Astronomers and amateur enthusiasts alike are drawn to the island to gaze at a starlit canopy entirely free of light pollution. Wildlife thrives, and visitors can watch sea eagles and otters from centres in Portree and Glenelg, as well as simply walking with binoculars for unforgettable sightings.
For its size, the island provides an incomparable record of Scottish history – from dinosaur fossils, to prehistoric tombs of the Bronze and Iron Age, to evidence of Norse settlements and the lingering signs of the later, brutal evictions of the Clearances which so shaped the Scottish landscape.