Portree on the Isle of Skye has been named the UK's second best seaside town and Scotland's number one by Love Exploring. But one travel writer who has visited twice says he won't be going back again.
A town with many fans
Love Exploring described Portree as a "beautiful and bustling port" that is a hit with families thanks to activities such as pony-trekking and boat cruising. Set around a natural harbour and flanked by high cliffs, it has a pier designed by Thomas Telford and is a popular base for exploring the island, including rock formations such as the Old Man of Storr and the Quiraing.
The town is often hailed as Scotland's most picturesque, with picture-postcard houses, pubs, restaurants, cafes, a cinema, a candle studio and a long-running Highland Games each August.
Why one visitor was underwhelmed
Milo Boyd, Deputy Travel Editor, first visited Portree as a child after crossing Loch Alsh on the Glenelg-Skye turntable ferry and driving up the east side of the island. He returned three years ago and felt the same strange Sunday afternoon gloom on both visits.
He attributes the feeling to the constant drizzle, the seasonal nature of a town of 3,000 people that can leave March visitors baffled by shuttered restaurants and shops, and the size. In summer, he says, the town is swamped, with roads packed with campervans and the path up The Storr reduced to single file.
Remote alternatives
By comparison, Portree feels fairly unremarkable, he writes. A short drive and ferry ride away lies Raasay, a sparsely populated island with spectacular scenery famously explored by Samuel Johnson and James Boswell. Further north, Lewis is home to what has been called the UK's most underrated beach, an exceptionally beautiful place with bitterly cold water and almost no visitors.
Despite his reservations, Boyd acknowledges he is clearly in the minority, as countless visitors have been charmed by the town.
