11 Best Things to do on the Isle of Skye with Kids

When planning our 3-weeks in Scotland with kids, the Isle of Skye was at the very top of our list of places to see. We had big plans to see a lot of Scotland on our family road trip, but when making our itinerary, we know that we had to spend as much time on the Isle of Skye with kids as possible. During our week-long stay we enjoyed many of the best things to do on the Isle of Skye with kids.

Our list of things to do on the Isle of Skye with kids was long and even with 7 days we didn’t get to all of them. We love hiking, so we spent a lot of time on family-friendly hiking trails on the Isle of Skye. But we also wanted to find really fun things just for the kids.

We left our Isle of Skye family holiday feeling like we had seen the best of the island. We had discovered many fun things to do on the Isle of Skye with our kids, including many exceptional kid-friendly hikes. We hope you will find the list of family-friendly Skye activities below creates a nice, balanced family trip that everyone will enjoy.

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The 11 Best Things to do on the Isle of Skye with Kids

1. The Quiraing Walk with Kids

One of the most beautiful hikes in the world, the Quiraing Walk has views you do not want to miss! It’s hard to describe in words how beautiful the Quiraing hike is. So we’ll just say, if you are able to, add the Quiraing Walk to the very top of your list of things to do on the Isle of Skye with your kids.

Our kids were relatively good hikers at the ages of 6 & 3 years old, so they were easily able to complete the 5.1 miles / 8.2 km that we did on the family-friendly Quiraing walk.

The Quiraing is actually a pretty kid-friendly Isle of Skye hike, with little elevation gain. We just recommend keeping your kids close as there are some steep drop-offs. It’s beautiful experiences like this which make traveling to Europe with kids so rewarding!

2. Old Man of Storr Hike

The Old Man of Storr hike is one of the best hikes on the Isle of Skye and is a must-do! While you can see the famous rock formation from the highway, we highly recommend doing the Old Man of Storr hike with your kids. Our kids loved climbing on the rocks near the top.

The Old Man Storr trail is one of the most popular hikes on the Isle of Skye, we recommend getting there early.

The Old Man of Storr hike starts on a gravel trail wide enough for two people. It starts uphill and stays uphill for basically the whole hike.

The views ahead are great for distracting you from the work your legs are doing. If you need a break on the way up the Old Man of Storr trail, you’ll have incredible scenery in all directions to take in while you catch your breath!

Even coming back down the Old Man of Storr trail, you’ll be rewarded with more stunning views. This really is one of the best hikes on the island; it’s a must-do family hike on the Isle of Skye.

3. The Brother’s Point Hike

If you want more spectacular Isle of Skye scenery without the crowds, you’ll find it on the Brother’s Point hike.

After a short descent through a meadow, there’s a great spot to enjoy the ocean views and let kids explore in the tide pools. We were lucky to hike to Brother’s Point on a sunny day and the color of the water was incredible.

Continue on along the cliffs (stay away from the edge and keep kids close) and up the Brother’s Point trail towards the end of the peninsula. There’s a hill to climb, but it’s more than worth it for the views!

The full round-trip distance of The Brother’s Point hike is 2 miles / 3.2 km.

You can do both the Old Man of Storr and the Brother’s Point hike in the same day. They are very close to each other on Highway A855 and about 25 minutes from Portree.

4. The Isle of Skye Fairy Glen

The Fairy Glen is a magical thing to do with kids on the Isle of Skye. It’s an emerald green wonderland filled with small conical hills with wavy lines running all-around them. This produces a fantasy-like effect leading to the area being given the name, “Fairy Glen”.

Kids will love to run around the Fairy Glen to discover its many treasures. The cone-shaped hills are generally small enough for kids to climb to the top safely and the abundant walking trails will leave your kids thinking this area is endlessly big (even though it’s quite small).

Kids will also love the many sheep grazing in the area, bunnies in the bushes and a large waterfall off in the distance.

The “official” Fairy Glen hiking trail is approximately 1.2 miles / 2 km long, but there are so many fun trails to explore, your distance may be more.

All of the area hiking trails ultimately lead to the two main attractions at the Fairy Glen:

Fairy Glen Spiral

The main attraction here is the large spiral in the ground, which you see in virtually every picture of the Fairy Glen. The spiral rests in the middle of a large grass meadow. Surrounded by all the otherworldly hills and Castle Ewan, the Fairy Glen spiral is quite fun to see.

You will often see pictures of rock spirals at the Fairy Glen, but these are strongly discouraged and locals will come and dismantle them. We didn’t see any rock spirals during our visit in the middle of the summer peak season, so this practice must be coming to an end.

Castle Ewan

Castle Ewan is not actually a castle at all, but a large, flat-topped rock pinnacle looming over the Fairy Glen. It’s possible to climb up to the top of Castle Ewan by walking along a narrow ridge, then a short rock scramble to the top.

The views of the Fairy Glen (and the spiral) from the top of Castle Ewan are worth the slight effort to get up there. It’s pretty small up top, it’s windy and the drops are frightening, so keep hold of your little ones.

The Fairy Glen is on a narrow single lane road, so do yourself a favor and get here early. We arrived at 9:30 am and the small road-side parking lot was nearly full.

We visited the Isle of Skye Fairy Glen with our kids on a day when it was pouring rain and we felt it didn’t hamper the experience at all. The kids loved running around the Fairy Glen and didn’t care about the weather.

There are no vistas on this hike, so the clouds didn’t wreck anything for us. If anything, the gloominess of the day made the place feel even more magical, although, to be fair, I hear it’s also pretty amazing in the sunshine.

The Fairy Glen is one of the best things to do on the Isle of Skye with kids – even in the rain!

5. Dunvegan Castle and Gardens

Let’s get this out of the way first… we are outdoor enthusiasts and not really into castles. But on a day of heavy rain on the Isle of Skye, even we look for something to do indoors with the kids

The Dunvegan Castle sits dramatically on the coastline in the northwest corner of the Isle of Skye. Dunvegan is the oldest continually inhabited castle in Scotland. First built in the 13th century, it took its present form in the 1800’s.

The public are allowed to explore two levels of the Dunvegan Castle. The walls are filled with historical artwork and the rooms with antique furniture and Clan MacLeod artifacts. To be honest, we found it all a bit boring, but at least we were dry.

In an effort to make the Dunvegan Castle a fun thing to do for kids, the castle staff have hidden 16 keys throughout the castle for kids to find. We spent most of our time helping the kids look for the keys, but we only found 3! And that includes the one the greeting lady showed us on the way in – haha!

The search for the Dunvegan Castle hidden keys kept the kids entertained the entire visit, which we are grateful for. At least the greeting lady was still kind enough to give our kids their prizes anyway.

Your entry ticket into the Isle of Skye Dunvegan Castle includes admission to the gardens as well. Spread over 5 acres, these gardens are really quite beautiful with a wide variety of exotic and showy plants and flowers.

On a rainy day, the castle interior will be very busy, so if you need some solitude, come to the Dunvegan gardens where you will likely find yourself alone.

6. Fairy Pools

Another of the most popular kid-friendly hikes on the Isle of Skye is the Fairy Pools.

The Fairy Pools trail is a relatively easy Isle of Skye hike that takes you along the River Brittle. As you walk upstream, you pass waterfall after waterfall. Many of the waterfalls have large pools with brilliant crystal blue water at the base – the “Fairy Pools”.

Not only are the waterfalls and Fairy Pools well worth the hike, the views of the majestic Cuillin mountains provide a stunning backdrop for this Isle of Skye hike!

Again, this is a very popular hike on the Isle of Skye so try to arrive early! Though it does have a large parking lot, so parking will be less of an issue.

The one-way distance from the carpark to the furthest waterfall on the Fairy Pools trail is 1.3 miles / 2 km.

On your way back from the Fairy Pools, there is a large playground just off highway A87 in Sligachan. This Isle of Skye playground is especially fun as it has a small zip-line for the kids.

The zip-line was one of our kid’s favourite things to do on the Isle of Sky and they did it over and over again. It also has traditional playground equipment like swings, slides, tire bridges, etc.

There is a hotel next door where you can buy a coffee. Also be sure to check out the Sligachan Old Bridge just across the street from the playground.

7. Staffin Beach (An Corran)

Our Staffin house rental was just up the road from Staffin Beach. We couldn’t stay that close to an Isle of Skye beach and not go check it out. We’re so glad we did, it was a super fun thing to do with the kids.

Staffin Beach (also called An Corran) has it all including a huge area of black and tan sand with cliffs looming high overhead. It also has a huge rocky area with tons of tide pools for the kids to explore and look for small ocean life.

But the part which makes Staffin Beach one of the best things to do on the Isle of Skye with kids is that it has real dinosaur footprints in it!

These fossilized carnivore dinosaur footprints were created in the Jurassic age around 175 million years ago. There are a series of these dinosaur footprints on Staffin Beach, but they can be hard to find sometimes if they are covered by sand, seaweed or water.

The sign at the top of Staffin Beach shows you where to look. We saw at least one extremely clear dinosaur footprint, and several others which we were pretty sure were footprints. It’s hard to tell for sure, but looking for dinosaur footprints with your kids is half the fun!

8. Duntulm Castle

If you find yourself driving around the Trotternish Peninsula and have a few minutes to kill, check out the ruins of the Duntulm Castle.

It’s a very kid-friendly walk (0.25 mile / 0.4 km one-way) to the castle ruins. The path follows the top of a hill with sheep grazing on both sides of the trail. As with everywhere in Isle of Skye, sheep poop is everywhere, so watch your step.

The Duntulm Castle was built around the 14-15th centuries during the ongoing feuds between the MacLeod and MacDonald clans. It was abandoned in the 1700’s when a new MacDonald residence was built nearby using many of the stones from Duntulm Castle, which now lies in ruins.

There are still a few remnants of walls at this ruined Isle of Skye castle, but the ruin site is pretty small. There is a fence around Duntulm Castle with a sign warning you not to go in due to concerns about the stability of the area.

Our kids were disappointed not to explore the ruins of the castle, but we respected the warming sign and stayed out.

The ocean vistas from Duntulm Castle are pretty amazing too – keep an eye out for Minke Whales who can apparently be seen from shore while they are in the area between July – September.

9. Wildlife Boat Cruise with Puffins!

The Isle of Skye is blessed with a natural beauty that takes your breath away at every turn. It is also home to a wide variety of marine life, so a great way to combine these two elements is an Isle of Skye wildlife boat cruise.

We booked our Isle of Skye wildlife watching boat tour with Skye Cruises, as they offer the chance to see a colony of puffins, which we have always wanted to see. The 3-hour puffin tour departs from Uig and circumnavigates Loch Snizort.

Skye Cruises has an excellent boat for wildlife viewing with a maximum of 12 passengers, so there is plenty of room for everyone to get a good view

You never know what you’ll get to see on any wildlife expedition. We were pretty lucky on our Isle of Skye boat tour with sightings of sea eagles, several colonies of harbour and grey seals and of course, the main attraction – the colony of puffins on the Ascrib Islands.

The Isle of Skye puffins are really cute and much smaller than I’d expected. There is a healthy population of puffins here and the captain gives you lots of time to watch them and take plenty of pictures. Our kids loved the cute little puffins!!

Other Isle of Skye marine residents, which we unfortunately didn’t get to see on our trip, include minke whales and dolphins.

Even without the puffins, eagles and seals, we were grateful to have the opportunity to see the beauty of the Isle of Skye from the water. This is such a beautiful land with its towering cliffs, caves, forests and endless pastures of sheep.

10. Lealt Falls

Lealt Falls is a very popular roadside attraction 22 minutes north of Portree. There are two parking lots for the Lealt Falls, including a roadside one and an upper one.

The trail from the upper Lealt Falls parking lot leads to a viewpoint of the ruins of an old oceanfront tower. The tower is mostly gone now, but the views of the ocean (Sound of Raasay) and the mountainous islands beyond are quite good.

There are four picnic tables in the upper Lealt Falls parking lot if you are looking for a place to have lunch.

The trail from the lower parking lot goes to the Lealt Falls. There is a very short walk to a viewing platform which gives an excellent view of the beautiful waterfalls. The Lealt Falls are actually three separate waterfalls flowing into the same river valley, which flows into the ocean.

The Lealt Falls are quite beautiful and they are a fun thing to do on the Isle of Skye with children.

11. Mealt Falls and Kilt Rock

Mealt Falls and Kilt Rock are also very popular things to do on the Isle of Skye with kids. Conveniently, these roadside attractions can be seen from the same viewing area. Plus, they are 6 minutes north of Lealt Falls, making them easy to see on the same outing.

Mealt Falls is a beautiful, single stream waterfall which flows from the top of a cliff directly into the ocean below. You can get really close to the top of the Mealt Falls from the viewing area. Look in the parking area for the small loch and river that flow into the Mealt Falls.

Off in the distance, beyond Mealt Falls is Kilt Rock, a 300 foot tall (90 m) cliff which oddly resembles a Scottish Kilt!

As with Lealt Falls, this is a fun little thing to do in the Isle of Skye with children.

7-Day Isle of Skye Itinerary for Families

Based on our amazing family trip, here is our 7 Day itinerary for the Isle of Skye with Kids.

Day 1 – Driving from Fort William

Arrive late afternoon. We grabbed groceries in Portree and checked-in to our rental house in Staffin. Since we had already completed the Falls of Glomach hike half way through our drive to Isle of Skye, we didn’t feel the need to do anything else.

Day 2 – Old Man of Storr and Brother’s Point Hikes

The weather forecast was good so we planned to do two of the best Isle of Skye hikes right away: Old Man of Storr hike and the Brother’s Point hike. If we learned anything during our family road trip in Scotland, it’s to take advantage of every day that it’s not raining!

Our visit to Columba 1400 in Staffin for a coffee and treats was the perfect way to end a beautiful day of hiking!

Day 3 – Fairy Pools

Making sure we checked off the best things to do on Isle of Skye with kids early in our trip, we drove out to the Fairy Pools. Afterwards we stopped at the playground in Sligachan and finished up our day on Staffin Beach.

Day 4 – Puffin Watching Tour

We couldn’t visit the Isle of Skye with our kids and not get out on the water. Our boat cruise to see puffins was in the afternoon, so we stopped at Duntulm Castle along the way followed by Sheiling & Ella’s Café in Uig.

Day 5 – Quiraing Hike

Again, taking advantage of a beautiful Isle of Skye day without rain, we left early in the morning to do the Quiraing hike with our kids. Afterwards, we stopped at Columba 1400 again for coffee and delicious treats.

We ended the day by playing on Staffin Beach.

Day 6 – Fairy Glen and Dunvegan Castle

It was pouring rain, but we still wanted to see the Fairy Glen with our kids. After being soaked through and wanting an indoor activity, we finished our day at Dunvegan Castle and Gardens.

Day 7 – Roadside Attractions and Departure

We spent our last morning on Isle of Skye with kids visiting several roadside attractions near our rental house. We stopped at Mealt Falls, Lealt Falls, Kilt Rock and snuck in a portion of the Fingal’s Pinnacles hike.

We sadly left the Isle of Skye with our kids in the afternoon to continue our family trip to Scotland with 3-days in Edinburgh with kids.

Shorter Isle of Skye Itinerary Options for Families

If you have less time for your trip to the Isle of Skye with kids, we’d recommend skipping the Fingal’s Pinnacles hike we did and adding the rest of Day 7 to either your arrival day or the end of another day.

We drove past Mealt Falls, Lealt Falls, and Kilt Rock many times, and each stop took very little time, so they would have been easy to add to another day. We saved them for our last day simply because we didn’t have much else planned. We also visited them first thing in the morning so we wouldn’t have to search for parking spots.

Where to Stay on the Isle of Skye with Kids

The places to stay on the Isle of Skye come in all varieties: from hotels to vacation rentals to glamping cabins.

We prefer to stay in vacation rentals with our kids. We get separate bedrooms, a kitchen, laundry and plenty of space. Having a kitchen allows us to prepare meals to eat healthy and help with our travel budget. It was a great way to help save money on our Scotland family vacation.

We knew we wanted to stay close to Portree while on the Isle of Skye. This would allow us to easily get groceries for our vacation rental throughout the week.

We found a great rental house near Staffin. It was quiet and had two bedrooms. We also had an incredible view.

Though we felt Staffin was a little far for some of the Isle of Skye attractions, it was close to a large cluster of the Isle of Skye hikes we wanted to do. The close proximity to these popular Isle of Skye hiking trails allowed us to be there before the crowds in the morning.

There are plenty of family-friendly vacation rentals on Isle of Skye. To help you find one, we’ve written an article on tips for finding a kid-friendly Airbnb.

If you’d prefer to stay in a family-friendly Isle of Skye hotel, we recommend using Booking’s Top Picks for Families search filter. We use Booking regularly to find good family hotels on our trips.

Getting to the Isle of Skye

Our Scotland family vacation took us from Fort William with kids up to the Isle of Skye. The drive in our rental car from Fort William to our Isle of Skye house rental was 3.5 hours, but it was a beautiful and very scenic drive.

As it was a long drive, we broke up the drive to the Isle of Skye with an easy and very scenic hike at the mid-way point. We did the easy portion of the beautiful Falls of Glomach trail near Morvich. We really enjoyed the scenery walking alongside a river at the bottom of a valley bottom, with the Scottish Highlands all-around.

After our short hike, we had lunch at a nearby pub then continued on our way. We stopped briefly for a picture of the Eilean Donan Castle before crossing the Skye Bridge onto the Isle of Skye.

Driving on the Isle of Skye

Driving on the Isle of Skye was fairly easy, once we were used to driving our rental car on the left. If your Scotland road trip includes driving on the Isle of Skye, here are two things to be aware of:

There are sheep everywhere on the Isle of Skye and can often be found walking along the road or crossing. Drive defensively with caution.

A lot of the Isle of Skye has singletrack roads, meaning the road is only wide enough for one car. There are plenty of passing zones, that are wide enough for two cars. At times you may need to reverse to the closest passing zone to let a vehicle by. We found getting out early in the morning made driving much easier with less traffic!

Where to Eat on the Isle of Skye with Kids

We made most of our meals at our Isle of Skye house rental, but there was one place we ate at which we really enjoyed:

Columba 1400 – Staffin

If you are looking for a place to relax and eat after a great hike, there is a small café just north in Staffin called Columba 1400, which is a charitable organization helping kids stay on track.

We went to Columba 1400 for a post-hike reward and loved their baked goods, especially their millionaire squares! Columba 1400 has huge windows with great views and are open for lunch and dinner.

We came to Columba 1400 a second time to reward the kids for some great hiking on Old Man of Storr and the Quiraing Walk.

We hope you enjoyed reading about our family trip and all the amazing things to do on the Isle of Skye with kids!

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