Skye Museum of Island Life

This a lovely stop if you’re interested in history. A little group of preserved Croft houses chock full of interesting objects and stories, so not a standard museum experience, but in my opinion all the better for it! There is a lot of information on the display boards as other reviewers have mentioned, but you can still enjoy the museum without reading them all in detail if you’re not a “read the label” kind of person. I just chose the most interesting ones and read those 😊 It’s a treasure and so lovely to see the heritage of the island kept preserved and kept alive. The gift shop was great, with all the usual souvenirs, books and a few Skye-made options if you prefer your souvenirs local. There were also a couple of detailed information booklets available about some of the subjects covered by the museum. Staff lovely. There’s a toilet block in the car park. These were fine although a little dark. There is also a small cafe opposite which sells delicious pies and has a great selection of drinks. Also gives access to go see a couple highland coos.

This well-preserved collection of crofter houses contains multiple exhibits featuring island life. Seven beautifully conserved houses contain technology related to weaving, blacksmithing, home keeping and more. The site also has a great coffee place with delicious cakes. Well worth a visit. 👍👍👍

Fairly large carpark but gets busy so if you're in a motorhome get there early. Its a busy single track road with plenty of passing places so take your time. Full of history, well worth a visit

Fascinating museum, well worth a visit. Original crofters cottage. Information about Skye's history, geology and lots more. As well the museum, there is a great little deli and takeaway, they do lovely hot pies and coffee. 😋

The Skye Museum of Island Life is a charming and authentic glimpse into the traditional way of life in the Scottish Highlands. Set in a cluster of restored thatched cottages, the museum tells the story of crofting communities from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Each cottage is thoughtfully curated, showcasing period furniture, tools, clothing, and household items that bring the history of the islanders vividly to life. The location itself is breathtaking, with sweeping views of the surrounding hills and coastline, making the visit as much about the scenery as the heritage. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable, adding personal anecdotes and local context to the exhibits. It’s a small museum, but it’s packed with fascinating details, and you can easily spend an hour or more exploring at a relaxed pace. Well worth the visit for anyone interested in history, culture, and the spirit of the Isle of Skye.

A collection of low dwellings showing how the islanders used to live, situated on a long single track road to the north end of the island. Worth a visit, and you can easily spend a few hours walking around

I have loved every part of skye since touring and this place was just incredible. To see the history in person was magic and everything has been preserved beautifully. We spent ages here reading through the information and looking at everything it was fantastic. The gift shop is nice too and the staff were lovely. Went for a coffee afterwards in the deli which was lovely too

Nice quiet place to learn how people before us lived. It shows that we could live with less. And the Highland Coos were an added benefit.

This was a surprisingly informative little museum spread across a few different small buildings. There's some interesting displays with somewhat creepy mannequin's set up to illustrate things like the smithy and milking the cows, but the more interesting stuff is reading all the different plaques which do go into quite a bit of detail of what it was like to live on Skye at different points in history. The result is that it's a bit slower and less visual then you might normally expect and makes it a bit less well-attuned to a trip with kids than you might like. The whole thing is set up in about 8 different buildings including a smithy, a barn for the milk cow, a local store, the main croft house, and a few others. Reading about Flora MacDonald and Bonnie Prince Charlie for the 17th time was actually slightly better here since they had some of Flora's artifacts left-over and managed to tell the story in what felt like a more honest and less "rah rah! Scotland!" way. There were also some Stone Age arrowheads and things to see. Overall, it's not the most amazing museum you'll ever go to, but it's local and has the right things. That would probably earn it a 5 star review if it wasn't so reading heavy thus making it hard for the kids and thus hard for us to stay with them.

Information Overload? If you choose to not read anything and just look around, you'll be done in 15-20 minutes. If you chose to read everything, you could probably spend 2-3 hours here. £2.50 is bargain to see this museum...almost too cheap. They should just charge £3 even to support the toilets and invest more into the museum.

At KILMUIR Near Flora MacDonald's Monument this interesting museum of rural life is a major attraction for all visitors to Skye. Within a group of seven thatched cottages, the lifestyle of the crofting community of the island, over a century ago is depicted. Visit this fascinating old world village and feel a sense of being brought back into days of long ago.

This is a good wee museum in a gorgeous setting. On a clear day you get amazing views across to the Crowlins and if you're very lucky to Lewis. The museum is a collection of traditional thatched cottage - very picturesque. Don't forget to take the camera! Inside the buildings is information and artefacts and a wee shop. A really interesting place to visit.