Portree City Map Poster

About Portree

The A851 road leads west from the town, passing through Sleat and eventually reaching the Isle of Raasay. The A87 road runs south-west from Portree to Uig on Skye's east coast. The name "Port Rìgh" means 'King's Harbour' (from Scottish Gaelic: "port", meaning a harbour; and Scottish Gaelic: "rìgh", meaning king). It is so named after King James V who visited in 1540 when he saw a potential for trade with Spain, Portugal and France as well as local merchants. He ordered that work be carried out to make it suitable for large vessels to berth there while waiting for favourable winds or tide conditions before attempting the crossing over Pentland Firth towards mainland Scotland or Orkney Islands respectively.