Solo Trip Itinerary Help!!

I think it's quite a common mistake for people to think that we can see the whole Scotland from Edinburgh. If you look at a map you'll see the Edinburgh isn't centrally located and just isn't that close to many areas in the Highlands. It therefore isn't a good base for doing daytrips because you will take a lot of time travelling. With respect to public transport, most public transport to many of the popular Highland areas like Loch Lomond/West Highland line/Oban and the islands/Skye etc departs from Glasgow (and in some cases Inverness), not Edinburgh.

If you want to do day trips to the places you mention then arguably Glasgow is a better base, but the best option is to tour around and visit a few places. Hiring a car would make things easier, given the scarcity of public transport in some Highland areas, but I guess you're not keen on driving.

You could fly (much quicker than ferry/bus/train combo) from Belfast to Glasgow, stay 2-3 days (during which time you either take a tour with the likes of Rabbies or Discover Scotland to Loch Lomond and Stirling - or you do day trips these places independently by train - either option is perfectly easy and straightforward). Then take the W Highland train to Mallaig. I believe you can then take public transport to Skye, but it really would make things easier for this part of the trip if you hire a car on skye as public transport can be very limited. After a couple of days on Skye hand the car back and head across to Inverness (although I wouldn't stay here) then catch a train or bus down to Edinburgh for a couple of days. Places like Pitlochry and Dunkeld are nice to visit between Inverness and Edinburgh if you've got time. Then head out from Edinburgh or Glasgow airport.

If you want a more Highlands focussed itinerary then fly to Glasgow Airport and jump on the Direct bus to skye that leaves from the airport forecourt twice a day (I believe its at 10:20 and 15:20) and go straight to Skye. The bus goes alongside Loch Lomond and through Glencoe so youll still see many of the places that you would on the West Highland line, albeit in passing through the bus windows. This gives longer in the Highlands and you could visit Stirling as a day trip from Edinburgh by train at the end of your stay.

Bus timetables are at http://www.citylink.co.uk/timetables.php and train details at www.scotrail.co.uk

I wouldn't particularly recommend Loch Ness. There are a lot of nicer Lochs in Scotland and it's really a bit of a tacky tourist trap in places. If you get the bus from Skye to Inverness then it goes past Loch Ness so I suppose you jump out Urquhart Castle or Drumnadrochit for a couple of hours before heading on to Inverness.

Outshined gives some good advice. Trains are easier to catch from Glasgow, and I would also skip Loch Ness. Have you researched flying into Inverness? It's easy to get some day tours from either Glasgow or Edinburgh to see things like Loch Lomond, Stirling castle, and many other places, but if you want to see Skye it's best to go from Inverness. You could spend a few days in Edinburgh and do some day trips, then get a train to Inverness, but the very best option is still renting a car. I was planning on doing the bus/train travel in Scotland like I did in Ireland, but after spending some time researching it I found it was just going to be a whole lot easier to rent a car. The train/but schedules just aren't geared towards the travelling tourist who wants to make the most of their time. Check this web site for some tour options of Skye: http://www.skyescenictours.com/
If you aren't comfortable renting a car then the best thing is to base yourself in a town for a couple days or more and do day trips. Start in either Glasgow or Edinburgh for two or three days, then make your way north to either Portree or Inverness for a few days, then return to either Glasgow or Edinburgh. It's doable, but your travel days are going to be spent just getting from point A to B watching the scenery go by.

Thank you to both of you! I really appreciate all of the insight.
In terms of renting a car, I know that this is preferred but I'm really not comfortable/confident to do so on my own.

I think flying from Belfast to Glasgow and making that my base for a couple of days to do Stirling/Loch Lomond and then the W Highland Line from there may be my best bet.
I have heard that public transport from Mallaig to Skye is scarce. Do you know of any tour companies that would arrange for pick up/transfer from Armadale to Portree which I could make my base there and then use the tour company to see the sites around Skye? I know that there are 3/4 day tours from Edinburgh to Skye but I feel like it's a waste to go all the way to Mallaig just to come back down and go back up again to Skye from Edinburgh.

Do you recommend that I eliminate Scotland from my travels, and opt for a week or 2 in another country instead?

Do not eliminate Scotland if you wish to see it. Certain landscapes and cityscapes are unique in Europe. However a car is very useful if you do not want to be tied to the train.

As the others have said Glasgow is Scotland's transport hub for air, rail, road. Look up companies like Citylink and West Coast Motors for timetables. And also for the local councils. The Highlands and Islands are covered by Argyll and Bute Council, Highland Council and Comharle nan Eileann Siar (bonus points for people who can pronounce that correctly).

Another thing for people who want to see the Highlands, beyond the areas mentioned they begin in Glasgow's suburbs, and extend into Stirling and Perth and Kinross Council areas.

I certainly wouldn't eliminate Scotland, there's a great deal to see and do here and your itinerary is perfectly manageable in 7-9 days, it's just the bit on Skye that's a bit challenging due to limited public transport.There are local buses on Skye (take a look here for the timetables - https://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables) but unfortunately the buses are very limited. Would you consider renting a car just for the skye portion of your trip? I believe you can hire cars in Mallaig and hand them back in Kyle of Lochalsh etc.

As you mentioned, taking the train to Mallaig and then going back south to catch a tour to Skye is a massive waste of time, but perhaps a tour is maybe a good option in itself instead of going on the west highland line. 3 day tours to Skye with the likes of rabbies and discover Scotland are available from both Glasgow and Edinburgh and appear to take in places like Loch Lomond, Glencoe and much of the route of the West Highland line on the way to Skye - I notice the discover Scotland itinerary from Glasgow permits a trip on the jacobite steam train from Fort William to Mallaig on the west highland line as part of the tour on some dates. That might make things simpler and easier on skye itself.You could fly to Glasgow, stay a day or 2 and include a day trip by train to Stirling, then pick up a tour to Skye from there. When you get back you can take the train across to Edinburgh for a couple of days - the tour company might even agree to drop you off in Edinburgh on the way back!

Alternatively you could just ditch Skye - personally I don't think that you have to visit Skye to see Scotland, there are plenty other areas of the Highlands that are very scenic and you should get a good view of Scotland doing a route like Glasgow-Loch Lomond-Glencoe-Fort William and then across to Inverness and down through Aviemore, Pitlochry and Highland Perthshire etc

I would agree with the comment that you do not have to see Skye to have a wonderful trip to Scotland. It's a beautiful island, don't get me wrong, but there is a lot of beauty and history and more all over Scotland. Another place that is a good base for day tours is Inverness. You can do a day trip by tour from Inverness to Skye, And if you are looking for beautiful train rides think about the train from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh. I don't know why this trip is not talked about as much as the West Highland it's wonderful. And, you can get to Inverness by taking the train from Edinburgh north to Inverness, which is another beautiful train ride. And you could take an early train to Kyle of Lochalsh and meet up with a tour there which will take you over the bridge to Skye.

As for Stirling, its an easy day trip from Edinburgh. Once you're in Inverness, it's easy to get day trip to Loch Ness. I've never taken any of the Rabbies Tours, but they get high marks on this forum. Personally, I would suggest watching the bus times, which I was would advocate for staying in Edinburgh for a while and then basing yourself in Inverness and do day trips from there.

Pam