Two nights and One Day on the Isle of Sky with teens
 

Hello, my family will be visiting the Isle of Skye and we're looking for advice on how to spend the full day we have available. We have two young teenage boys and are staying two nights at a B&B called Bla Bheinn. Suggestions for relaxed restaurants for supper or lunch would also be welcome.

There is nothing but 'relaxed' restaurants on Skye :)

Except for the Three Chimneys and one or two others which are very upscale/expensive (but still relaxed) every place on Skye is laid back and family friendly.

Spend about half a day circling the Trotternish Peninsula (a circular drive from the Portree area). Lots of places to stop for photos and walks/hikes. Spend the other half of the day either over around Dunvegan, visiting the castle and Neist Point/lighthouse, or driving out through Glen Brittle and around Carbost visiting Talisker distillery.

One place to eat any meal would be at the Sligachan which is one of the few places that serves food throughout the day and is at sort of the crossroads of the island so you will be passing trough no matter where you are headed

Thanks, janisj.

Your B&B is a long way from most other places and won't give you any options for a choice of restaurants or bars nearby. You'll have to eat dinner before returning to the hotel, so be careful on the narrow roads if it's dark when you return.

It looks a very nice place, but I might have chosen somewhere in Portree for such a short stay, over a tiny B&B in the middle of nowhere (unless that's what you were going for!).

Rubicund: It isn't actually that remote - It is a couple of miles from Sligachan which is closer/more central to a lot of sites than Portree is.

Portree is good because it is a true town w/ cafes, banks etc, but Sligachan is more at the crossroads of the whole island.

meant to add . . . you are right that there is no place to eat right there . . . but it would be pretty difficult to be out after dark since they are traveling in early July ;)

I understood that Janis, but it's easy to sit in a restaurant till after 10pm when it will start to go dark. The other thing is that most teenagers I know would go stir crazy at a remote (OK ish) place. Sligachan might be more central for sightseeing, but has nothing apart from a hotel to recommend it for two teenagers.

>>The other thing is that most teenagers I know would go stir crazy at a remote (OK ish) place<<

If they will go stir crazy w/ just a day and a half on Skye -- they'll have a lot more problems during the rest of the trip. It isn't like they are 'stuck in the boonies' for 2 weeks -- we are talking 2 nights/1.5 days

just sayin' ;)

(Plus these kids are only 12 and 14, not 17 or 18yo's wanting to go down to the pub)

I thought I included this in my last post but I must have cut it . . .

. . . If I was staying several day on Skye, Portree would probably be my first choice because it has the pubs, restaurants and services. But when on a lightening trip and wanting to see as much as possible -- just IME/IMO staying as centrally located as possible makes more sense. Which is what is good about the Sligachan.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. We will best sure to eat before heading back to the B&B. Quiet and fairly remote is what our family enjoys, and luckily, if the boys have an iPad or a flat place to kick a soccer ball, we are usually fine ;-)

We are all keen on taking a boat trip. We wondered if we had time to do a boat trip to Loch Coruisk from Elgol, or whether the boat trip from Dunvegan Castle to see the seals would be better since we only have one full day.

You really don't have the time for a 'real' boat trip unfortunately. The travel on Skye is pretty slow and you really only have the one full day. Just driving from your B&B to Elgol will take more than an hour.

The seal trips from Dunvegan are quite short so you could squeeze one in - but have plans B and C because the boat trips are very weather dependent.

Having just been on Skye in late May, I will say it does not get dark. Ever. ;)

Seriously, it stayed quite light till long after my bedtime so I wouldn't worry about that - unless the weather is bad, of course. We had nothing but sun. (*bragging*)

Do your boys enjoy hiking? There are two great hikes on that side of Skye - Neist Point and the Fairy Pools. Both are fairly easy, but they do take some time. However, it's great to get out of the car and enjoy that beautiful place.

However, if you want to include a drive of the Trotternish Penninsula, you may not have much time for hiking. Driving on Skye took longer than any other place we found in Scotland - mostly because we pulled over so often for photos. :)

>> We had nothing but sun. (*bragging*)<<

LUCKY you! :)

I visited Skye three times before I was able to see much of anything -- first two trips were wet (REALLY wet) but that 3rd one was glorious! All were in various May/June's

And I definitely second the suggestion of the two walks -- especially Neist Point.

This is Neist Point w/ the lighthouse in the distance . . . IF the weather cooperates . . .

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...2_1746433i.jpg

jeanetteh: These are why going all the way out to Skye one should really try to stay at least 2 or 3 full days (3 or 4 nights).

Your time is very short so you may just want to concentrate on just one sector of the island. There is fabulous 'stuff' all over but w/ just a day + plus a few hours you need to be very selective.

One thing to your advantage is you are going in the middle of summer when it will be light VERY late and while the castles/distillery/shops close at normal times -- the scenery never closes. So as long as the weather is decent you will be able to walk, take photos, drive around until nearly 11PM (the sun will set around 10:00 but it is dusk after that)

Thanks, everyone. We have some great options now. Fingers crossed for fine weather!

Sorry, one more question. When researching the hikes, I found reference to Fairy Glen (near Uig Hotel) and Fairy Pools near Carbost. LCBoniti, I assume you were referring to the Pools.

Does anyone know the Fairy Glen and which hike we should choose, since we only have time for one (we will try and do Neist Point when we go to Dunvegan).

Both are very scenic and TOTALLY different. I'd maybe put the Pools just slightly above the Glen -- but it would mostly depend on what else you are doing just before or after (for proximity)

(you really do need 2 more days on Skye ;) )

Thanks, janisj. I really wish we had more time. It has been such a long wait to finally get to Scotland, and six nights is not nearly enough, but we are trying to make the most of them and hope to be back. So little time, so many impossible choices :-)