Extra night in Isle of Skye or Pitlochry?

You can’t cover as much yourselves as you can on a tour. Skye deserves 3 full days so I would add a night there. I don’t know when you are travelling, but Skye accommodation needs booking months ahead.

Skye every time! It's a much bigger island than people appreciate.

For seafood tasting - try the Oyster Shed on the hill above the Talisker distillery (by the way whisky doesn't have a 'e' in Scotland - only in Ireland) in Carbost. As fresh as it comes and great views back along the loch toward the Cullin range.

If you want to have 'sit down' seafood in a proper restaurant than you can't do better on the island than the Lochbay restaurant. It is in a tiny cottage right by the seashore and has a Michelin star, but without the pretentious nature of some such places and with a very reasonable price tag.

3 nights will give you more time to explore the quieter side of Skye away from the crowds trying to do 'everything' in a day.

Regards
Jacqui (Skyegirl)
PS: Accommodation for this year will be somewhat restricted as most people book months ahead. However, there is a Facebook group called Skye Rooms where you will be able to post your dates and preferred part of the island and you will almost certainly find something.

Hi Tia -

Another vote for an extra day on Skye. Skyegirl, as you would expect because she lives there, is correct. The island is rather bigger than you might expect, so it takes time to see properly.

For amazing scenery you cannot go wrong with the Black Cuillins if the weather is clear. Beware though that these hills are proper Alpine style mountains and if hiking into them, need respect. They can be dangerous for the inexperienced, under equipped and unwary. The walk into Coire Lagan from Glen Brittle is simple enough without being particularly dangerous and the boat trip from Elgol to Loch Coruisk provides brilliant scenery, as does a stroll down the valley from Sligachan - on the latter bear in mind that for all practical purposes it has to be an ‘out and back’ route. And of course there’s the Trotternish ridge with the well known Quirang and Old Man of Storr hikes.

Skye at its best is an other-worldly experience. But if the weather isn’t kind you may be tempted to wonder what the fuss is about! I’m sure the weather will cooperate on at least one day for you and the longer you spend there the better chance you have of good weather. Have a great trip and have a wee dram for me at Talisker distillery!!

Ian

Thank you everyone - Skye it is! It's October 2019 for the trip, but I already see that places are getting booked up so planning to get our accommodation sorted out asap. Should we break up the stay between 2 Inns or stay at one for the full 3 nights?

Skyegirl, thanks for correcting me on the spelling of whisky - I had to google the common brands in Canada - you're right, it's whisky! :)

on Skye we enjoyed staying at Bla Bheinn! https://www.blabheinn.scot/ Near Carbost, easy day trips to Fairy Pools, Quiraing, Fairy Glen, Trotternish etc. We saw the Peat Bog Faeries at Old Inn in Carbost, awesome night with the locals in early October back in 2014! http://theoldinnskye.co.uk/ Here also is a great site to use for planning hiking and other travel in Scotland, I used it for much of our 2 weeks up there!!! https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/

Ok, so I am biased as we run a B&B here in Pitlochry, highlighted in Rick Steve’s` guidebook....

Whilst I would not comment either way on how many nights to spend on Skye, all I would add is that just a 1 night stay in Pitlochry (or indeed anywhere else) is not enough - you check-in/orientation, check emails, take dinner/few drinks, return to accommodations for a night cap & bed, then rise/breakfast/check-out & most drive to next location possibly via a place to visit en-route, so have seen/learnt really nothing of value of the area at all.

Indeed, through High Season it is a minimum 2-night stay, with us, & those guests that occasionally sneak in a 1nt stay always say "we should have stayed longer".... 1 nt stays being, in our own view, a waste of time & energy from a guests perspective is something we are so sure of, we have asked RS to consider this in any future itineraries he puts together, I`m sure he would concur – less locations/places to stay but get more value from those places you do stay in for 2 nights or more.

I would suggest checking the calendar for the Festival Theatre in Pitlochry to see what is playing for your window. You will be really irate to discover that something you wanted to see was playing the day before you arrived. That said I agree that Skye is a much bigger island than most people think and it takes much more time to tour than most people allot.