I'm wondering about busses on Isle of Skye, including from Kyleakin to Elgol and from Broadford to Armadale. I was careful to check for time during school holidays, since I'll be using the busses in July. I read somewhere that the local busses can be unreliable, but is that really an issue, or can I count on the bus running as scheduled with at most a small delay? That's the way I was going to get to Armadale for the ferry and train, so I hope it's a reliable schedule because a taxi would be pretty expensive, and it sounds like I'd have to book one in advance. Thanks!
Posted by
London, UK
635 posts
Above post from stellawirth reported
Posted by
Yorkshire
1421 posts
I am on Skye, again,the buses overwhelmingly run on time.
The Armadale bus service is pretty limited, I have fallen foul of the big breaks in service.
However every time whether heafing to or away from the port have hitched a lift in 30/40mins.
Posted by
420 posts
you can watch the movement of the buses on this tracker, if you can coordinate your hours to UK time.
https://bustimes.org/map#8.37/57.352/-6.029
but Armadale rings an alarm bell because I'm guessing you intend using the Mallaig ferry. That is prone to schedule changes, usually due to tides but the bus schedules don't change! So you need to check that carefully for your date of travel.
Posted by
Lake District, England
12062 posts
This forum is great at spreading alarm, and creating problems out of thin air.
The buses are tightly regulated. It is possible to go back at least a year and get a GPS data dump for every journey of every service, to prove reliability.
If the vehicle ferry is off due to mechanical problems a passenger only charter is provided.
The OP has 4 hours in hand at Mallaig, and the tidal timetables (if applicable) are in the Calmac booking system, so we know what any changes are for the date in question. 4 possible ferries connect with that afternoon train.
If services are cancelled by weather you will know before you leave the hostel, and can then take City link or as a back stop the train from Kyle.
You are quite simply not going to get to Armadale and find yourself stranded.
Today I can see the morning bus left Portree on time, lost time between Sconser and Broadford, leaving 7 late, and arrived at Armadale 9 late. Probably heavy traffic.
The morning Elgol bus was 14 late ex Broadford, but only 2 late at Elgol. The afternoon return is currently on time.