r/Skye • u/NoCoatNorthern • 1d ago

Moving to Skye

Hi r/Skye

I have a chance to buy a home on Skye woth my partner, Portree specifically. Looking for a reality/sense check. We'd fully jump in both feet, sell up, relocate full time and the Island would become our new home.

I have a few questions and would appreciate a non-romanticised realistic view.

  1. What's the "community" like in Portree? I've been on holiday, not met many locals, mainly seasonal staff. I'm worried if we moved we'd struggle to make friends/find a community (we gym, enjoy the pub, and would probably become more outdoorsy than we are in the city we currently live in.

  2. How bad is the weather, like i get it's western isles, it's going to be rainy, does Portree get a Summer?

  3. Locals, what's your view on people moving to the island? We'd be incomers but not to buy a house and rent it out to holiday-makers, still we'd be taking a house that a local may have bought. I'd hate for us to relocate and be shunned for want of a better word.

  4. Incomers, what did you under-estimate/wish you knew before relocating?

  5. How busy is tourist season, i've nothing against it, i guess it sustains a lot of jobs but in reality, is Portree "usable" in the height of Summer (pubs/restaurants etc)

The island is stunning, we want a change of pace and both work remotely. Being sociable is important to us though, we dom't want to be stuck in the house because nobody goes out or because it's packed with tourists.

Anything else I haven't considered but should?

TL:DR Maybe moving to Skye (Portree) permenantly, good move or not?

10 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

19

u/Heck13 1d ago

Im born and bred Portree. Theres plenty to do if you get up and do it - gym, running clubs, dog walking club, community events, amateur football etc.

Weather is usually ok in summer. When it’s nice then you can expect temps mid to high 20s and midsummer it doesn’t really get dark. Midges are a pain in the early morning and evenings though. You will get used to them to a certain degree but it’s worth noting as they will prevent you doing BBQs and relaxing in garden on a nice evening.

Last summer was quite wet but that’s not normal - don’t get me wrong, it will rain but we do usually get nice spells as well.

It can be wet and miserable in winter but nothing crazy. I’ll happily go out running in most conditions. That being said, I’m used to it.

Mid winter it’s going to start getting dark after 3 but you get to see the stars and aurora regularly, even from in town. A wee drive north will give you great shows.

Pubs are ok - summer time busy most nights, winter maybe only Saturday nights. Live music can be found most weekends. You won’t get hassle in the pubs.

There is a cinema that shows most of the latest movies pretty much on release.

It’s quite a cosmopolitan town with a mix of all nationalities so you won’t have any issues. There’s the odd idiot but no worse than any other part of the uk. Nobody is really fussed about incomers unless they are getting a free house and benefits but that’s a gripe in most places these days.

Tourist season can get a bit mental on the roads and the town can be busy. You won’t be walking into a restaurant for a meal without booking ahead (or queuing if they don’t do bookings) but it’s not too bad that you can’t do anything. For example Saturday nights they all tend to head back to hotels after 10pm so it’s usually mostly locals in pub until closing.

You will need to add significant time onto driving anywhere and the touristy walking spots are not worth the hassle imo unless you go at the crack of dawn.

In summary it’s a great place to live provided you can get through your first winter and survive the midges 😅

12

u/philomathie 1d ago

Credit for giving a detailed answer. I'm from Dunvegan and we'd usually say that people make or break their experience on Skye not from the summers, but the winters, they can be brutal.

6

u/NoCoatNorthern 1d ago

Thanks for a thorough answer, much appreciated.

It's good to hear, i had a few unvalidated concerns. Great to hear from a local. My main concern was living there but unable to enjoy it in the Summer.

I see there's a rugby team, more my thing than football but glad to know there's plenty going on for locals/non-holidaymakers.

Thanks.

2

u/SimonTheRunner 6h ago

Moved here over 4 years ago, love it, so glad we moved. Like anywhere else, if you arrive with an attitude that the locals are all provincial yokels you'll (justifiably) piss people off. Got asked to go on some Committees, we declined as we'd only been here 5 minutes. Go for it. 👍