The hook
A big Hebridean island of jagged black peaks and green landslip terraces, where the weather changes every twenty minutes and half the drama is watching it come across the water.
01Why it's worth it
Skye packs an unreasonable amount of landscape into one island. The Cuillin are a genuine mountaineers' range of bare black rock, the only hills in Britain that need real skill to cross. Around them sit the set pieces most people come for: the Old Man of Storr, a leaning rock finger above the sea; the Quiraing, a still-slipping tumble of pinnacles and hidden green tables you can walk a loop through; the Fairy Pools, a chain of clear falls under the Cuillin. It is beautiful and it is well known, so the honest caveats are traffic on single-track roads, full car parks at the famous stops, and midges on still summer evenings. The counter is that Skye is large and most visitors cluster in a few places, so a short walk usually loses them.
02How to experience it
Base a few nights rather than day-tripping from the mainland; the good light is early and late, and the island earns time. Do the Quiraing loop and the Storr early or late to dodge the crowds and catch the low sun. Learn the single-track passing-place etiquette before you drive, and carry midge repellent from June on.