Portree

Portree (; , ) is the largest town on, and capital of, the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is the location for the only secondary school on the island, Portree High School. Public transport services are limited to buses.
Portree has a harbour, fringed by cliffs, with a pier designed by Thomas Telford.
Attractions in the town include the Aros centre which celebrates the island's Gaelic 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.
The Royal Hotel is the site of MacNab's Inn, the last meeting place of Flora MacDonald and Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1746.
Around 939 people (37.72% of the population) can speak Scottish Gaelic.
The A855 road 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.
Etymology.
The current name, ' translates as 'king's port', possibly from a visit by King James V of Scotland in 1540. However this etymology has been contested, since James did not arrive in peaceful times. The older name appears to have been ', meaning 'slope harbour'.
Prior to the 16th century the settlement's name was Kiltaraglen ('the church of St. Talarican') from Gaelic "".
History.
In the 1700s, the town was a popular point of departure for Scots sailing to America to escape poverty. This form of use repeated during the potato famine in the 1840s. Both times, the town was saved by an influx of boats, often going between mainland Scotland and the Outer Hebrides, who used Portree's pier as a rest point. The town also began exporting fish at this time, which contributed greatly to the local economy.
The town had the last manual telephone exchange in the UK, which closed in 1976.
Tourism.
Portree is now considered to be among the "20 most beautiful villages in the UK and Ireland" according to Condé Nast Traveler] and is visited by many tourists each year. 
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. Ths 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.
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. 
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". 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".
Sport.
The town plays host to the Isle of Skye's shinty club, Skye Camanachd. They play at Pairc nan Laoch above the town on the road to Struan.
Portree is home to two football clubs that play in the Skye and Lochalsh amateur football league called Portree and Portree Juniors.
Climate.
Like most of the British Isles, Portree has an oceanic climate (Köppen: "Cfb"). The nearest weather station to Portree is located at Prabost, approximately north-west of Portree.
Portree shale.
Portree shale is a geologic association in the vicinity of Portree, the existence of which is linked with potential petroleum occurrences of commercial importance.