I would appreciate some suggestions on places to stay in Edinburgh and Skye. We’re hoping to find a cute bed-and-breakfast or apartment/flat within walking distance of restaurants and shops in both places. We need 3 to 4 bedrooms so that’s been a little more challenging.
We’re booking a little late and are having problems finding places in Portree. Suggestions for places outside of Portree?
Last question. We’re staying in Skye for one week. Will there be enough to do?
Thank you!
Dates? If you are booking Skye for this summer, you are really late. Knowing when you hope to visit might help with suggestions.
We are hoping to visit Skye from July 4 through the 11th.
You are very last minute trying to book on Skye for a large group. The only place I found on the entire island is this one in Kyleakin, just across the bridge from Kyle of Lochalsh:
https://www.booking.com/Share-KACYb51
I do think a week is a very long time for Skye. I was there last year for four nights, and I'm not sure what else I would have done with an extra day. I didn't have a car, though, so I was limited to places it would be easy to get to. If you cut back on the number of days, you might have a better chance of finding something.
I don't have a recommendation for Edinburgh. I stayed in a nice, well-located hotel I would recommend if you were looking for that kind of accommodation. In fact, I didn't really see cute lodgings in the historic center. It's more built up, so lots of hotels.
You are definitely booking late for Skye and I suggest you use the following Facebook pages to try and secure accommodation. The first is a private group you will need to apply to join and the second a public group. In order to find the number of rooms you are looking for you may have to split your party up.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/808837999200215
https://www.facebook.com/groups/221078814100026
Skye is a very popular destination and accommodation books up many months in advance. You may not find what you want on the island and might have to consider somewhere like the Kyle of Lochalsh instead.
You are going to need to be flexible for Skye. Most B&Bs do not have 4 bedrooms. And I think it's extremely unlikely that you will find an entire week free in July. The Skye Rooms facebook group linked to in an earlier reply is probably your best bet, but you are probably going to have to spread across a couple of different B&Bs and be prepared to move during the week.
If you are looking for 'self catering' (i.e. a rental where you have a kitchen) then your problem is that your dates are not Saturday to Saturday. In the summer most (all?) self catering places require a 7 night stay and most are from Saturday to Saturday. You could try AirBnB but I would not hold out much hope of getting a week in July at this short notice.
If you like hiking and exploring outdoors then there is plenty to do in Skye. I have lived here 8 years and am still finding new places to walk and take in the spectacular scenery.
I agree with all the others about lodging on Skye. In Edinburgh, I suggest that you look for a hotel and get multiple rooms.
It would help to know if you are a family or just adults traveling together. If you are a family, you might want to check the Premier Inns in Edinburgh, which have family rooms available that sleep 3-4 people.
Thank you everyone for your great suggestions. We are kicking ourselves for not looking earlier. There are four of us (sisters) and we will probably end up sharing 2 rooms. We are also looking into daily tours, which will give us some great places to visit. We are huge Outlander fans so I know that will be one of the tours. :>) We’re also looking into some foodie tours
Again, thank you everyone!
Susan
If you are now considering hotels, I can highly recommend Ibis in St. Andrews Square in Edinburgh. It's very centrally located; we walked everywhere. Nice lobby, bar, and included breakfast.
Awesome! We will take a look. Thank you.
A whole week on Skye sounds fantastic! You'll find tons to enjoy!
To add to my post above. If you are willing to consider locations outside of Portree then try Dunvegan - where The Dunvegan and The Atholl House might have some availability. There's also the Tables Guest House. All within an easy walk of each other if you can't all stay in the same place. The Dunvegan and Atholl House do food, and the excellent Old School Restaurant is within walking distance too.
Also Broadford, where there are a few accommodation options including the fairly new House of Juniper, which has a restaurant. Plenty of eating options in the village and it's all pretty compact and walkable.
The other thing to mention is that Skye is a large island, so you could perhaps do a couple of nights in Broadford, a couple in Dunvegan and a couple in Portree.
I have been booking my Scotland spring/summer trip for 11 months. You have learned that you are quite late to the game, not only will you struggle to find accommodations, but do not assume available dining on Skye either. Reservations book months in advance. The island is tiny and swells to accommodate tens of thousands of people during the summer season, there simply is not enough room. Do you have your cars reserved? Tours, at this point I doubt you will find any openings. Read a great deal, be your own guides. Use that last minute facebook group and maybe consider planning much earlier next trip.
There is much to do in Skye, but without a car or a booked tour, you may struggle to get to and from the sites. Study your guidebook(s) and decide where you must go. I got good recommendations for which bus routes access which hikes from a tour operator who did not accept service animals on their tour. I'll share it if you want to do hiking and are comfortable using buses.
