Cycling & Camping on Skye : Edinbane – Neist Point – Dunvegan was the third day of five days cycling on my seven day trip to Skye. I travelled to and from Skye on days one and seven.
The trip took place between Wed. 7 Jun. 2023 and Tues, 13 Jun. 2023.
I cycled this route on Sat, !0 June 2023.
In all my previous cycling tours in Scotland I had used hotels and B & B’s as a place to stay at night time. However, Skye is extremely popular with tourists so I was unable to get the bookings I needed for this tour.
Therefore I had planned the route to cycle from campsite to campsite around Skye.
Cycling & Camping on Skye : Edinbane - Neist Point - Dunvegan
- Route Map
Cycling & Camping on Skye : Edinbane - Neist Point - Dunvegan
- My Timings & Distances
Left Edinbane campsite 9.35 / Cut-off to A863 (B884) (before reaching Dunvegan) 10.45 (7.45) / Glendale (lunch) 12.35 – 1.15 (18.48) / Neist Point 1.50 (21.99) / Walked to Lighthouse 2.05 – 2.35 / Walked back 2.50 – 3.25 / Kinloch campsite 4.50 (32.25) / Checked in, pitched tent, etc. to 5.40 / cycled to Dunvegan village for a meal 5.55 / back at campsite 7.15 (33.10).
Cycling & Camping on Skye : Edinbane - Neist Point - Dunvegan
- Log
In the morning at the Edinbane campsite I had got up quite early intending to get an early start.
However, I was delayed a bit in leaving when another camper came over to talk to me. He was an English guy and he was travelling around Skye in a small electric car. He had a Brompton folding bike in the back of the car and he was cycling from each campsite he drove to. We chatted for about 15 minutes.
Then an older Dutch guy stopped to talk to me. He was in a large motorhome in a pitch overlooking my tent. He said he had seen me pitching my tent, etc. and he seemed impressed that I was still cycling and camping at my age!
I eventually left the campsite at 9.35.
It was another very warm, sunny day.
Edinbane - Glendale
I cycled along in the lovely, warm sunshine until I reached a road sign a good bit before Dunvegan. The road sign stated A863 (B884) to the left. As I knew that the B884 led to Neist Point I turned left into this road rather than cycling on into Dunvegan.
I followed this road until it eventually reached a main road. It wasn’t signposted so I just continued cycling to the left. After a short distance I stopped and asked for directions from two guys who were working on a roof. It turned out that I was cycling in the wrong direction!
I turned back and cycled along and soon saw a road sign confirming that I was on the A863. This is the road where the cut-off to the B884 to Neist Point is. I cycled along until I reached this cut-off and then turned left into it.
Further along the B884 I saw a sign for the Kinloch campsite where I was booked in for tonight. I cycled past this as I wasn’t going to the campsite until I returned from Neist Point.
I continued cycling along the B884 road which became increasingly hilly, culminating in a 16% climb.
Later on I saw a sign for Cafe Lephin in the village of Glendale, so I planned to stop there for lunch.
Glendale
However, when I got to Glendale the cafe was closed! A local farmer I spoke to said the cafe was closed because they couldn’t get staff. He told me, though, that the very well stocked village store sold sandwiches. I went over to the store and bought sandwiches, juice & cakes.
I took my lunch provisions back to the cafe and sat at one of the picnic tables outside it to have my lunch in the lovely sunshine. A little later an American couple from Denver came and sat at the next table and we chatted away for a while.
There is a plaque in Glendale that commemorates a piece of it’s history.
Glendale - Neist Point Lighthouse
After lunch I continued cycling along whilst admiring the fine views out to sea.
Eventually I reached the Neist Point Lighthouse. As expected it was very busy with tourists. I chained my bike up to a metal post at the car park so that I could walk around for a while.
I walked down the very steep concrete steps that led down to the headland leading to the lighthouse. It was still sunny and very warm, and at the lighthouse there were fine views out to sea and over the rocky cliffs. I walked around the lighthouse and the cliffs for a while enjoying the sunshine and the views.
In the field next to the lighthouse it had obviously become the custom for visitors to erect small stone cairns.
I then walked back along the headland and then up the steep concrete steps in the blistering heat, and returned to the car park to collect my bike.
Neist Point Lighthouse - Dunvegan
I cycled back on the B884 road until I came to the sign for the Kinloch campsite. Here I turned left and continued along the side road to the campsite.
I checked in and pitched my tent only, leaving my panniers inside the tent. I then cycled down to Dunvegan village to get a meal.
The first restaurant I tried, The Old School House, was full but I got a table in the second one, Atholl House.
After dinner I cycled back to the campsite where the first thing I did was to take my e-bike battery and my iPhone down to the old red phone box that had been converted to a charging point for electronic devices. I left them there to charge until later at night.
Then I went for a shower. I then unpacked my panniers, blew up my mattress and pillow, unpacked my sleeping bag and organised my tent, etc.
The pitch I had been allocated was on a slightly raised spot. This provided good views over Dunvegan village and Loch Dunvegan. It was also under a couple of trees that provided good shelter from the rain that was forecast for that night.
