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Feedback- Skye (3 nights) + Applecross, Gairloch & Ullapool (1 night)?

Posted by (Texan currently in London, UK) on

Hi all,

We will be in Isle of Skye (Portree) for 3 nights in July & are trying to plan a few days around it. We will arrive by flight to Inverness (from London) & will be staying overnight the 1st night in Inverness due to late PM flight. We are considering including Applecross, Gairloch & Ullapool to our itinerary.

We can add a day before or after our Isle of Skye stay to visit these places. (flights are changeable so we are considering options). My questions are-

  1. Is it sensible/ advisable to club these with our Isle of Skye trip by adding 1 day?

  2. Would you suggest doing these before or after our 3 night stay in Isle of Skye?

  3. If yes, to Q.2, which route would you advise:

(A) Inverness- Ullapool-Gairloch-Applecross-Portree-Inverness (with 1 night in Gairloch & 3 nights in Portree) or

(B) Inverness-Portree-Applecross-Gairloch-Ullapool-Inverness (with 3 nights in Portree & 1 night in ???)

  1. Our 3 nights stay in Portree is booked; where should we base ourself for the 4th night if we were to add 3(A) or 3(B) above? Departure from Inverness will be a 3 PM flight.

Any feedback/ suggestions are welcome! Thank you!

Edited to add: We will be renting a car in Inverness. Also, we have driven for about 6 days in Scotland recently & are familiar with the challenging driving & know to account for extra driving times.

Posted by
1359 posts

If you want a meal inside the Applecross Inn prebook days ahead to stand a chance its a busy busy spot,my friends lives in the village.
There is outside eating but keep the possibility of midges in mind !

Depending on how it goes the Baddachro Inn is excellent spot not too far from the " main " road.

I would do Skye first..and it is rightfully busy so that last day on the NW coast will feel a lot calmer.

Always been booked when I have been up but Rua Reidh lighthouse is just north of Gairloch would be an amazing place to stop.

Oh and both fish n chip shops in Ullapool
are uncommonly good.

Posted by
940 posts

From Inverness I did the drive up to Ullapool and spent a night in Gairloch before going to Skye. When I left Skye I did the drive to Applecross, but did not spend the night, just carried on towards Oban. I had time for stops along the way, and did not feel rushed.

Posted by
45 posts

Thank you, both! If there was one place you could do Applecross or Ullapool which would you pick? I have a feeling we may not be able to do both as it may involve too much driving especially since we will be driving around Skye as well for 3 days.

Posted by
1359 posts

I love the Highlands was up there 7 months last year.

Answer Applecross .
Logistically its better...better sunsets.
It feels like commnunity.
Plus Bealach na Ba pass is an extraordinary place by any measure.
There's a big park up spot on tbe summit.
Just on the edge of the village are the Hebridean barns and a roundhouse( reconstruction)..Its only minutes walk .

Beyond them, not far up the forest track is the under construction community barn.
I was their last year helping put the frames up.

If you do get to Applecross you might as well continue up to Torridon and cut back to Inverness via Kinlochewe.
Torridon is a notably impressive mountain landscape, there's a deer museum by the National Trust just as you turn into the village and an " outdoor church" a short wander away.
The cafe down in the village is fine too.

Posted by
940 posts

If you can only do one, then Applecross for sure, the road is not for the faint of heart, but for that reason, the scenery is stunning.

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