Skye in October half term

[AmbitiousHalibut]

Hi there,
We've planned a family trip to Skye for this October half term. We're taking the sleeper train from London to Inverness, and then hiring a car to drive to Skye. We arrive in Inverness on Tues morning and have booked an airbnb in Staffin for that first night. Then we need to drive on up to Shulista for another 3 nights. We'll then drive back to Inverness on Sat and fly home.

I've been doing a lot of reading online to try and plan an itinerary, but it's tricky without having any real sense of how far apart things are. There's me, DH and our two kids (11 and 9) to plan for, and we like a bit of walking, definitely wildlife spotting, and anything else that's worth a look. To be honest, we're hoping to spend the nights star gazing, so don't need massively active days, but equally it'll get boring very soon if we stay in with board games the whole time.

Does anyone have any advice? And (sorry if this is a stupid question), will there be farm shops or similar to pick up groceries during the week? We're self catering but I don't know how much stuff to bring with me. Ideally I'd buy locally.

Thanks 😊

[PaulaSmith1]

I would definitely see the Quiraing (my favourite view), the Old Man of Storr and The Fairey Pools and Glenbrittle.

I don't remember many shops on the island away from the main settlements. There is a Co-op supermarket in Portree.

[AmbitiousHalibut]

@PaulaSmith1 - thank you!

[TheGirlWithTheFeatherTat]

All the things that Paula said. There is also a Co-op in Broadford (not long after you're on Skye) and lots of nice little shops Portree for gifts. Dunvegan Castle and Gardens is lovely aswell (thi k you can buy a family ticket). Talisker Bay is also very beautiful, you have to park the car and walk down to the bay as its private land (its not too far for little ones), the beach is rocky but there is a lovely waterfall to look at. Take waterproofs as the weather is very unreliable! Everything isnt to far away from each other so you can get around OK

[Srictlybakeoff]

Might take about an hour and a half from the Skye bridge to Staffin. Skye is one of the more developed touristy islands ( still very beautiful) , but would get shopping at Portree. You can go on great boat trips from Portree- we saw sea eagles, porpoises, seals and dolphins.
The quirang is great as are the Fairie Pools and Fairie Glen. Claigan coral beach is nice. It’s worth going to Sligachan Hotel for great views of the Cuilinns .
There is a dark sky area up near Uig.
Hope you have a great time and it doesn’t rain too much .

[0lga]

Personally I’d make my life easy and do a large click and collect order for Tesco in Inverness.

But I appreciate that you may be keen to buy everything locally, and in that case you need to shop in Broadford on your way through. Be aware it will be more expensive.

Remember that where you are staying in Staffin is another hours drive outside the town. You can’t just pop back, you’ll have to make do with the two wee shops in Staffin .