The famous cliff shot
From the cliff top to the right of the car park, not the lighthouse path, the whole headland and lighthouse line up after a ten-minute walk over rough ground.
JoachimKohler-HB — CC BY-SA 4.0 · JoachimKohler-HB — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Nessy-Pic — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Nick Mutton — CC BY-SA 2.0
The photograph you already know of Neist Point is not taken from the lighthouse path at all. From the car park at the end of the single-track road, walk about ten minutes to the right along the cliff top, over rough and often boggy ground, and the whole composition opens up: a green wedge of basalt driving into the Minch, the white lighthouse a speck at its tip, the Outer Hebrides lined up on the horizon. This is the westernmost point of Skye, on the Duirinish peninsula, and most visitors troop down the steps to the lighthouse before realising the famous shot was above their heads the whole time. The walk to the lighthouse is still worth it if your knees agree. A concrete path with steps and handrails drops steeply down the cliff and then runs along the neck of the headland: about 2.2 km there and back, 45 minutes without stops, and a genuinely hard pull back up. The lighthouse was designed by David Alan Stevenson of the great Scottish lighthouse dynasty and first lit on 1 November 1909; the tower is 19 m high, the light sits 43 m above the sea, and it has run automatically since 1990. There is no admission to the tower and the old keepers' cottages are private, so the point is the walk and the view, not the building. Pushchairs are out of the question, the edges are unfenced, so hold small hands, and in strong wind or mist stay near the car park. Getting here is half the outing: roughly an hour by car from Portree (about 50 km), half an hour from Dunvegan towards Glendale and then a long single-track road where you pull in to let oncoming cars pass. The car park is small and fills by midday in July and August, with overflow bays along the roadside before it. There are no facilities whatsoever, no toilets and no café, so deal with that in Dunvegan or Glendale. The site is free and open around the clock, and parking is free as well. This is Skye's classic sunset stop, which in summer means a late night: the sun goes down around 22:30 at midsummer and close to 22:00 in mid-July, and people sit along the edge in jackets waiting for it. In the warmer months watch the water: whales, dolphins and basking sharks are seen offshore here in summer, and gannets dive beyond the rocks. In winter the light is gone by around 16:00 and the wind is merciless, but the point stays open and nearly empty.
From the cliff top to the right of the car park, not the lighthouse path, the whole headland and lighthouse line up after a ten-minute walk over rough ground.
A 19 m white tower designed by David Alan Stevenson and lit in 1909, reached by a steep concrete stairway and a genuinely hard climb back.
Skye's best-known sunset spot, with the sun setting around 22:30 at midsummer and a fair chance of whales, dolphins and basking sharks offshore.
Waterstein, Glendale, Isle of Skye IV55 8WT
If time or legs are limited, stop at the cliff top to the right of the car park: that is where the famous view is, not at the lighthouse. The descent is 2.2 km return on steep steps with a tiring climb back, and the lighthouse itself is closed to visitors, so the reward is the walk and being close to the sea, not a building you go inside.
The view from around the car park suits everyone, but the cliff-top viewpoint is rough, often boggy ground with unfenced edges, and the lighthouse path is no place for a pushchair, so children under seven or eight need a hand held the whole way. In strong wind or mist, do not go down with children at all.