The BEST Isle of Skye Day trips 2023

Isle of Skye tour from inverness. This day tour from Inverness to The Isle of Skye or in Gaelic it’s poetic name Eilean a’ Cheò meaning The Misty Isle and explores one of the most beautiful Hebridean Islands in The Highlands. Departing ‘The Capital of the Highlands’ we’ll travel to the west coast stopping off at various locations on route one of will be Eilean Donan Castle, one of the most photographed castle in Scotland.

Rogie Falls (Eas Rothagaidh)

Our first (or last) stop of the day depending on which way we travel the loop will be a quick walk to the beautiful Rogie Falls, a series of waterfalls on the Black Water near Loch Garve. You can take a walk over the bouncy suspension bridge to see the leaping Salmon from July through until September which is a joy to see.

Eilean Donan Castle (Caisteal Eilean Donnain)

Eilean Donan is beautifully located castle situated on a small island in Loch Duich where 3 lochs meet, Alsh, Duich and Long. Named after Celtic saint Donan of Eigg who was known as a bit of a hermit and built himself a wee chapel to pray in on the island, this rocky outcrop has been occupied since the mid 1200s. Eilean Donan was destroyed in 1719 by 3 government Royal Navy battleships who had been sent there to ask the Jacobite’s and the Spanish to surrender, upon refusal the Royal Navy opened fired on the castle and after 3 days of fighting it was destroyed. 200 years later, the castle was purchased by Lt Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap and renovated in 1912 completed in 1932 and that is the castle we explore today.

Isle of Skye
As we drive over the famous Skye bridge which was built in 1995, before the bridge a ferry service operated from around 1600 until the bridge was built. We then travel up and around the magical Isle of Skye stopping at various points along the way. There are a number of places which we like to call the tourist honey pot spots which you are welcome to visit if that is what you would like to choose to visit and sometimes if we travel such a long way some of these locations are are a must, just bare in mind during the summer months some of these honey pot locations can get extremely busy. However this is a bespoke tour and you choose the locations that you wish to visit so we are more than happy to tailor these places to fit your tour, along with other lesser known locations.

We like to find out your interests where you would like to visit prior to the tour starting so that we can plan the day specifically for you, if you choose a few west coast locations we can stick to the west coast to keep within the time limits. Here are a number of places that you can choose to visit whilst on Skye:

• Elgol (Optional boat ride)
• Carbost and Talisker Distillery (Optional rib boat ride)
• A very special lunch stop near Talisker with views to die for whilst you eat your lunch (this is a special lesser known location)
• Dunvegan Castle
• Waternish and Skye Skins
• Coral Beach (2 mile walk)
• Lunch stop at near by Waternish if we are in the area at a special place but it will need to be booked due to availability)
• Fairy Glen
• The Quiraing
• Old Man Of Stor
• Kilt Rock
• Lealt Falls
• Fossil Mueseum
• Staffin Bay to see the dinosaur footprint
• Duntulm Castle (A ruin castle on a cliff edge)
• Village of Highland life
• Fairy Pools

On our way back from Skye we will take the lesser known back road to Inverness stopping off at the Ledgowan Lodge Hotel for a quick break, a beautiful old Victorian hunting lodge which is now a family run hotel.

The list goes on and on, however if you would like to visit certain places please let us know in the comments when you book the tour so we can arrange lunches at certain places as pre booking is highly recommended so that we are not disappointed.

When we finish up on the Isle of Skye we will then head back towards Inverness, heading up Glen Shiel and stopping off at a few locations for photos on the way back heading past, Loch Cluanie and through The Great Glen and we will travel the length of Loch Ness, the UK’s largest body of water by volume of water a quick photo stop Urquhart Castle to take in the views of this impressive ruin and the view over Loch Ness. Urquhart has a turbulent history and is ruined as part of the ‘oppression of the highlands’ then we start the final leg of our journey back to Inverness and drop you off with huge smiles on your faces at you accommodation. 

If you would like another tour with Sgùrr Tours at anytime during your visit or in the future we will give you a 10% Discount on your next tour and also a 10% Discount for any shop items sold on our online shop. 🙂