Skye is beautiful, but a total tourist trap. The worst B and B I have ever stayed in was on Skye. The one opposite the Talisker distillery was ok and the food was good as was the free entertainment. Scenery is little short of staggering and every time I’ve crossed the bridge I’ve parked and walked back across it to drink in the views. However
Applecross; beautiful, great pub
is accurate and less touristy than Skye. The Sheildag route on to the peninsula is really nice, but the Bealach na Ba is an awesome bit of road (youtube it).
Also, you might want to think about heading a bit further north to say Achiltibuie and the Summer Isles. We stayed at 192 which was walking distance (if you like walking) from a pub and a hotel. The hotel had a Michelin star (at least it did then), same food in the bar as the restaurant.
More central, and closer to Inverness is Aviemore – not a fan of Aviemore but there are plenty of hotels and B anBs in the surrounding area, Kingussie, Newtonmore or the Glenmore road and absolutely no shortage of things to do, high walks, low level walks, canoe hire on Loch morlich, bike hire for fun trails, etc etc.
Or there’s the Far North and Orkney with a different vibe completely
EDIT bu**er forgot about the NC500, probably want to scratch Achiltibuie then