SCENERY & HOSTELS -- ISLE OF SKYE, MULL, IONA,RUM, EIGG, MUCK
ISLE OF SKYE
Skye is a long way to go, through scenery crying out to be
explored, so if you are short of time you may not get there.
But if you make it, Skye surpasses all expectations -- there's
fantastic views everywhere, of varied types. Most of the
hostels have views for which 'beautiful' is too mild a word. Of
course, it does rain here, so the views may be modified, but
not all the time. If Skye is your main destination, camping is
a good alternative to hostels (and several hostels include
camping facilities), but make sure you are equipped for wind
and rain.
You can reach Skye by train either from Glasgow via Fort William and Mallaig or from Inverness via Kyle of Lochalsh. Coaches from Glasgow and Edinburgh travel to Kyle of Lochalsh then over the bridge to Skye.
Once you are on Skye, buses are limited, so make careful enquiries at hostels and look out for fellow travellers with transport. Kyleakin and Broadford are good bases but some distance from the best scenery; if you have several days, the best base is Portree.
Approach from Mallaig
Trains from Glasgow will get you to Mallaig, where there is a hostel if you need to stop over.
From Mallaig there are 4 ferries a day taking half an hour to cross to the southern peninsula of Skye at Armadale.
Armadale
There's not much to the village but there's lots of good scenery and walking nearby, with outstanding views. The convenient SYHA hostel 1 km from the Armadale ferry has closed. If you have booked at the Flora Macdonald hostel on the hillside a few km north, you can phone for a free pickup from the ferry. There are 4 buses a day from Armadale to Broadford, but in summer only.The Flora Macdonald hostel is run by a member of that clan, who runs luxury tours and is the only hostel owner who is a native of Skye:
Address: The Glebe, Kilmore
Tel: 01471-844440
Email: peter_macdonald + AT + cillemhor.freeserve.co.uk
Facilities: Well off road, transport available; good kitchen, long narrow dining/common room with TV; separate-sex dorms; great view.
UK Trail opinions: The long narrow room with a TV at one end is rather bleak and not ideal if you are on your own here. There is also a modern self-contained annexe for groups or families. Owner is easy-going and helpful but does not live on site..
Approach from Kyle of Lochalsh
Trains from Inverness and buses from Glasgow get you to Kyle of Lochalsh, a little fishing village where the hills of Skye tempt you to cross the narrow strait to its twin village Kyleakin. Crossing the bridge is now free. Coaches stop at both Kyle and Kyleakin, and there is an occasional shuttle bus across the bridge.
The Red Cuillins of Skye, seen from Raasay
Kyleakin is a lovely village with fine views and a castle nearby, a good place to stay for your first or last night on Skye. There are 3 excellent hostels, and a regular backpacking community in the pub, since the backpackers' tours stop here. All the hostels have excellent kitchens. Dun Caan hostel, run by an enthusiastic and very friendly couple, is compact, cosy and comfortable; Skye Backpackers is also small and compact, the staff are young backpackers, and is very sociable with a cosy common-room; and Saucy Mary's Hostel is above the pub:
Tel: 01599-534087
Email: info + AT + skyerover.co.uk
Facilities: £11 (summer £12) (2005); Owner-run, cosy family atmosphere, free tea/coffee, smoke-free, kitchen, sitting room with TV, games & books, laundry.
UK Trail opinions: A small and compact but well-equipped, cosy and sociable hostel. The owners are very friendly and helpful.
Address: Benmhor
Tel: 01599-534510
Email: skye + AT + scotlandstophostels.com
Facilities: £10(2008).Good kitchen, dining area, friendly common room with guitar, no TV, separate-sex dorms, bathrooms barely adequate, helpful backpacker staff.
UK Trail opinions: Compact cosy casual hostel with very friendly staff. Kitchen/dining is efficient but can be congested. Common room small and very cosy and sociable with fire.
Tel: 01599-534845
Email: saucymarys1 + AT + btconnect.com
Facilities: Small dorms some w TV, small kitchen, dining area, lounge w TV, bar w TV, meals available; private rooms in separate building.
UK Trail opinions: Haggis tours stop here; bar has live music and party atmosphere; good for party types but not ideal if you want a quiet night, though private rooms are away from the noise.
Reviewers' comments: Location good, cheap hostel, good value for money, good views. 'Clean and spacious rooms', 'bar fun at night'; but 'room cold', 'clean kitchen but only one fork', 'room above pub with loud music till 1am'. Mixed comments about staff. Some reviewers did not like the hostel as a whole.
Moving further into Skye, you first reach Broadford, a long straggling village with shops, and just beyond, on a headland, a bright and cheerful SYHA hostel and also a new Backpackers hostel:
UK Trail opinions: On bus route to rest of island and Glasgow.
Tel: 0870-004-1106
Facilities: Large well-equipped kitchen, lg dining area, lg common room with lg TV at end, great view, good dorms, coast & hill walks from door.
UK Trail opinions: Very pleasant, cheerful-feeling hostel with helpful staff..
As you travel through varied and outstanding scenery you reach Sligachan, a place consisting only of a hotel and a bunkhouse in the middle of desolate moorland. Nevertheless it is a major road junction and well-placed for buses to many parts of Skye. There is an amazing view of the Cuillin mountain ridge if clear, and it's a perfect base for climbs, serious hikes, or fine low-level hikes along trails to scenic gems such as Loch Coruisk. The small bunkhouse, 200m off the road in a cluster of trees, is sometimes taken over by groups, but when there's room it's a comfortable place to stay, albeit pretty bleak if you catch it in a wet spell.
Address: Sligachan Hotel
Tel: 01478-650204
Email: self-catering + AT + sligachan.co.uk
Facilities: £10 bed, £12 w bedding (2005); very good kitchen/eating area, comfy lounge w radio/cd, good heating (charge), good dorms, poor bathrooms; bar & restaurant in hotel nearby.
UK Trail opinions: Very sociable, a lovely moorland retreat in good weather, bleak and damp-feeling in bad weather. Bring plenty of food and books/games.
Eventually you reach the town of Portree, which has bus services to most parts of Skye. In the centre of town on the main street is:
Address: The Old Post Office, The Green
Tel: 01478-613737
Email: skyehostel + AT + yahoo.co.uk
Facilities: £11-£12 (2005).Giant kitchen and dining area, TV lounge in reception area, good facilities, good view. Under new management June 2004.
UK Trail opinions: A good hostel, well located for town activities and local walks, kitchen fairly sociable, staff helpful. Some traffic noise in dorms.
The amazing mountain scenery of Skye
The Trotternish peninsula in the far north of Skye has some outstanding mountain scenery, views across the sea to the mainland, and amazing walks. It's also great for cycling (hire bikes at Portree) and gentle motoring. There are 4 buses a day (none Sun) to Flodigarry. If you get here on a good day, you'll wonder why you ever bothered to stay elsewhere. And if it's wet, stay here anyway, the skies will probably clear before you leave.
Address: Flodigarry, Staffin
Tel: 01470-552212
Email: hostel.flodigarry + AT + btopenworld.com
Facilities: Owner-run, excellent kitchen, large dining/sitting room, small lounge with books, piano & guitar, no TV, outdoor tables, outstanding view.
UK Trail opinions: An excellent hostel in a perfect setting. Could be very sociable, though lounge is large with many tables. View is amazing if clear. Good outdoor area, though midges can be very troublesome. Nearby pub/restaurant not cheap.
On the west side of the peninsula is Uig, with 4 buses a day from Portree and one direct from Glasgow and Inverness which connects with the ferry to Stornoway. Just outside Uig is a superbly-placed hostel:
Tel: 0870-004-1155
Facilities: Excellent kitchen, giant common/dining room, comfy lounge, all with stunning view of sea and headlands, no TV, mountain walks from door, helpful staff.
UK Trail opinions: Excellent hostel.
A few km S of Uig, a road runs up a quiet valley to a farm where there is a tiny bunkhouse:
Address: Glenhinnisdal, Snizort
Tel: 01470-542293
Email: rlyddon + AT + aol.com
Facilities: Owner-run, tiny bunkhouse (6 beds), low cost, cosy common room w fire, good dorms, good bathroom, limited but adequate kitchen, fine walks from door.
UK Trail opinions: A delightful very small hostel, very sociable, owner very helpful. Breakfast available in farmhouse..
On a small peninsula to the W , accessed from Sligachan, (2 buses a day) there is a good-value bunkhouse at Portnalong:
Tel: 01478-640250
Email: enquiries + AT + skyewalkerhostel.com
Facilities: Owner-run, well-equipped kitchen, large common/dining room with musical instruments, TV area adjoining, local walks, adjacent cafe & shop.
UK Trail opinions: The enthusiastic owners are keen musicians. Fine views nearby. Bus service is very limited so check before you go..
Reviewers' comments: Very good reviews, mostly praising the 'very relaxed atmosphere', and the very helpful staff. Several like the music evenings. One said: 'Large well-equipped kitchen'. Several emphasise the poor bus service.
CROFT BUNKHOUSE AND BOTHIES is mainly suited to self-contained groups; improvements are planned .
There is also a high-quality bunkhouse at Carbost, adjacent to a distillery:
Address: The Old Inn
Tel: 01478-640205
Email: oldinn + AT + carbost.f9.co.uk
Facilities: Modest kitchen, comfortable common/dining room with TV, spacious dorms, laundry, fabulous view.
UK Trail opinions: Very high standard, but too small if everyone wants to cook, and the TV in the only room could be annoying. Meals in adjacent restaurant (not cheap).
Glen Brittle in the SW is yet another area of varied and outstanding scenery, and gives access to the Cuillin mountains with the most severe ridge-walking and climbing in Britain (but there are also easier lower-level walks). There are 2 buses a day in summer only. In this remote area is a campsite, a shop and a hostel:
Tel: 0870-004-1121
Facilities: Large kitchen, large dining area, common room with guitar, no TV, ideal base for walks and climbs.
UK Trail opinions: When we saw it it was excellent for sociability, patronised by mountain enthusiasts.
ISLE OF RAASAY
Raasay Island, looking towards Skye
For a really peaceful break, take a ferry from Sconser across to the Isle of Raasay. You can take a car (£18 (2006) for 5-day return) which will help you explore places on this long narrow island that are otherwise hard to reach, as there are no buses or taxis. If you go on foot (£5 return), be prepared for a 5 km walk to the SYHA hostel, but it's a lovely place with stunning views. A walk up the mountain Dun Caan ( ) is easily manageable, other walks involve a lot of road walking first.
Address: Creachan Cottage
Tel: 0870-004-1146
Facilities: Small hostel in stunning location, very homely atmosphere. Good-sized modern common room w well-equipped kitchen, outdoor seat, outstanding view. Maps for loan.
UK Trail opinions: Volunteer staff always friendly. Kitchen well-equipped but badly laid-out, 2 people is a crush.
MULL, IONA & SOUTHERN ISLANDS
There are so many Scottish islands that you might be tempted to do some island hopping. But it often doesn't really work out that way, due to schedules and availability of accommodation. For example, you can travel to island X only on Mon, Wed and Sat, but the hostel has vacancies on Wed and Thu only. You leave island X on Wed but the first ferry to island Y leaves Oban on Fri afternoon. So the best plan is to choose maybe 2 islands that you can explore in detail.We will tell you which islands we know to have a hostel.Transport
Oban is the best place to get a boat to numerous islands.MULL
Mull is a large island and deserves several days to itself, but you can see quite a lot in 2 days. It has a limited bus service. Ferries go from Oban to Mull several times a day, and take cars and bikes.
You can stay in tents close to the ferry terminal at Craignure:
Address: Craignure
Tel: 01680-812496
Email: graciemull + AT + aol.com
On the road to Tobermory, close to the ferry to Lochaline on the mainland peninsula of Morvern, you come to:
Address: Fishnish
Or on to the little town of Tobermory:
Address: Main St
Tel: 0871-330-8552
Facilities: Pleasant hostel, good kitchen/dining room, comfy lounge w TV, drying room, cycle shed.
On the delightful north coast is a bunkhouse at Dervaig (3 buses per day from Tobermory, not Sun):
Address: Dervaig Village Hall
Tel: 01688-400491
Email: dervaigbunkrooms + AT + phonecoop.coop
Facilities: 10 beds in 2 rooms, equipped kitchen, dining/sitting area.
UK Trail opinions: Book ahead, no staff on site. Bunkhouse is part of a village hall which holds events including ceilidhs..
IONA
Iona is a tiny island. It's a marvellous place, with fine walks over small hills and to seashores with lots of peaceful corners and amazing views to other islands. It's great to visit for a day, and if you have a car you can park it free at Fionnphort and take the ferry (half-hourly). However it is a long way from any hostels on Mull, and buses are infrequent, so you may prefer to stay overnight. Bring your food and walk a mile from the ferry to the excellent hostel, superbly equipped, at the north end of the island:
Facilities: Owner-run, peaceful setting w spectacular views, sociable dining/common room w equipped kitchen, no TV, well-designed dorms & beds, drying room.
UK Trail opinions: Fantastic peaceful setting with spectacular views. Very good hostel in every way..
Iona is steeped in Christian history, and you may want to go there to join in a Christian spiritual environment, in which case you can stay at:
Tel: 01681-700404
Facilities: Active Christian environment.
Kerrera
is a small island just off the coast at Oban, with frequent ferries. You can stay in:Address: Lower Gylen
Tel: 01631-570223
Address: Ardentrive Farm
Tel: 01631-567180
Colonsay
Address: Colonsay Estate Cottages
Tel: 01951-200312
Email: eleanor + AT + colonsaycottages.swinternet.co.uk
Islay
Tel: 0870-004-1128
Facilities: £12(2008). In an old whisky warehouse, on beach. Sociable. Closed 1000-1700h..
Reviewers' comments: One says: Well run by competent and friendly staff..
Address: Kintra Farm, Port Ellen
Tel: 01496-302051
