Elgol, Skye - towards the Cuillins (VisitScotland)
Looking for some Great British adventure inspiration? You're in the right place. Here you'll get an independent, ad-free lowdown on Britain's top 50 adventure locations - the online yin to the paper yang of our Joyously Busy Great British Adventure Map.
Why Go To Skye?
It sounds heavenly and that would be about right. Just some of things you can do on Skye that you can't do anywhere else...
Get up close and personal with some of Britain's most extreme and spectacular terrain, including the ridgeline of the Black Cuillins
Visit places called Waternish, Trotternish, Duirnish and Minginish
Explore the unusual landscape of the Quiraing
Want to find out more? Read on for great photos, articles, videos, top tips and other content to fire up your adventure appetite. Got a question? Ask away.
Tell Me More
Possessing some of Britain's most extreme terrain, Skye is an island of delightfully-named peninsulas, jagged peaks such as the Inaccessible Pinnacle along the Black Cuillin ridgeline, almost alien landscapes like the Quiraing, and all sorts of other eye-popping scenery. Camasunary Bay (good remote beach / hill / hike / bothy combo), the view from Elgol across Loch Coruisk, Fairy Glen, the cliffs of Kilt Rock... if you've ever badmouthed Britain for a lack of exciting scenery, go wash your mouth out (then get to Skye). Highest point: Sgurr Alasdair (992m).
The Fairy Pools, Skye - bit popular these days but they make for a good picture (VisitScotland)
The essential journey on Skye is could be doing the Cuillin traverse. Munro-baggers often make the Inaccessible Pinnacle (the "In Pin") their final Munro, as it's the only one requiring technical climbing skills. Alternatively, a circuit of all the peninsulas, on land or - more ambitiously - by sea, would be something to write home about.
Two great films about Skye adventures (both on the Slipstream subscription site, but the first month is free):
A climbing film called Skye Wall
Skye's The Limit, about a stand-up paddleboard journey around Skye
Getting To Skye, Maps & Guides
Getting there: CalMac ferry from Mallaig - 1 hr. Drive from Inverness airport over the Kyle of Lochalsh bridge - 2.5 hrs.
Travel times from where you are: See Skye on Google Maps.
Maps: Find the right Ordnance Survey maps and / or get a month's free subscription to their excellent OS Maps app.
Guidebooks: Rough Guide to the Highlands & Islands or theLonely Planet Guide to the Highlands & Islands.
Walking route guidance: WalkingHighlands.
Tourist board: Visit Scotland.
Even More Skye Adventure Inspiration
The Quiraing, Skye (VisitScotland)
Read Sidetracked magazine's article on Skye and the Lookout bothy, or another on traversing the Cuillin Ridge. If you're interested in the topic of 'overtourism' and the noise it generated in the summer of 2017, this from the Guardian might be for you.
Slightly leftfield now, an endearing episode from the Mountain podcast entitled The Angel of Camasunary.
What Next?
Click here to see 49 other Great British adventure locations and tell us about your adventures, plans and suggestions for these pages.
Britain's Best Outdoorsy Bits... Mapped!
Liking what you see, but fancy keeping it old school with an actual paper map? Our Joyously Busy Great British Adventure Map features all of Britain's best outdoorsy bits (including the Top 50), plus some enjoyably random and vaguely useful stuff too. Available either as a 2-sided fold-out map or a framed wall map (office furniture and fake plants not included).
