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Portree (; , ) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.Murray, W.H. (1966) The Hebrides. London. Heinemann. Pages 154-155. It is a civil parish and lies within the Highland council area, around from its administrative centre of Inverness.
Portree has a harbour, fringed by cliffs, with a pier designed by Thomas Telford. Attractions in the town include the former Aros Centre, now the Isle of Skye Candle Co. Visitor Centre,Isle of Skye Candle Company, Isle of Skye Candle Co. Visitor Centre, accessed 28 April 2024 which celebrates the island's Gaels heritage. Further arts provision is made through arts organisation ATLAS Arts, a Creative Scotland regularly-funded organisation. The town also serves as a centre for tourists exploring the island.Haswell-Smith, Hamish. (2004) The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh. Canongate, pages 173-4
Around 939 people (37.72% of the population) can speak Scottish Gaelic.
Portree is connected to the Skye Bridge by the A87 road, which then leads northwards to Uig. The A855 road also leads north out of the town, passing through villages such as Achachork, Staffin and passes the rocky landscape of the Storr before reaching the landslip of the Quiraing.
Prior to the 16th century the settlement's name was Kiltaraglen ('the church of St. Talarican') from Gaelic Cill Targhlain.
The archaeologists discovered the remains of timber roundhouses, a circular ditch-defined enclosure, miniature Souterrain, probable standing stone sockets and an assortment of pits. While not many artefacts were recovered there was an assemblage of Beaker pottery. This was the first discovery of a site dating from the Later Bronze Age on the Isle of Skye.
The archaeologists also found evidence of the shooting range that was created in the 1800s with the formation of the Rifle Volunteer movement, set up in 1859 to defend the country against a potential French invasion. The first official unit in Portree was the 8th Inverness-shire Rifle Volunteer Corps, formed in July 1867.
The Royal Hotel is the site of MacNab's Inn, the last meeting place of Flora MacDonald and Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1746. "Portree" Undiscovered Scotland. Retrieved on 15 September 2007.
The town had the last manual telephone exchange in the UK, which closed in 1976. BT History 1976
A report published in mid 2020 indicated that visitors added £211 million in a single year to the Isle of Skye's economy, prior to travel restrictions imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Year-long economic study finds Skye visitors boosted economy by £211 million pre-lockdown This was expected to decline substantially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Skye is highly vulnerable to the downturn in international visitors that will continue for much of 2020 and beyond", Professor John Lennon of Glasgow Caledonian University told a reporter in July 2020. Tourists generated £211 million for Skye pre-pandemic, finds study, 17 July 2020
In 2016, over 150,000 people stopped at the VisitScotland centre in Portree, a 5% increase over 2015. Overcrowding during peak season was a problem, however, before the pandemic, since it is "the busiest place on the island". One news item recommended that some tourists might prefer accommodations in quieter areas such as Dunvegan, Kyleakin and the Broadford and Breakish area. 15 Tips to Avoid the Crowds on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, 15 July 2020
The 2020 reports did not cover tourism in Portree specifically but a December 2018 report by well-known travel writer Rick Steves had recommended the village as "Skye’s best home base" for visitors. He indicated that Portree "provided a few hotels, hostels and bed-and-breakfasts in town, while more B&Bs line the roads into and out of town". Exploring Scotland’s majestic Isle of Skye, 13 December 2018 The tourism bureau added that visitors would appreciate the "banks, churches, cafes and restaurants, a cinema at the Aros Centre, a swimming pool and library, (...) petrol filling stations and supermarkets". Portree
Portree is served by nation-wide stations, BBC Radio Scotland on 92.9 FM and BBC Radio Nan Gaidheal (for Scottish Gaelic listeners) on 104.7 FM. The local radio station Radio Skye is a community based station that broadcasts to the Isle Of Skye and Loch Alsh on 106.2 FM and 102.7 FM.
Portree is home to two football clubs that play in the Skye and Lochalsh amateur football league called Portree and Portree Juniors.
Portree is now home to a new youth football club, Skye Young Boys.
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