Is it Worth it To Visit the Isle of Skye in April?

Not too long ago, we went to the Isle of Skye with our kids and had an amazing, magical time filled with hiking, fairies, sheepdogs, castles, dinosaurs, and all the moody weather you could hope for.

It was a rejuvenating trip connecting with nature while playing and having fun along the way.

We visited the Isle of Skye in April (mid-April), and even after all of my research, there were a few surprises we encountered for that time of year.

Because of that, I’ve created this guide for visiting the Isle of Skye in April, including what the weather is like in Skye in April, what the landscape looks like, and what the crowds are like to help you know if April is the best time for you to visit or if another month may be more what you are looking for.

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Is April a Good Time to Visit Skye?

April is a great time to avoid crowds on Skye (other than Easter weekend), avoid biting midges and to enjoy the days getting a bit warmer and longer from the winter.

We really enjoyed visiting this area of Scotland in April. However, we were a bit surprised that the landscape wasn’t yet a totally vibrant green everywhere (more on that below).

What is the Isle of Skye Weather in April?

My favorite way to research the weather for the Isle of Skye is to visit Accuweather. On Accuweather’s website, I search for my specific destination and then in the top bar select ‘monthly’.

This pulls up a calendar to which I then select ‘April’ for it to show me the expected average high and low temperature for each day of the month for the upcoming year.

However, my favorite feature on Accuweather is to select April of the previous year in the dropdown menu to see the actual high and low temperatures of each day.

That gives a pretty good comprehensive view of what the weather may be like while you’re visiting.

The average highs for the weather in Skye in April vary from 45°F – 52°F with around 15 days of rain.

That may sound chilly, but even if you were to visit in a peak summer month (like July) the average high is still only 57° F with maybe 13 or so days of rain. (Although, if the sun’s out it will help it feel warmer.)

When we visited in early to mid-April, the weather on the Isle of Skye was around 50°F coupled with sporadic rain showers and almost one full day of rain.

We were pretty comfortable with our light puffy jackets and beanies.

I actually loved having the rain and clouds because it gave a nice moody vibe to the island which is what I always imagine when visiting Scotland. You’ll probably get plenty of that if you visit peak summer, but you may also have more sunshine and clear skies.

Is the Isle of Skye Green in April?

Yes and no. I’ll admit, I was a bit disappointed when we were first driving around Skye and I realized that the island isn’t vibrant green all year long. However, it was still beautiful.

The Quiraing had beautiful contrasting colors of green and brown, the Old Man of Storr was similar with both beautiful greens and browns.

The area around The Fairy Pools was totally brown (a beautiful brown in my opinion) but very different from some of the vibrant green photos you may see in your searches.

Another very brown area was around Sligachan Old Bridge- brown, but beautiful.

As you can see from all of my photos, the degrees of green varied all across the island. If you are looking for vibrant green carpets around every turn I’d visit at the earliest mid-May or early June.

Easter on the Isle of Skye

From what we’ve heard, you can expect most of April to be pretty quiet on Skye. However, Easter weekend is much busier.

We visited the Isle of Skye over Easter weekend and I was a bit surprised at the amount of people on the trails. Hikes like the Old Man of Storr and The Fairy Pools had a steady stream of hikers.

Although there were a lot of people on the trails, it didn’t bother us too much. Since Easter is when we had time off, it was worth it to go that weekend even though there were more people than at another time of the month.

I can imagine how much more magical The Fairy Pools would have felt if we would have had it all to ourselves, but I’m not sure when you can guarantee that.

So, if you’re looking to have trails more to yourself, I’d suggest not visiting Skye over Easter.

What to Wear when Visiting the Isle of Skye, Scotland in April

During our visit, the temperatures in April in Skye hovered around 50°F. Usually the sky was cloudy with rain off and on and maybe wind.

We wore sweaters under light puffy jackets with a hat and wool socks each day and were perfectly comfortable. The key to dressing in April for the Isle of Skye is to wear lots of layers and to be prepared for some rain.

Our kids wore wool baselayers under their winter suits with hats and gloves. Since we carried them on a lot of the hikes this helped them stay warm.

However, if they would have been hiking more themselves just a warm coat instead of the whole suit would have been nice for ease of losing layers if they got warm.

We’ve also visited Northern Ireland with our kids where they did more walking and they were fine in layers with a warm puffy coat instead of their suits.

Are there Midges on Skye in April?

No midges on the Isle of Skye in April-thankfully!

Midges are small little flies that tend to hatch in late May and stick around until about mid-September. They like to swarm and bite which can be quite irritating and itchy (or so I hear). I’ve read some horror stories of how annoying they can be, but I hear that Deet-based repellents work pretty well.

This is what our Airbnb host had to say about midges: ‘Both May and September are outside peak midge season but May is the better month because they have yet to come out but later on in September they should have died off.‘

We loved not having to worry about midges in April, but I guess the compromise is that the land wasn’t quite as green

Things to Do in April on the Isle of Skye

• Go hiking! One of the best things to do on Skye is to hike. Our favorite trails were the Quiraing, Old Man of Storr, The Fairy Glen and The Fairy Pools
• Take part in a sheepherding experience in one of the most picturesque spots on Skye
• Visit castles! Our favorite was Eilean Donan followed by Dunvegan
• If you’re short on time, you can take a full-day guided group tour of Skye from Inverness or this private day tour of Skye with a kilted Highlander guide. We saw lots of these small tour groups while we were exploring Skye and it seems like a great option

Check out my guide to the Isle of Skye with kids for a complete list of all of our favorite things on Skye. It includes everything you’d want to do on Skye even if you aren’t traveling with kids.

Other Good Times to Visit the Isle of Skye

If you’re looking for warmer weather, May to September are good months to visit the Isle of Skye. I asked our Airbnb host about the months he recommended to visit and this was part of his response: ‘May historically has the best weather of the year but more recently April has actually been better than May’

He also told us to keep in mind that ‘midges will have come out by June but have usually died off by late September’.

The winter months in Skye have pretty short days, much colder weather with quite a bit of rain so I wouldn’t recommend the winter months for your first time in the Isle of Skye.

And that’s everything I think you need to know about taking a holiday in the Isle of Skye in April. Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions about our trip in April. I’ll be sure to get back to you!

Check out these other posts, I know you’ll love them:

• 18 Things You Need To Know Before Visiting The Isle of Skye in Scotland
• The Ultimate Guide to the Isle of Skye with Kids: 21+ Things to Do & Top Tips
• 16 Helpful Tips That Make Driving in Scotland as an American Feel Easy

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