Armadale to Portree Isle of Skye

There's a limited bus service which I have used so if you time your crossing its easy.
They do a full island ticket which is good value likely about the same as just Armadale to Portree dont think I have met such a set of helpfull drivers anywhere.

The bus is pretty impractical as it's based around getting kids to school, not passengers from the ferries. Timetable here

Best bet would be to google taxi companies and try to prebook, or better still get talking to someone on the ferry and ask for a lift. I've given lifts to ferry passengers in that route before now. You might get a lift all the way to Portree, or maybe to Broadford from where buses are more frequent.

Must confess ,I might have got the bus twice.I usually hitch a ride ,its a bit unfortunate they let all the cars off before foot passengers on the Armadale side but its kind of routine to get rides in the Highlands ,almost traditional.
Taxis are in very short order on Skye so if you want to go that route I wlukd likely book a day ahead.
Theres a bus stop as a hitching place about 300 yds from the Calmac landing, go up the road bear right

I would not be relying on the kindness of strangers like that. Or bluntly not paying for a taxi either.

As far as I am concerned the Armadale route is now all but closed to me, using public transport. Very sad- it was a good route in it's day, but not now really viable.

If I want to visit Armadale Castle then I can still do that as a day ferry trip from Mallaig

Likewise it is now unfortunate that the bus to Glenelg has ceased, so the turntable ferry route is not viable any longer by public transport.

If it is not possible to arrange my travel round the one daily bus from Armadale (need to use the early ferry from Mallaig), then I would use the train or Shiel Buses to Fort William then the Citylink bus from Fort William to Portree over the Skye Bridge.

Time was when the Armadale bus had a fairly frequent summer service- that changed round about the time when Portree bus depot moved from down by the harbour to the industrial estate it is at now. Likewise it used to be possible to take a local bus to Portree from Plockton, Kyle of Lochalsh, even Eilean Donan Castle and even as far as Strathcarron- but Stagecoach (Highland Scottish/Rapsons as they used to be) seem to have lost the mainland school contracts those services were based around. So sadly Citylink is now the only viable route from Kyle to Portree, but that is frequent enough that it doesn't really matter.

Personally I can base my travels round the two good bus routes on the Island -Dunvegan and the Trotternish circular (also the Citylink route to Kyle for Raasay) and just accept there are places I can't get to- such as Neist Point. Or, indeed, Callum's road on Raasay which is beyond my personal walking range from the Ferry Terminal.

I totally understand reluctance to hitch hike or ask for a lift, and have only been on the 'lift provider' end of the transaction. When I've picked up a hitch hiker or given a lift to someone off the ferry it has always been women (I'm female) as I wouldn't feel safe picking up a man if I was on my own. But locals are pretty friendly and I have seen plenty of lifts being negotiated on the ferry.

I wish there was a better bus service or more taxis.

Jacqui

I will throw in ,I was out for 10 months.
20 mins was about an average.It was astonishing rare to wait an hour
Maybe 1/5 of all my rides were single women.
Lovely Elizabeth gave me a ride from Portree to the Lake district.
In the course of our conversation she worked out I had met her mum up Staffin way two years earlier.
I dare say there might be ride shares on a local Facebook community page

Richard, I've only seen ride shares on the pages for people who live here. But there's an Official Isle of Skye facebook page run by locals for visitors, so that could be a page for people to post on.

I took two young Czech girls from Sligachan to Edinburgh once!

Lovely Elizabeth said she was going to Spean when I got in as I said Fort William was my destination.
As we nearered Spean she asked why I was going there and I told her I had met a lass at Duntulm and had a ridiculous idea to chase her to the Lakes but thought by the Fort this notion would be over.
She then said, "actually I am away to my holidays and going to Manchester airport so can drop you in the Lakes"
While buying her a coffee at Killington lakes she said " I am back to Portree next week ,give me a call and I will pick you up.There is a condition though....I need to see a photo of you two together as I think you are going to bottle it"

Hope your passengers were generous with sweeties or cake

I think all of the suggestions above are good, but you might want to consider renting a car. That’s what I did, and it made it much easier to get around on Skye. You could rent a car before you get on the ferry, which means you will need to book passage for yourself and the car. Or you could try and rent a car in Armadale.

We took the ferry to Armadale in February 2024. We rented a car for 2 days from DriveSkye. They met us at the ferry with the car, gave us a bit of instruction and off we went without any issues. We drove the perimeter of the island and I think we saw 4 buses total, so not sure I would rely on those. At departure, we again met DriveSkye in Portree for drop off, and took a private taxi from Portree to Kyle of Lochalsh train station. We used Mavis @ Munro Highland Hire ([email protected]) or at 07818446962. She was very friendly, reasonable and efficient. We had some extra time before our train departure, so Mavis took us for a little drive around the Kyle area (areas we would never have seen otherwise and at no additional cost) and then to the station in perfect time. Highly recommend both DriveSkye and Mavis. During high season, I would make sure to reserve ahead. Enjoy your trip!