Kyle of Lochalsh
This village is on the mainland and not actually part of Skye but since the bridge tolls stopped the communities have grown together. The great many services and shops in Kyle of Lochalsh are quite well organised and a large number of varied outlets fit into a geographically small area. That plus the banks, post office and health centre mean the people of Skye make the journey over the bridge with regularity. Parking can be a problem although there are lots of spaces around the seafront. There is a one way system which can catch visitors unawares but if in doubt repeatedly turning right is usually effective.
Kyle, as it is known, has fantastic public transport links, busses from here go all over Skye and to Inverness, Fort William, Glasgow and Edinburgh. The rail link to Inverness, one of the country’s most beautiful train journeys, has been many times threatened with closure but is now defended by the community organisation “the friends of the Kyle line”. There is a visitor’s centre at the railway station.
Community effort has also been successful in securing the Lochalsh Leisure Centre and, more recently the magnificent pirate ship playpark next to it! The friendly leisure Centre has a swimming pool, sauna, steam room, spa and a small gym and is a great place to head when the rain starts to fall! Kyle of Lochalsh has a glossy new RNLI lifeboat station and tour operators take visitors out to inspect the seabed in a glass bottomed boat but more is going on behind the scenes. There is a Butec naval base, a busy harbour and small visitor’s pontoon with fuel and water available.
In small places there can sometimes develop an unusual concentration of one amenity and Kyle has a surfeit of Dentists. If you have a toothache on Skye, Kyle is your most likely source of relief!