Scotland: Mallaig to Kyle of Lochalsh

Elodie, It's hard to find the details on this on line and public transit on Skye has been notoriously difficult, although I've seen comments that the east coast has bus service. There is taxi service and you might do better to check into that cost. Alternatively, post this question on TripAdvisor. There are more locals on their forums and I think you'll get a good answer there. Pam

Thank you! I'll try Trip Advisor and see what happens.

To me it looks like you need to take the Mallaig-Armadale ferry-about 30 minutes. Then there are several taxi services on Skye to take you to Kyle of Lochlash. As best I can tell Stagecoach bus goes over most in the isle. I do not see a route down A 851. Someone from there might know the answer or you might email Stagecoach & see what happens. Beautiful area.

Thank you. I'll check it out. Glad to hear it's worth the visit.

Elodie: We're going to be on the Isle of Skye in a few weeks. If you take the ferry from Mallaig to Armadale, as suggested by a previous poster, there is a Stagecoach bus from Armadale to Broadford. There are several connections from that bus to a Broadford-Kyle of Lochalsh bus with about a three minute connection. We're going to be staying in Broadford, and it's a "wee village", so the connection should be straightforward. We' will be taking our leave of Skye by busing from Broadford to Mallaig (the reverse of your direction). Before the summer schedule was posted, I emailed Stagecoach, and they gave us some connection times that co-ordinated with the ferry to Armadale. Bill
Syracuse, NY

Oh well, then! This may be the answer to my question. I'll pass this on to my son who has designated himself as navigator. Thank you!

Let us know what you figure out. As with any travel it can come down to time and money. Pam

I managed a very long ferry/ bus trip from Mallaig to Kyleakin which is across the bridge from Kyle of Lochalsh (buses or taxis connect the two). I changed buses at Broadford. All in all it took nearly three hours, but was very pretty. This is definitely the long way, but there seem to be very few bus options in this area. Kyle is quite small, but there is a bus station there.

-just noticed that Bill had posted a similar reply to mine, sorry to be redundant.

A charming additional note: My landlady in Kyleakin knew that I was coming by public trnsportation from Fort William and was getting worried about me so she called the ferry office at Armadale to see if an American lady had gotten there. He told her that he had seen me get onto the bus for Broadford, so she knew that I was okay and on my way.

A tip for anyone taking the Mallaig - Armadale ferry: you might want to buy your ticket in advance. We didn't know that this was possible, and we got put in one of the standby lanes. We watched car after car board and ferries depart. By a miracle, we wound up being the last car allowed on the last ferry of the day (6 PM). Those with advance reservations always have priority, otherwise you take your chances. Of course if you're traveling by bike or on foot, this isn't an issue. You can find all the ferry info (and buy tickets if you want to) at: www.calmac.co.uk

Thanks Diane! Being redundant just reinforces from 2 sources! Nice to know. And what a sweetheart of a land lady. I hope we're that lucky although so far, I haven't been able to get any confirmed reservations in Plockton or Thurso. Arrrgg - the hassles of do-it-yourself travel. Usually well worth it though!

The reservation is probably not needed if you are a walk-on, as you would probably be if you are planning to travel by bus. There was plenty of room in the passenger lounge.

reservation for the ferry, that is- I hope that you are able to get your room reservations as the area is well worth visiting.

Success! I got reservations in both Plockton and Thurso so now we just have to get there. The place in Plockton said they would pick us up in Kyle so that will help.
Thank you all for all the suggestions. They've been so helpful. I'm a novice as far as Scotland goes so I can use all the help offered!