Portree on the Isle of Skye has been named Scotland's best seaside town, but one travel journalist found it uninspiring despite the West Coast's abundant beauty. The town, which sits on the east coast of Skye, was ranked the UK's second best seaside town by Love Exploring, and Scotland's number one.
A journalist's disappointment with Portree
Milo Boyd, Deputy Travel Editor and Commercial Writer, first visited Portree as a child, having taken the Glenelg-Skye turntable ferry over Loch Alsh and driven up the east of the island. He returned three years ago for a second stop in the town and felt the same as he did then.
"A distinct Sunday afternoon mood fell over me," he wrote. He cited the mizzle that pervades the streets and the seasonal nature of the town of 3,000, which can leave March visitors wondering why restaurants and shops are shut.
Why the West Coast outshines Portree
Boyd, who has spent over a year of his 34 years in Scotland's westerly mountains, praised other destinations in the area. He described the village of Glenelg as "impossibly peaceful and beautiful," tucked away behind the Mam Ratagan Pass, and Sandaig, a beach of pure white sand and bubbling scallops that inspired Gavin Maxwell to write 'Ring of Bright Water'.
He also recommended the West Highlands Line, a rail route once crowned the world's most beautiful, which takes passengers across moors, round lochs and through mountain passes.
A middling town overwhelmed in summer
Boyd felt Portree was "a little middling" by comparison, particularly in summer when it becomes overwhelmed. He noted that Skye in general was choked with tourists, with roads laden with campervans and the path up The Storr single-file.
Despite his ire, he acknowledged he is clearly in the minority. The town is regularly referred to as Scotland's most beautiful, with chocolate box houses, pubs, restaurants, cafes, a cinema, a candle studio and a long-running Highland Games in August. "For me, something slightly indefinable but undeniably present," he concluded.
