Cycling & Camping on Skye : Glenbrittle – Struan – Portree was the fifth 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 Mon., 12 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 : Glenbrittle - Struan - Portree
- Route Map
Cycling & Camping on Skye : Glenbrittle - Struan - Portree
- My Timings & Distances
Left Glenbrittle campsite 9.45 / Fairy Pools 10.20 – 11.25 (3.92) / Back at A863 road 12.15 (10.09) / Struan 1.05 (18.52) / Rested until 1.50 / Left Struan 1.55 / Cut-off for B955 road to Portree 2.00 (19.43) / Portree 3.30 (29.90) / Portree campsite 3.50 (31.34) / Checked in, had tea then pitched tent, etc. to 5.00 / Cycled back to Portree for a meal / Returned to campsite at 7.10 (33.58).
Cycling & Camping on Skye : Glenbrittle - Struan - Portree
- Log
It was a beautiful, warm sunny morning right from the start. I therefore took my time having breakfast whilst enjoying the crystal clear views over the beach and out to sea. There were also fantastic views of the Cuillin mountains at the back of the campsite.
I also took my time dismantling the tent and packing my bags. Consequently I didn’t leave the campsite until 9.45 despite getting up just before 7.00 a.m.
Glenbrittle - Fairy Pools
Yesterday I had just cycled past the Fairy Pools as I wanted to get to the campsite to get a tent pitch. So today I planned to stop at the Fairy Pools and spend some time there.
The road from the campsite to the Fairy Pools started off downhill for a while. Then there was the long, steep stretch back up to the car park.
At the car park I chained my bike to a railing on the road so that I could spend some time walking down to the Fairy Pools.
The well constructed path to the Fairy Pools went down steeply at first.
There were then a series of several pools and small waterfalls at the side of the path. Some of the pools were large enough for people who had come prepared with swimsuits to plunge into them and do some swimming.
The path levelled off and then started climbing up to the top of the pass.
I continued walking up the path until just before 11.00 o’clock by which time I was nearly at the top of the pass. I decided to turn round then as I was a bit tired. Mainly, though, I was watching the time as I had planned to to get to an inn I had seen advertised on the way up yesterday by noon for lunch.
Fairy Pools - Struan
After I left the Fairy Pools I cycled down the busy narrow road back to the junction with the B8009 road. It was at this point that I had seen the sign for the inn on the way up yesterday.
It turned out, though, that the inn was in Carbost, and it was to the left up a hill for about a mile. This was in the opposite direction from the way I was going so I just turned right onto the B8009.
As I cycled along this road there were fine views down over Loch Harport.
There was a large, modern cafe further down this road but it was only open Wed. – Sun.
I therefore decided just to cycle back to the Bog Myrtle Cafe in Struan for lunch. It is only about a mile past the turn-off at Bracadale for Portree.
What a disappointment when I got there only to find that it was closed! The village shop was also closed so I couldn’t get sandwiches & juice. I just had to eat two of the choc bars that I carried with me and drink some water for lunch.
It was still a beautiful, warm sunny day so I made the most of it and lay back on the grass against a wall and soaked up the very warm sunshine.
Struan - Portree
After my choc bar lunch and rest I cycled back along and turned left onto the B885 road that leads back to Portree. It was a joy to cycle on this single track road as there was very little traffic on it. This was unlike the single track road that leads down from the Fairy Pools. On that road there were groups of vehicles going both up and down frequently.
The B885 road was also fairly flat at first. It then started to climb gently until it reached the top of the Moulin Moor. After that it was mostly a welcome descent down to Portree.
When I got back to Portree it was only 3.30 so I cycled through the town centre and then up the long steep hill for over a mile to the Portree campsite.
After checking in I chose my pitch and then, before pitching my tent, I made a cup of tea and laid back to soak up some warm sunshine again.
After pitching my tent and organising my bags, etc. I cycled down to Portree to get a meal.
In Portree all the restaurants were really busy, some with queues outside. However, I eventually managed to get a table in the Portree Hotel in the village square. In the hotel they kindly allowed me to bring my bike in and leave it at reception.
After dinner I sat at a bench in the village square for a while in the warm evening sunshine.
