Portree: Skye’s Colourful Capital — the Harbour, the Headland Walk & the King’s Port

A rainbow over the colourful houses and boats of Portree harbour, Skye. — Portree harbour under a rainbow — the colourful capital of Skye and the hub of the whole island.

Overview — the honest take

Portree is the capital of Skye, and just about everyone’s base for the island — but it’s a genuinely lovely wee town in its own right, not just somewhere to sleep and shop. Its famous row of colour-washed houses curves round a sheltered harbour ringed by hills, and there’s a cracking headland walk straight from the quay. We caught it under a rainbow, which is about the most Skye welcome you could ask for.

Where it is & the name

Portree sits on a deep, sheltered bay on the east coast of Skye, roughly in the middle of the island and the meeting point of all its roads — north to Trotternish, west to Dunvegan, south to the bridge. Its name comes from the Gaelic “Port Rìgh” — the King’s Port — after a visit by King James V in 1540, who sailed here with a fleet to overawe the island chiefs.

The harbour & the painted houses

The row of brightly painted houses along Portree harbour. — The famous painted row along the harbour front.

The heart of Portree is its harbour, where fishing and tour boats bob below a curving terrace of brightly painted houses — the picture you’ve seen on a thousand postcards, and lovelier still in the flesh. Boat trips run from here out to the Sound of Raasay to look for seals, eagles and other wildlife, and it’s a fine spot simply to sit with a coffee and watch the water.

Boats in Portree harbour under a rainbow. — Boats and a rainbow in the bay.

The Scorrybreac headland walk

The shore of Portree bay with Lillie the dog. — The shore below the town — the headland walk starts right from the harbour.

One of the best things to do in Portree costs nothing: the Scorrybreac Circuit. From the far end of the harbour a path slips round the headland below the cliffs — the old lands of the MacNicols — on an easy loop of a couple of miles, with grand views back over the painted harbour, out to Raasay, and north towards the Old Man of Storr. It’s a lovely leg-stretch straight from the town, and just the thing after a day’s driving. There’s more gentle walking up on The Lump, the wooded knoll above the harbour with its little tower.

The town

A white church in Portree, Skye. — Around Somerled Square and the town above the harbour.

Up the hill from the water, Somerled Square and the surrounding streets hold the shops, banks, pubs and cafés that make Portree the practical hub of Skye — the place to fuel up, stock up and plan the next day. It was here, at what’s now the Royal Hotel, that Bonnie Prince Charlie said his final farewell to Flora MacDonald in 1746 before fleeing the island for good.

Coffee in a cafe in Portree. — A coffee stop in town — well earned.

Nearby

Staffin & the Quiraing — the Trotternish wonders, north up the coast.
Kilmuir — the Museum of Island Life and Flora MacDonald’s grave.
Talisker and Dunvegan Castle — whisky and the MacLeod stronghold, west across the island.

Sources

Wikishire and Walkhighlands (the King’s Port, the harbour, the Scorrybreac walk).
Everything first-hand is from our own stay in Portree.