‘I feel, as I approach Skye, that I am on the way to wreck a dream. It may be almost as disappointing to see Skye as to meet in later life the girl you wanted to marry when you were eighteen! But something in the blue mountains reassures me as the clouds lift… The Coolins fascinate and thrill me. They are frightful. They are stupendous… I have heard of Skye from the first moment I entered Scotland. Men who are not subject to hallucination have told me of the hauntedness of Skye. And it is all true! Skye is something outside normal experience. It cannot be compared with anything. Skye stands alone, one of Nature’s supreme experiments in atmosphere.’

You will see Gaelic on the road signs and this Guide has often heard the language spoken in shops and where locals gather. Eilean a’ Cheo is the nickname for the isle – the ‘misty isle’. ‘Skye has its own private supply of weather!’ exclaimed Morton. And misty it can indeed be. An t-Eilean Sgitheanach is ‘the Isle of Skye’ in Gaelic and this more formal name means the ‘winged’ isle. Today, Scotland’s national Gaelic language college Sabhal Mòr Ostaig is a bustling, creative success, and is on Skye.

Follow the links below on this long page and you’ll glean bags of information about this wonderful place, set apart from the rest of the Highlands and attached like a brooch to the breast of Scotland. But do prepare well and do choose your Skye hotels carefully. You want to have the kind of experience you yourself search for. Happily the island and the neighbouring Lochalsh area of the mainland offer a terrific choice of accommodation, sublime food and brilliant hospitality. Go informed – by checking out the hotel reviews here on HotelReviewSKYE.com!

We love Skye in the quieter season when you never quite know what to expect from the weather and cosy, cheerful hotels offer splendid comforts to contrast with what can be a dramatic scene outdoors. The Cuillins – to give the jagged mountain ranges the modern spelling – soar up, snow-clad. Burns and rivers rush in full spate. And life takes on an engagement with nature that we find thrilling.

The Skye Bridge means that your journey is not likely to be disrupted by bad weather – or wild weather, let’s be positive here, to be welcomed as it can make the whole landscape some of the most photogenic in the world. All the hotels on this Guide will gladly provide local maps, leaflets and information.

Needless to say, you’ll get a chance for your date with Skye at a lower rate in the ‘off season’. Almost all Skye’s hotels will offer special offers and inclusive packages. That can add a further dimension of satisfaction to any stay! From romantic breaks to winter getaways where fabulous food is a nightly highlight… Skye and Lochalsh in winter is always enjoyable, and often utterly magnificent: breathtaking, wild and energising, a million miles away from it all. And yet, an easy morning drive from Inverness.

Some souvenir tips: take back some Talisker or one of the Pràban Gaelic Whiskies range available at Eilean Iarmain. Pop into Kinloch Lodge and take home some of Claire Macdonald’s wonderful produce – or one of many inspiring food books. Get hold of a copy of John Kelly’s Flavours of Skye or track down one of Shirley Spear’s few remaining copies of the The Three Chimneys – Recipes and Reflections.