One day hiking tour in Skye, from Inverness

Are you renting a car, and do you have map/GPS, or a guidebook? If you drove south from Inverness on the A82, then after about 40 miles (65 kilometers) switched to the westbound A87, that will get you to Skye. After crossing the bridge from Kyle of Localsh on the mainland onto Skye, follow the A87 another 32 miles to the capital city, Portree. Exit Portree on the A855, and head north toward the Quiraing, where there’s parking and you can start a hike from there.

Another possibility would be to park at Sligachan, before you make the bend northwards toward Portree, and there are hiking trails heading south from Sligachan.

This all assumes the weather cooperates to allow the drive and the hiking. Rain, possibly torrential, could be there to meet you. With an upcoming hiking tour, you may already be outfitted for that! Research the Quiraing or Sligachan options before you reach Inverness, and see if this will fit into your plans.

I'm sorry to say that I think you have left it way too late to find a guide for next week. Your best bet is to do some self guided walks. www.walkhighlands.co.uk is a great resource for finding good trails to suit your ability as they are rated by difficulty.

Without your own transport you will find it nigh on impossible to explore Skye as bus routes are set up around the school day and only go to the main settlements.

Bear in mind too that it's a 3 hour drive from Inverness to the north end of Skye - I know because I live here! And that's without stopping to take any photos en route and with a lot of overtaking of slow moving rental cars!!!

You might do better to look for some hiking opportunities closer to Inverness. There's a bus service to Ullapool which might offer more possibilities, or take the train towards Kyle of Lochalsh but get off at one of the earlier stops and do some hiking?

Best wishes
Jacqui (Skyegirl)

Hi -

I suppose it all depends on what sort of hiking you wanted to do on Skye. The drive from and presumably back to Inverness puts a bit of a cramp in your ambitions. Climbing into the Black Cuillin is a major operation and would involve a very long, full day almost anywhere you go. Probably the easiest to access and quickest to summit and back is Bla Bheinn from the shores of Loch Slapin - I’m sure the Walk Highlands website will give you more detailed advice. The Quirang hikes and walk up to the Old Man of Storr are much easier and won’t take anything like as long (we went on from the Old Man to the summit of The Storr and, if I recall correctly the add-on didn’t take that much longer than the walk up to the Old Man).

While I appreciate that hiking on Skye is seriously attractive and a real challenge, maybe something a bit closer to base would be just as good - I’m thinking of the Torridon peaks which are seriously good hiking and very steep, pointy stuff, if that’s what you are after. Again Walk Highlands will be your friend and guide here.

I know there are guides on Skye and nearby on the mainland who will do one-to-one type guiding but frankly I’ve never used them, nor could I give you specifics on them. As is the case with much of the UK’s walkers/hikers we do it ourselves, reliant on good guidebooks (see Ralph Storer’s ‘100 Best Routes in Scotland’ or the more Skye specific ‘50 Best walks on Skye’), the large scale Ordnance Survey maps and a healthy dose of knowing what your limits are (as in turn back if the weather changes against you or the terrain is too much). Also the gabbro on Skye rips and slices the soles of your boots like nowhere else I’ve been!

Hope you get something sorted out and the weather is kind. There’s a ton of superb walking in the Highland peaks. Where does your main hiking trip take you?

Ian

Thank you for your observations and suggestions. I’ve decided to go with a tour, being this is our first trip to Scotland., and I’m not sure about driving on the left side of the road, etc. I’ve booked with WOW . Looking forward to it!

I have the AllTrails app on my phone. It lists LOADS of walks in Isle of Skye. Presumably there are also many other walks in the highlands (the highlands url above appears excellent advice, too) on the AllTrails app.