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Isle of Sky without car Help with Itinerary

Hello,
I will be in Scotland middle of July and wanted to see Isle of Skye and maybe other Islands Lewis & Harris. Someone told me to stay in Plockton because really pretty and has nice hotels. I won't have a car so need to stay close to train station & Ferry terminal. Can you recommend a place to stay that is inexpensive & convenient to get to Islands. I will be traveling solo and would like a single room not bunk or dorm room.I will be coming from Edinburgh on the train I think? What other location or locations would be good, I have about 5 days. I would like to stay in 2 locations.

Posted by
5678 posts

Plockton was no doubt suggested as it is a little nicer town. However, if you really want to see Skye and the Hebrides, you will want to stay on the islands and you'll need to schedule more time than you would with a car so you can take buses or spend more money on taxis. Here is a link for transportation on Skye. The Stage Coach site, which is the local bus is not very helpful. I did find a travel article on TripAdvisor on Skye Public transport. It reinforces my view that this is challenging. The article does set forth the major routes.

As for traveling on Lewis and Harris, I believe it is even more challenging. Check out this website. Note that they state that there is still no service on Sundays and that the buses do not run every day.

I would recommend that you figure out what is most important for you to visit while you're on Skye and then look at the bus schedules to see what you can see.

Alternatively, you could look into tours. This one looks very similar to one I did with friends. This is a little shorter. Rabbies Tour offers a six day tour as well. Here's yet another. This one has more walking. And lastly this one. There may be more. I have not traveled with any of these. Rabbie's Tours generally get good reviews. Check TA and ask here again to see if anyone has traveled with these companies.

Pam

Posted by
2 posts

Hello Pamela,
thanks for your reply, staying on the Isle of Skye is what I was thinking of doing but which town with no car would be best. I don't want to take taxi. I would like to take a few 1 day tours and some boat trips and ferry trips.
Does anyone know of a van or bus tour that goes around the Island and to Eilean Donan Castle.
thanks for any help
Carol

Posted by
1161 posts

Portree is the main town , all roads lead there, and its a nice place.
The tourist info office is just off the town square.
Daytours from Portree.

http://realscottishjourneys.com/tour_real_skye.php

The city link bus stops, directly across the road from the castle.
Theres an opened topped bus that loops round the north of the island several times a day.
I sent you a msg , as well.

Posted by
16893 posts

It looks like you have the relevant links for your research into public transport. Rick also lists [Sky Tours](www.skytours.co.uk), which requires four passengers for a tour to depart. I enjoyed the freedom of driving on Skye, even though rain and wind were much in evidence on my visit. (It was not a good day for the hitch-hikers.)