Autumn and Winter Stays on Skye October to March, from
The Portree Hotel
Skye between the October holidays and Easter is a different island. Seven hours of daylight in December, rain to be expected, wind that can adjust your hiking plans, and the Storr car park with plenty of spaces to choose from at any time of day. Below is our guide to experiencing Skye, whatever the weather, on a winter visit.
Check availabilityWinter Rooms in Portree from £75 a Night
Rooms on Somerled Square, breakfast included, the restaurant and the bar open every day through winter.
Skye in Winter From a Base in Portree
Days in the depth of winter are short, and The Portree Hotel gives you easy access to come and go, and to spend time experiencing rather than time driving.
The Storr is a quarter of an hour north, so you can easily get there between weather changes, or be so close you’ll be the first there for the epic winter Storr sunrise. It makes a lot of sense to be based in Portree in the quieter months. There is still activity, restaurants in town are still open, and you benefit from great room deals, seeing the best of Skye for a fraction of the price.
Is the Isle of Skye Worth a Winter Visit?
Yes, if the scenery is the reason and a huge checklist requiring long days is not. The popular car parks, full by ten in July, have space all day throughout winter. The Quiraing, Sligachan bridge, Kilt Rock and Elgol harbour are all places you can still visit in frost, or in ‘big’ weather, where guests can truly see the wildness of Skye. Winter might take the long ridge walks off the table for many, but for those who want to rest, nip out and look, and find cosy places, taking things a little slower, Skye is perfect for you.
What you give up in winter: the boat from Elgol to Loch Coruisk, the interiors of Dunvegan Castle, and many of the wildlife boats out of Portree harbour (though occasional tours still depart). Walking into a restaurant at eight without a booking, though, is far less risky than in summer.
If this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, May or September are perhaps safer months for weather (though there is no guarantee on Skye), still with the benefit of quieter experiences.
If winter stillness, mixed weather and a shorter walk appeal, Skye still has plenty to offer in winter.
The Best Month to Visit Skye in Winter, October to February
September still has thirteen hours of light and highs of around 14°C, and the midge hangs on in sheltered, damp corners for the first few weeks. October is a month of deep auburn colour lit up by burning red and orange sunsets. The bracken turns copper and amber, and the Braes road and the run down to Sligachan show the change as you drive, without a walk. It is also the wettest month. The island stays busy with families until the end of the October holidays, then empties.
November, December and January are quiet months. Seven hours of light in December, sunrise a little before nine, dark before four, highs of 6°C and lows near freezing. Snow sits on Blà Bheinn and the Cuillin but rarely on the centre of Portree (for long, at least). These daylight hours provide an amazing chance to see Skye in complete stillness. You can get up at around 8 a.m. and see the sunrise in the east over Portree harbour, and seven hours later see incredible sunsets in the west by a quiet Neist Point lighthouse. In between there’s time to explore, find short walks, visit the distillery, have lunch and relax. Not everyone wants to be on the go for sixteen hours of summer. Sleep in winter is quiet, dark and undisturbed. A hibernation, before another relaxed day of exploring.
February is the coldest month and the one that begins to let the daylight back in for a more prolonged time. February is famous amongst photographers for its low and rich warmth at golden hour. The light over Ben Tianavaig in winter streams across the bay and provides a feeling of stillness hard to find anywhere else. Rosedale Hotel or Pink House, both on the harbour, provide perhaps the best view of sunrise in Portree from inside.
| Month | High | Low | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| September | 14°C | 8°C | 13 hours |
| October | 11°C | 6°C | 10 hours |
| November | 8°C | 3°C | 8 hours |
| December | 6°C | 2°C | 7 hours |
| January | 6°C | 1°C | 7.5 hours |
| February | 6°C | 1°C | 9.5 hours |
Multi-year averages for the Isle of Skye. Daylight is the mid-month figure.
A Winter Day on Skye: Seven Hours of Light from Portree
Drive in the dark, walk in the light. If sunrise is at a quarter to nine, the car leaves the square at eight and you are on the Quiraing path as the sky begins to fill.
Breakfast waits when you get back, or you can carry it: MacKenzie’s Bakery is a minute away, perfect for lunch on return or for taking fresh sandwiches and cakes for the journey. Cafés near the sights are often shut until spring, so it is worth taking things with you rather than being hungry. By half past three you are back at the car. Dark comes around four and you have time for a nap before heading to dinner somewhere around the village: our own restaurant, or across the square for pizza and a cocktail at Caberfeidh.
In winter you can plan for around two stops a day, on the same side of the island. The northern day is the Storr at dawn, two to three hours, then Kilt Rock and the Quiraing before heading round the tip of Skye for a stop at Duntulm Castle (ideal for sunset), and that uses all the light. The western day is the Fairy Pools in the morning and Dunvegan or Neist Point for the last of the afternoon. Both loops start on the roads out of the square. The Fairy Pools and the Quiraing in one December day means much of the daylight in the car. It’s often better to group activities closer together, to see more.
Two nights gives you one full day. If that’s all you have, spend that day in the north, and the day you leave can be spent visiting Talisker and the Fairy Pools on the way off the island. If you fly home from Glasgow or Inverness, keep a day between Skye and the flight. A storm can shut the bridge for a few hours, so you’ll want to make sure you have a contingency plan.
Skye Winter Weather: Wind, Cloud and Reading the Forecast
Wind is what stops a day, not rain. Rain on Skye often comes as showers: wait ten minutes and it has passed on to some unlucky visitor. The Mountain Weather Information Service can forecast summit winds of 50 to 70 mph in winter, and above 40 mph the Quiraing circuit and the upper Storr steps become uncomfortable. When the cloud base drops to 400 metres the Storr is inside it. The forecast on your phone is for the town at sea level; the ridge can be 0°C and 60 mph while the square is 5°C and breezy.
Days are often best decided at breakfast. Read the MWIS West Highlands forecast and the Met Office mountain forecast over a coffee, then go outside, or go to a distillery, or to afternoon tea at Greshornish House. It is worth noting that Portree can sit in drizzle while Waternish has sun, twenty miles apart, so check the local weather cams to see what is happening where. Skye Weather on Facebook is worth keeping an eye on.
Several bad days in a row happen. Talisker at Carbost, Torabhaig in Sleat and the Raasay distillery run winter tours, indoors and step-free. The Skye Candles Centre in Portree screens films. The craft shops and the Isle of Skye Baking Company keep shorter hours. If your idea is to stay put, stay inside and just relax, Greshornish House is the perfect place for a romantic getaway.
Restaurants Open on Skye in Winter
With fewer visitors, there are fewer open kitchens. What is left does still fill, so it is worth booking ahead. Antlers Bar & Grill in the hotel does lunch and dinner every day and breakfast is included for guests, so the simplest winter evening is a table reserved the same day you reserve the bed. Over the road and down the street there are Dulse & Brose, Chargrill at the Marmalade, Cuillin Hills and the Isles Inn, and several of them close on a Monday or Tuesday. Arrive in Portree at half past eight with nothing booked and your best bet might be Caberfeidh pizza or burgers, though our hotel will try its best to accommodate you.
Out of town, the Edinbane Inn, 22 minutes west, is open through winter for a pub dinner, Skye beer, music some nights, and dogs welcome in the bar. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free are handled well at the places that stay open.
The Storr, the Quiraing, the Fairy Pools and Neist Point in Winter
The Old Man of Storr. After rain the middle plateau of the path is deep with mud for a few metres in a few places; you can go round these along the side, or power through in your waterproof boots. After frost the upper stone steps can be icy, but again these can be skirted on the grass. The Old Man is in full view from the lochside without the climb. The view from the Storr loch is iconic, so for some, that is enough.
The Quiraing, 35 minutes north, involves a single-track road over the ridge from Staffin to Uig. The road climbs by hairpins and steep turns, and it is impassable in snowy or very frosty conditions; otherwise the quieter road in winter makes this journey far easier than in summer. From the car park at the Quiraing the most famous view is only a few steps. Even in summer most visitors stop here for the photograph and move on. The full circuit walk is exposed and best not attempted in wind or hard frost if you don’t have the correct gear or experience. There is a steep drop off the lower path, and a cliff-face drop from the upper path. Neither fall would be ideal on your holiday.
The Fairy Pools, 40 minutes from Portree, are safe for most people in all conditions; there are no steep drops from the path itself.
Neist Point, west of Dunvegan, has nothing between it and the Atlantic, and in a gale the concrete stairs down to the lighthouse are a place to stay off. With care the most sought-after view is still reachable, even in windy conditions, being careful to stay away from the edge. Neist Point on a windy day is iconic Skye!
The car parks and toilets at the Storr, Fairy Pools and Quiraing stay open through winter, with the odd frozen pipe.
Who a Winter Stay in Portree Is Not For
People who want isolation. Portree is the centre of commerce on the island, and naturally most visitors are drawn here for its access to amenities.
If the point of the trip is a loch with nobody on it and complete silence at night, a cottage on Waternish or in Sleat is the better booking. Greshornish House, thirty minutes west on its own loch, does the ‘disappear on Skye’ holiday perfectly, with a hint of Victorian-style luxury.
Winter Booking Checklist for Skye
- Dinner, every night, booked.
- Two nights minimum.
- The mountain forecast bookmarked.
- Waterproof, strong hiking boots and a headtorch, if you plan to walk home from town to a quiet, less well-lit street.
- Winter driving times plus thirty per cent, on account of sheep on the warm tarmac, no lines, no lights.
Skye in Winter: Questions Before You Book
Short answers to what people ask us between October and March.
Is Skye worth visiting in winter?
Yes, for the scenery, the light and the empty car parks. The Storr, the Quiraing, Sligachan and Kilt Rock are all seen without long walks. Boat trips, castle interiors and many rural cafés close from November to Easter, and the restaurants still trading need booking. Base yourself in Portree, where the hotel, the restaurants, the shops and the tours are all easily accessible.
How many hours of daylight does Skye have in December?
About seven, from around nine in the morning until shortly before four. Plan one or two stops close together and use the dark for the driving. By late February there are nine and a half hours.
Can you walk to the Old Man of Storr in winter?
Yes. Mud needs some extra navigating in rain, and there is ice on the upper steps after frost, so be ready for some obstacle avoidance as you head up the path, or better yet bring the right gear. In wind above 40 mph, stay low.
Does the Skye Bridge close in bad weather?
Sometimes, though almost never to cars; it is high-sided vehicles that can’t cross. In the strongest storms it closes to all traffic for a spell. Check Traffic Scotland or search A87 on X before you set off from Inverness or Fort William. The Mallaig to Armadale ferry runs a reduced winter timetable and cancels in a swell, so the bridge is the most dependable route.
Is The Portree Hotel open in winter?
Yes. The Portree Hotel is open all year, restaurant and bar included. Supermarkets, bakeries, pharmacies, fuel and outdoor shops are all in town. Some restaurants close on Mondays or Tuesdays and some kitchens stop earlier in winter.
Can I see the Northern Lights from Portree?
On a clear night with the right solar activity you can see a green glow, rather than the full-blown aurora you might expect. Drive north-west, as far as you feel able, and search for the Glendale Aurora app for updates and the likeliest nights for the lights. The long nights of December and January give the best odds.
The Hotel That Keeps You Close to the Action on Short Days
Rooms from £75 a night between October and March, with a cooked breakfast before you head out. We do not shut for the season, join us!
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