Portree

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Although referred to by the locals as "the village", PORTREE is the only real town on Skye. It's also one of the most attractive fishing ports in northwest Scotland, its deep cliff-edged harbour filled with fishing boats and circled by multicoloured restaurants and guest houses. The harbour is overlooked by The Lump, a steep and stumpy peninsula with a flagpole on it that was once the site of public hangings on the island, attracting crowds of up to five thousand; it also sports a folly built by the celebrated Dr Ban, a visionary who wanted to make Portree into a second Oban. Up above the harbour is the spick-and-span town centre, spreading out from Somerled Square, built in the late eighteenth century as the island's administrative and commercial centre, and now housing the bus station and car park. The Royal Hotel on Bank Street occupies the site of the McNab's Inn where Bonnie Prince Charlie took leave of Flora MacDonald, and where, 27 years later, Boswell and Johnson had "a very good dinner, porter, port and punch".

A mile or so out of town on the Sligachan road is one of Skye's most successful tourist attractions, the Aros Centre (daily 9am-6pm; open later in summer). Here, you can enjoy the dramatic Aros Experience (£3), an unsentimental presentation of episodes of the island's history, with stunning life-size figures and special effects, ending with an audiovisual show. If it's fine, there are waymarked forest walks and a Gaelic alphabet trail starting just outside. For a view of the contemporary visual art scene, it's well worth seeking out An Tuireann Arts Centre, housed in a converted fever hospital on the Struan road (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm; free), which puts on exhibitions, stages concerts, and has an excellent small café where even the counter is a work of art, with an imaginative range of food on offer (Easter-Oct).

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