First Draft for Scotland Trip September 2027. Suggestions/ideas?

Scotland is wonderful, so that's a very good choice. Public transportation will be fine for a lot of your journey, but I think most folks will tell you here that it's difficult on Skye, as there are no trains and you will be dependent on buses. And keep in mind that the bus schedules are more for the locals' convenience, not tourists.

That said, it's not impossible, but it will take more time, and you will really need to research the public transport options. There are a couple of threads that were started by Lane, a frequent poster here who traveled to Skye in 2023 and only used public transportation, so you might get some ideas there as well.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/scotland/skye-without-a-car
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/isle-of-skye-bc74ae67-52c5-43d1-b08d-28a0767f4abd

Just an FYI, Eilean Donan castle is beautiful on the outside, but pretty unimpressive on the inside. If you're heading that way anyway, it may be worth a stop, but it's probably not worth going out of your way for.

One more thought. You mentioned that you are going on to Stirling Castle and then onward to Edinburgh. I don't know what your schedule is like at that point, but just keep in mind that Stirling Castle is a very doable day trip from both Edinburgh and Glasgow. So you might want to just head down to Edinburgh and included as a day trip in your sightseeing plans. It's about 30 minutes by train from Glasgow and about 40 minutes from Edinburgh.

So your plan to use public transport should be fine right up until the point that you step off the ferry in Armadale, Skye. The Stagecoach bus service from there to Portree will (likely) require you to change buses in Broadford as to my knowledge the only direct services are the 152 (which is really a school service that the public can also use) and the 52 - details here. The bus service doesn't line up well with arriving ferries, so a better option might be a pre arranged taxi from Armadale to Broadford and bus from there to Portree. You can check Stagecoach bus services here

Your day 5 to Old Man of Storr is possible by bus service 57A

Day 6 - Sligachan Glen Trail. If by this you mean the 18km from Sligachan to Elgol then that might be very tricky by bus. There are several options to get you to Sligachan, the Citylink from Portree bound for Glasgow or Inverness, or a local bus (Stagecoach service) from Portree to Broadford. Returning from Elgol is more problematic as there are very few services from Elgol. You would need to get a 55 bus to Broadford and then pick up a service from there to Portree.

Day 7 Plockton and/or Eilean Donan Castle and onwards to Inverness. Plockton is accessible only by train. The Inverness bus doesn't go via Plockton. You'd have to get a bus to Kyle of Lochalsh and then a train from there to Plockton before continuing again by train to Inverness. There are only 4 trains per day on that line - see summer timetable here, so would require careful planning to tie in with the buses from Portree to Kyle of Lochalsh.

Eilean Donan is potentially easier as both the Glasgow and Inverness Citylink bus services from Portree pass the castle. You could get either service to the castle and then the Inverness service from there to Inverness.

Be aware that there are summer and winter timetables for the ferries and buses, so you will need to carefully check the services that will be running on your dates.

Regarding the Jacobite Steam Train. I haven't kept up to date with whether it's been on or off, following the various regulatory issues surrounding it, but when I caught the ferry from Skye to Mallaig in late August it was running as I saw it about to set off from Mallaig. Regardless, there is a Scotrail service (at a fraction of the cost) from Fort William (no 's') to Mallaig.

Is the Jacobite Steam train running? I had read that the service had been halted.
We were on that several year ago, and if you don't sit on the correct side, you miss out on the iconic views. Everyone tries to crowd to that side, and we couldn't see a thing. It was a bit frustrating.
Have a great trip.

According to West Coast Railways, it's running. https://westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/steam-train-trip

I think it was out of commission for a while, Pat, because of some irregularities that they needed to fix to comply with the law or something like that. But I guess it's back.

Skyegirl is correct in that there is a generic, much lower-cost option with ScotRail. Here's a link to their site: https://www.scotrail.co.uk/inspiration-hub/things-to-do/glenfinnan-viaduct

Yes we were told to take the bus 52 to the Slaigachan trai linto the heart of the Cuillin Hills (via Stagecoach Bus 52).
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Forgot to mention we will fly out of Edinburgh home.

Thanks

The Jacobite train has run this year (2026), there are ongoing discussions about how it operates, and at this stage no-one knows if it will run in 2027.

What is really interesting about buses on Skye is that Ember bus are trying very hard to start bus services there. There are only so many bus drivers on Skye, and they are struggling to recruit- which would have to be existing drivers.
Their plans for the island are unclear- whether just running long distance services onto Skye, or to start local services competing with Stagecoach. They tend to find new routes rather than going head to head with existing operators, so may just run to places not currently served, or add extra service, or even run overnight services to Skye.

It is all speculation, but has the potential to be very interesting, just possibly for the better.

I personally have been waiting months for the announcement to be able to reach Raasay (again) and a remote place north of Armadale which should be much easier than they are to get to (both for work reasons), without having to spend a fortune in doing so.

Do you really mean the Jacobite Steam train service?

If so, you have to buy a return ticket for this, even though you just want to do the outward Fort William to Mallaig section. They only day return tickets. This is going to work out VERY expensive. 2026 prices were £76 per ticket.

The 'normal' Scotsrail serve runs along exactly the same route and is a lot cheaper - and I mean a lot! Buying in advane, at the moment the price of a single ticket is £9.20 or £17.10 depending on what time the train departs.

Windows are larger and you will probably get better views from them.

Yes, true you can't buy just a one way. You just don't go back.

Regarding Eilean Donan, on current timetables on Day 7 take the 0900 Inverness Bus from Portree, that will give you around 75 minutes at the Castle, back to Kyle of Lochalsh, arrive 1155 (that is the early bus from Glasgow to Uig, Skye).

Or get the 0800 Glasgow bus, about an hour at Eilean Donan, then the Inverness to Portree bus back at about 1030, arrive Kyle 1041- gives you time to explore Kyle before the 1206 train to Plockton.

That should get you on the 1206 train to Plockton, arrive 1219, then the 1359 or 1726 train to Inverness.

If you don't get the 1206, then it is the 1346 train to Plockton arrive 1359 then the 1726 train on to Inverness.

Buy a single ticket Kyle to Inverness- that allows you to break your journey at Plockton- buying Kyle to Plockton and Plockton to Inverness will be more expensive.

But in practice the best value train ticket will probably be the Scottish Grand Tour- http://www.railrover.org/pages/scottish-grand-tour.html

Hopefully by then the £2 flat bus fares on Skye and anywhere in the Scottish Highlands will still be in force- so Portree to Eilean Donan is currently £2, as is ED to Kyle, and any bus on Skye.

Although having a car probably made it much easier, we (I was 72 post-back surgery at the time ) hiked the Old Man on the same day as the Quiraing, despite 80mph wind and occasional driving rain. Still had time to check out Kilt Rock and Lealt Falls (9 hour day).

Although the outside photo-op for Eilean Donan from the carpark is legendary, the inside is underwhelming. Mostly a gift shop with an admission fee.

You're also missing some nice short-ish hikes in Glencoe/Fort Williams (Steall Falls, Lochan).

We got our Steam Train fix by poking around the train in the morning while it was in Fort William station then drove to Glenfinnan in time to see it pass on the famous viaduct. We then saw it again arriving in Mallaig before our ferry left.

Unless you're dead set against a car rental, you could rent one in Fort William, take it to Skye via Mallaig, then return it back to Fort William via Plockton and Eilean Donan before preceding to Inverness. Both Easydrive and FW Car Hire offer one-way rentals (sort of spendy), but their websites only list a few examples (like Inverness) It costs you about 1:30 to double back, although the bus/train schedule will likely make that seem minor.