay in one particular area just because it's the most central. A good plan if you only have one or two nights but with more time consider two different places. Of course if you really hate to pack/unpack then just dismiss my advice.

One more thing, I'm sure there are a number of B&B's not far from Sligachan but you'll have to do a bit of research to locate them.

historytraveler

Forgot to add, if looking for a good place to eat in Broadford, try the Red Skye.

historytraveler

Just found a couple of possibilities. Near Sligachan www.crossal.co.uk and near Dunvegan www.kilmuirpark.co.uk and www.the-tables.co.uk