Neist Point Lighthouse

Neist Point is the lighthouse on a knuckle of land at the west of Skye, looking toward the Outer Hebrides. You walk down and out along the headland. The building is a Stevenson lighthouse; the experience is weather, cliffs, and a car park that in summer is a negotiation.

The walk

Down a steep path, then out. Knees will comment on the way back up. If the wind is up, you will lean. If the clifftop is wet, you will watch your feet. This is not a place to pose on the wrong side of a fence. The sea is a long way down and uninterested.

Sunsets are why people come. Sunsets plus a hundred other people are why you might come at 4pm on a Tuesday in October instead. More of the island: Skye. The candle that is supposed to smell like this sort of air: Skye.