Isle of Skye Map for Tour Travellers
Skye is bigger than it looks on a map of Scotland, and its sights sit on separate peninsulas with long roads between them. No tour reaches them all in a day. Here is where each stop is, which part of the island it sits in, and where the Isle of Skye tours begin.
The parts of the island
Skye is a ragged island of peninsulas, each with its own road. Knowing which one a sight sits on tells you how far it is from the next. Portree, the main town, sits in the middle on the east coast, and most routes pass through it.
Trotternish runs north from Portree, and it holds the Old Man of Storr, Kilt Rock and the Quiraing. Minginish lies west of the Cuillin mountains, with the Fairy Pools and Talisker Distillery. Duirinish is the far north-west, with Neist Point and Dunvegan Castle. Sleat is the southern arm, where the Armadale ferry lands.
| Part of Skye | Stops the tours name | Nearest town |
|---|---|---|
| Trotternish, the north | Old Man of Storr, Lealt Falls, Kilt Rock, Quiraing, Fairy Glen, Duntulm Castle, An Corran beach | Portree, Uig, Staffin |
| Minginish, west of the Cuillin | Fairy Pools, Talisker Distillery | Carbost |
| The centre | Sligachan, Portree harbour | Portree |
| Duirinish and Dunvegan, the north-west | Neist Point, Dunvegan Castle | Dunvegan |
| Bracadale, the west | Dun Beag | Struan |
| Strathaird, the south | Loch Coruisk by boat from Elgol | Elgol |
| The south-east | Kyleakin, Broadford, the Skye Bridge | Broadford |
| Sleat, the far south | Armadale ferry pier | Armadale |
Trotternish: the loop most tours drive
Most day tours drive a loop of Trotternish. From Portree the road runs north up the east coast past the Old Man of Storr, about 7 miles out. Lealt Falls and Kilt Rock follow, then Staffin and the road over the Quiraing. Some tours carry on round the top to Duntulm Castle and the Fairy Glen above Uig, then return down the west side.
If your tour stops at every sight on this loop, you will not have long at any of them. A day from Inverness usually gives Trotternish one afternoon.
The west: the Fairy Pools, Dunvegan and Neist Point
From Sligachan, a road runs west into Minginish for the Fairy Pools and Talisker, and another runs north-west to Dunvegan. Neist Point is at the end of the Dunvegan road, far out on the west coast. A tour that goes west usually skips Trotternish, and one that goes north skips the west.
That is why the Fairy Pools days and the Trotternish days are different tours. Pick the side of the island you care about most, and choose a tour that spends its time there. The private tours can do both, if you have the hours.
The south: the bridge, Broadford and the ferry
Everything in the south-east is on the way in. The Skye Bridge lands at Kyleakin, and the road runs on through Broadford to Sligachan. Some tours stop at Kyleakin or Broadford for fifteen minutes to an hour. Elgol, for the boats to Loch Coruisk, is at the end of a side road from Broadford.
The Armadale ferry lands in Sleat, further south, and joins the main road near Broadford. Eilean Donan is not on Skye at all: it sits on the mainland at Dornie, just before the bridge.
Where the tours start
Your tour starts in one of four towns, and only Portree is on the island. The start town decides how much of your day is road.
| Start town | Where it is | Tours from there |
|---|---|---|
| Inverness | The Highland capital, east of Skye at the end of Loch Ness | Day tours, the 2-day and 3-day tours, private days |
| Edinburgh | The capital, far to the south-east | 3- to 6-day tours |
| Glasgow | The south-west, on the road north by Loch Lomond | The Timberbush 3-day and the Macleod private tours |
| Portree | On Skye, the island's main town | The Tartan Trailblazer day and two private days |
Inside each town, the operators meet at different kerbs. Read the address in your confirmation, not the pin on a map. Every meeting point, with its street address and check-in time, is in the visitor guide.
Map of the Isle of Skye
The Isle of Skye
From the Skye
Bridge in the south-east to Trotternish in the north
The map loads from Google only when you press the button, so nothing is requested before you ask. Portree is on the east coast in the middle; Trotternish runs north from it; the bridge is in the south-east.
Questions about the map
How far is the Old Man of Storr from Portree?
Where is Eilean Donan on the map?
Which part of Skye has the most tour stops?
Where do the day tours from Inverness meet?
Where these facts come from
The distance to the Storr is from The Storr's own site, checked 21 September 2026. The ferry ports are CalMac's. Every stop and every start town is from the listing that sells the tour, captured 20 September 2026.
Next: read about each stop on what to see, the crossings on getting to Skye, or compare every tour on Isle of Skye Day Tours.