Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye, Scotland

The Fairy Pools Car Park Fills Before 9am on Summer Saturdays. This Is Not a Hidden Gem.

The Fairy Pools are real and genuinely beautiful: a series of clear rock pools below the Black Cuillin at Glenbrittle, fed by streams descending from the mountains, coloured a striking green-blue in good light, connected by small falls and underwater arches. Photographs of the place circulate widely on travel sites, which is why the narrow glen now receives visitor numbers it was never designed to handle.

Knowing this in advance means you can plan around it. The car park on the Glenbrittle road fills before 9am on busy summer weekends, with cars queueing along the verge. The path from the car park to the main pools takes 20 to 25 minutes one way on uneven, frequently muddy terrain. In peak season you may wait for groups to clear the best viewpoints.

Early morning before 8am in late spring or early autumn is the sweet spot. September is particularly good: the midges (the tiny biting insects that make Skye summers miserable from June onward) are largely gone, the light is lower and more golden, the heather is still purple, and visitor numbers drop sharply after schools return. An October visit can give you the pools almost entirely to yourself.

Summer solstice period (mid-June to July) is the worst for crowds and midges simultaneously. If you must visit then, arrive before 7:30am and carry Smidge midge repellent – it outperforms generic DEET products against Scottish midges specifically.

The Walk and What You See

The path follows the River Brittle upstream from the car park. The lower pools are smaller; the upper pools (Pool 7 and above) require more walking and see fewer people. The setting above the treeline with the Cuillin peaks directly overhead is considerably more dramatic than the lower pools that most visitors photograph and leave.

The underwater arches connecting pools are the detail most visitors miss. In clear conditions and with polarised sunglasses to cut surface glare, you can see through the water to the submerged passages between pools. Some swimmers dive through the arches; this requires confidence in cold water (around 10 degrees Celsius year-round), the sense to check depth first, and willingness to be briefly underwater without full visibility.

Swimming is permitted. A wetsuit extends comfortable time considerably. Currents during heavy rain can be stronger than they appear.

Getting There and Staying

No public transport reaches the car park; you need a car or taxi. The car park is managed by the Glenbrittle campsite and charges a fee (around GBP 5). From Portree, allow about 45 minutes.

The Old Inn at Carbost is five minutes from the Fairy Pools car park and serves reliable local seafood and pub food. It also sits beside the Talisker Distillery, so a post-walk dram is available. The Three Chimneys at Colbost is the island’s celebrated restaurant, Michelin-recommended, requiring weeks of advance booking; the lunch menu is the more accessible option.

Glenbrittle Campsite is the closest accommodation to the pools. Sligachan Hotel at the crossroads below the Cuillins is the traditional climbers’ base.