• I did some riding up on Skye when I was up there for a couple of days last year. The roads are/were fairly good and enjoyable if you're experienced. Alas they are narrow in places and winding with confident/incautious locals and either niave or nervous tourists. Be prepared to be patient and prudent.

    We stayed in Dunvegan, which is a quiet but nice place. Dunvegan Castle is worth a mooch and the walk up to the Old Man of Storr is pretty easy. For a brilliant view of the Cuillin Ridge, other than being up there, MacLeods tables are fairly accessible from Dunvegan, a day's walk out and back if you're of moderate fitness.

    We popped into the Dunvegan Hotel on the nights we were there. Not into the restaurant, but the bar underneath. It looks a little rough and ropey but the locals were pretty relaxed, the beer was good and if you're lucky you'll be able to spot porpoises from the terrace, or pool room if it's a bit nippy. The cake shop there is also really good.

    If the Highland Games are on, it'll be worth the couple of quid entry. Go early to get a good view of the Stump and then check the timetable for the heavyweight games and make use of the reentry with purchase.

    I have it on good authority that the Sligachan Hotel can be worth an evening's entertainment and the food is usually decent. Mostly you're there for the climber talk, pictures on the wall, if they still have them and the drinking.

    Just off the bridge is Kyleakin, which has little to recommend it but park up in town and take a walk up to the ruins of Castle Maol. It's not arduous but it would seem that few enough tourists bother, which means that you can enjoy it in peace if you're lucky.

    Yes Talisker is distilled on Skye, but a ride there may be less than rewarding. When in sunny England, Talisker is a fine enough drink, but up in Scotland it's hardly an outstanding dram. Once you've ridden there, you'll pay £5 for the pleasure of a distillery tour that you would be able to get free elsewhere and a taste of the 10 year basic that you already drink at home. Hardly a discount on any of the older/more refined stuff which can often be picked up cheaper duty free at the airport should you want some. Not to malign them, it's a decent Scotch, but you can do better elsewhere and less likely to fall afoul of lots of bookings in the peak season. (I'll admit my bias towards Speysides and South Highlands here). Unless you're a massive fan of Talisker and distillery tours, think twice, even if it's raining (it will be).

    Neist Point lighthouse is a good ride if it's dry.

    At the top of Bradford there's a good cafe and a really good photographer's gallery/shop just up the back road from there.

    Off the Island, if you have a day for it, take the pass from Sheil Bride over to Glenelg. Keep on through the town and head back inland at Eilanreach up to some Iron Age Brochs and a great little cafe run out of a gypsy caravan and a yurt.

    Heading back out of Scotland there's good coffee to be had at the Crafts and Things coffee shop in Glencoe as well as the Clachaig Inn up the road. Finally, if you pass it, and you probably will, stop in at the Green Welly Shop. A very busy tourist stop at Tyndrum, it would be hardly worth the efort but for two things. One, the Real Food Cafe, which is genuinely brilliant and two, get some bottles of Kelpie. It's a beer brewed with seaweed and is really salty. A taster is intriguing but I really wouldn't want to drink a whole bottle. However, add two teaspoons of honey and it sets you up for the best Beef in Beer that I have ever had.

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