Solo female traveler looking into a first visit to Scotland

Rail is an option on the mainland, but for Skye and Orkney, I think you’re looking a bus and/or ferry. Maybe a taxi or private driver, if you’re not on an organized tour. We had a rental car, but my husband was doing the driving, and I was doing the navigating — it really was a two-person job. Flying to and from Orkney is an option, too.

Hi, YoPhilly,

It'll take a bit of work, but it's possible to visit everywhere that you've listed using public transportation, with the occasional taxi thrown in. There is no uber outside the major cities, so you can count that out to begin with.

As far as weather goes, April can be a bit snowy up north, but May's weather should be perfect. A lot of spring flowers will be in bloom by then. We've seen daffs in Edinburgh in mid-March.

Trains can get you to Thurso for Orkney, and Kyle of Lochalsh for Skye. Once you're in Kyle, you can take a bus to Portree, then local buses on Skye to explore further. As far as Orkney goes, you can take a bus from Thurso to the Scrabster terminal for the Orkney ferry, but taxi would be your better mode of transportation.

Another option for getting to Skye would be to take the train to Mallaig, the ferry to Armadale, and a Stagecoach bus to Broadford, connecting to the Citylink Portree bus. Getting around Skye by bus is challenging, but doable. You need to be very aware of the schedules. Trains run to Oban, Kyle, and Mallaig on the West Coast, and each of them will provide you with wonderful views of the Highlands. However, if you plan to go to Oban, you can't connect with the Kyle line without backtracking to Crainlarich. If you're going from Oban to Mallaig, you'd most likely have to backtrack to Glasgow. So if you want to experience Oban, to possibly visit Mull and Iona, you'd need to take the bus from Oban to Fort William if you're going to Skye via Mallaig.

Our resident transportation expert, Stuart (isn31c), will be providing you with a greater number of choices. You will be well served in Scotland by public transportation, with a little bit of planning.

Congratulations on deciding to visit Scotland. It's a wonderful country! It's also a very safe country for the solo female traveller.

Good luck with your plans. Get a couple of guidebooks - RS and Rough Guide are among the best. That will give you a better idea of things that you'd like to see, and places you'd like to visit. Once you've started working on your itinerary, you'll find lots of suggestions here. We all love Scotland, and are happy to share our experiences!

Very best wishes for your travels.

Mike (Auchterless)

This link might help with regards public transport in Scotland

www.travelinescotland.com

There are many ways to configure this, but I would suggest you work on a 14 day itinerary. I think 10 days may be squeezing it.

I would suggest doing this as a big counter clockwise circle.

Start from Edinburgh then up to Aberdeen on a morning train, for the ferry to Shetland which 3x a week calls in to Kirkwall, Orkney on it's way north. It leaves at 5pm and arrives at Kirkwall at 11pm. You can board at 3pm, but can check your luggage into the baggage room at any time during the day (and also check in at any time with the brand new machines). Explore Aberdeen if you have time. I would board at 3pm, and book a seat in the Premium Magnus lounge for an evening passage like this. A bus meets the ferry at Kirkwall to take you the 2 miles into town.

All the key sites on Orkney have buses, but there is a certain art to it, as some run on certain days of the week-this is the 2024 timetable- https://www.orkney.gov.uk/media/qnppziaj/orkney-public-bus-guide.pdf

From Orkney I would book Bed and Breakfast on the ferry. You board at Stromness when the ferry arrives at 9pm, sleep overnight while she is berthed, then get up and have your included breakfast when she sails at 6.30am next morning. Very civilised.

Rather than take the train down from Thurso there is a bus which meets the ferry at Scrabster (Thurso) which takes you direct to Inverness (arrive 1253). The obvious way is then to take the onward bus direct from Inverness to Portree on Skye. But you could equally take the afternoon train to Kyle of Lochalsh then the connecting bus onward to Portree.

Coming off Skye I would catch the 9am bus from Portree to Armadale then the ferry to Mallaig on Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday then the Shiels Bus #500 at 12 noon to Fort William, then the afternoon bus direct from Fort William to Oban (or train on the rather longer route via Crianlarich). On other days the bus direct from Portree to Fort William for Oban.

If taking the rail route from Mallaig to Oban then any day of the week would do for the Armadale ferry, then take a wildlife cruise from Mallaig in the early afternoon, then the 4pm train- arrives Oban at a bit after 9pm.

From Oban do Mull/Iona etc.

Then on the last day the direct bus from Oban to Edinburgh- #978- at 0920. That routes via Loch Earn and Stirling. It arrives at Edinburgh Airport at 1pm and Edinburgh Bus Station at 1.30pm. If your flight is next day get off at the airport, book a hotel there, check in then use tram or bus into the city for your last night. The bus runs 24/7.

That's sort of a rough planning sketch.

Would recommend Rabbie's tours for the Highlands - we didn't want to drive either so the tour was perfect for us. Did the Highland Explorer Skye & Far North last Sept and getting ready to go on the Outer Hebrides & Scottish Islands next month. Loved the small group of 15, smaller bus bouncing all over those little narrow roads, big windows, great B&B's for sleeping, driver/guide was fantastic. Great way to get around. Check them out if you haven't already. Enjoy! Loved Scotland above all.

I'm a solo female traveler as well, and spent the month of May in 2023 in Scotland, and had a fantastic time. I think Scotland is one of the most beautiful and friendliest countries I have been in.

I did have a car as I don't mind driving, but there are some other posts here that had ideas for public transport. Lane, who is a frequent poster, traveled through Scotland and to Skye without a car, and here are links to his posts that might give you some ideas (although Mike (auchterless) and isn31c have covered that also). Lane took several tours while on Skye that got him out to many places it would have been difficult to reach.

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

Like Sarah, I also traveled solo in Scotland using public transport and tours. My trip was for 2+ weeks in 2022. Scotland is simply gorgeous and I’m sure you will have a fabulous trip. My two tours were also with Rabbies: one day tour out of Inverness of Culloden, Clava Cairns and Glen Affric; four day tour out of Edinburgh of Western Highlands & Isle of Skye. Both were wonderful tours on small buses (12-14 people). You could definitely plan your own trip using public transport and the Forum posters above have given you excellent advice. I’ve taken their advice on numerous occasions. Taking small group tours gives you the opportunity to really experience the area and learning more history of the country your traveling in. The Rabbies guides are knowledgeable,, accommodating and fun when they weave in the local lore.

Whatever you decide Sarah, I know you will love Scotland and probably won’t get enough on a 12 day trip. That’s okay because it will whet your appetite for possible trips in the future.

Without a car you may find that you will have to trim some things from your itinerary as it takes a lot more time to get around by train and bus. I went by myself a few years ago, and initially was going to do the trip by train and bus as I did in Ireland, but during my research I found it was going to be difficult, or very time consuming to get to some places. I had three weeks, and ended up renting a car for ten days to get around the highlands. Orkney was on my list of places I wanted to go, but even with the car, it was going to cut into my time for other places too much so I cut it from my list. It is surprising how quickly you can adjust to driving on the other side. The first day takes a bit more concentration, but after that, just a verbal reminder to yourself each time you get in the car, and you will be fine. If it really is a no go for you, then the suggestion of using a company such as Rabbies for day trips or multi-day trips is a great idea. Try to limit the number of times you change locations as that will eat into the time you have for seeing the sights. If you can only manage two weeks then pick three, maybe four, towns to base yourself in, and tour from. Each time you change locations it will eat up at least half a day, or more. If you start in Edinburgh for a few days, then take the train to Inverness and use that as a jumping off point to Orkney, and maybe a multi-day Rabbies tour to Skye. Then take the train back down to Glasgow from which you could do a day tour or two to places such as Stirling or Loch Lomond, or Rosslyn Chapel and Hadrian’s Wall. Fly into Edinburgh and out of Glasgow.

I LOVE Orkney but I went on a guided tour so didn't have to consider transportation. I even opted for a cab from the airport to the hotel on Burray although there was a Stagecoach bus which would have taken well over an hour.

I think you'll struggle to see the sights on Orkney via public transit. There are guides who will do day trips for you so you might want to consider that. I follow a number of local Orkney guides on FB and am happy to share if that is of interest to you.

With your short time frame I'd also fly from Edinburgh to Kirkwall, Orkney. I'd use the ferry as a back up.

Month-wise, I'd go for May. I went last year in August and it was chilly and rainy some of most days. I'm pretty cold tolerant so the weather did not bother me, in fact I was glad to get out of my heat wave at home. In 2025 I am doing tours with the same company but he's moved the dates to early July. We did have a few sunny moments, lol! I'd want as much daylight as possible and I think April will be too early for Orkney.

editing to add: For Orkney you will want waterproof rain pants as well as a waterproof rain jacket. I've just bought a waterproof ball cap as well for my trip next year. I am not a ball cap wearer but last year wore one under the hood of my rain jacket to keep the rain off my face and that worked well....except for the fact that the hat was soaked in minutes, lol.

Wow, thank you all for your very detailed itinerary, suggestions, transportation tips, etc. First, let me say that it sounds like all of you have enjoyed your visits to Scotland so I am confident I made the right decision to visit there. I’ll definitely view your transportation suggestions using a map as guidance and I’ll also take a look at the Rabbies tours since they are recommended by so many of you. Thank you so very much for your replies.
Nancy