Duntulm Castle
Local highlightA crumbling clifftop ruin at the northern tip of Skye's Trotternish peninsula, once the seat of the MacDonalds of Sleat
Open accessScotland's right of responsible access applies
Substantial ruinsruined, but plenty survives above ground
Right at the top of the Trotternish peninsula, where the road runs out near the north end of Skye, a few broken walls stand on a headland above the sea. This is Duntulm, for a long time the main stronghold of the MacDonalds of Sleat, one of the great Highland clans. They built here on a rocky point said to have carried an older fort, and lived at Duntulm into the early 1700s, when they moved to a more comfortable house nearby and let the place fall into ruin. Little remains now — part of the site has fallen into the sea, and what is left is fragile and right at the cliff edge, so it’s one to look at rather than climb over. The setting is the real draw, with the Outer Hebrides out across the water and the tilted rock scenery of Trotternish and the Quiraing just down the coast. Flora MacDonald is buried at Kilmuir, a few miles south.
