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Skye with three generations
Photo: Richard Dorrell, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Sample trip

Skye with three generations

Six June days for grandparents, parents and children: two cottages side by side on a croft, a boat into the heart of the Cuillin, seals, fairy pools, a whisky for the grown-ups and seafood straight off the boats.

6 days, 5 nightsFor three generationsTwo cottages on a croftScottish and seafood
InvernessInvernessEilean DonanEilean DonanBroadfordBroadfordElgolElgolPortreePortree
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Skye in June has light until almost midnight, and every day can hold a walk, a boat and a long dinner without anyone rushing. The trick with three generations is a base that gives everyone space: here, two cottages next to each other on a working croft outside Broadford, so the grandparents have their own door and the evenings end round one table. The days are chosen for all ages: a castle on the way in, a boat trip past a seal colony into a loch ringed by the Cuillin, short walks to waterfalls and rock pinnacles, and the island's seafood, from a shack by the loch to a proper dinner overlooking the sea.

Over the sea to Skye

Day1

Getting there

Fly into Inverness and pick up a seven-seat car; it is about two and a half hours through Glen Moriston and over the Skye Bridge.

On the way

Eilean Donan, the castle on its own small island where three sea lochs meet, reached by a stone footbridge. It is the obvious stop to stretch legs half an hour before the bridge.

  • Allow an hour for the castle and the shore
The castle on its island at high tide
The stone footbridge across to the castle
Gorse in flower on the shore opposite

Photos: Wikimedia Commons (Diliff, Mimihitam, W. Bulach; CC BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Where you're staying

Croft 4, two semi-detached cottages on a croft a mile from Broadford, each with two bedrooms, its own kitchen and a garden looking at the hills.

  • One cottage for the grandparents, one for the family, with a covered seating area in the garden for everyone
  • Broadford has a supermarket, cafés and fuel, all a mile away
The garden at dusk, hills behind
The view across the croft to the hills
The open-plan sitting room
A double bedroom
The kitchen
The covered seating area in the garden

Photos: croft4.scot

Dinner

The Broadford Hotel, on the bay, serves hearty dinners of local fish, seafood and meat, with a children's menu, from 17:00.

  • No booking needed; walk in
The hotel on Broadford Bay
Sticky toffee pudding with ice cream
The lounge
The bay from the hotel
The old pier on the bay

Photos: broadfordhotel.co.uk

Flagship day

By boat into the Cuillin

Day2

Day 2

The boat

From the little harbour of Elgol, the Bella Jane crosses Loch Scavaig past a colony of harbour seals and lands you at Loch Coruisk, a freshwater loch hidden in a bowl of the Black Cuillin that no road reaches.

  • The standard trip is about three hours, with an hour and a half ashore to walk the shore of the loch, and a hot drink on the way back
  • Fares are about 36 pounds an adult, 34 over 60, 24 for children aged 4 to 14, and under-4s go free
  • Trips run daily in the season, Sundays included; if the weather stops the boat, the fare is refunded in full
The boat at Elgol pier
Elgol harbour with the Cuillin across the water
Loch Coruisk under the Cuillin ridge
Mist over the loch

Photos: Wikimedia Commons (James Allan, Enric, Andrew Hackney, Martyn Ayre; CC BY-SA 2.0, CC BY-SA 4.0)

A loch the painters found

Walter Scott wrote about Loch Coruisk in 1815, and Turner later came to paint it. For most visitors it is still reachable only by boat.

Fairy Pools and the west

Day3

The day

The walk to the Fairy Pools in Glen Brittle, a tour of the Talisker distillery for the grown-ups, and oysters and hot seafood from the shack at Carbost.

Portree and Trotternish

Day4

The day

The coloured harbour of Portree, then the loop of the Trotternish peninsula: the Old Man of Storr for the walkers, the Kilt Rock waterfall for everyone, and the Quiraing.

Sleat, and a dinner to remember

Day5

The day

A gentle day in the gardens of Armadale and the beaches of Sleat, then a farewell dinner at The Three Chimneys, the island's best-known restaurant, looking over Loch Dunvegan.

Home

Day6

Getting home

Back over the bridge and along Loch Ness to Inverness for the flight home.

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