Travel to Skye, Scotland from tour

The forum probably cannot answer this question on behalf of the tour company, your best bet is to call or email the Rick Steves offices directly - https://www.ricksteves.com/about-us/contact-us

I assume the shorter Scotland tour which starts in Inverness and ends in Edinburgh?
Have you decided which to do first, and how many days between?
If you have the answer to those questions it's possible a forum member might be able to suggest ideas for adding Skye.

Not RS, but the obvious answer if the tours have no time in between is to either go early or stay after (depending on which tour you are doing first. You would need to then decide to either rent a car, go via public transportation (which isn’t exactly straightforward), fly Loganair, or add a multi-day Rabbies Tour.

Sorry - was typing at the same time as LizinPA.

No need to apologize, TexasTravelMom!
Hopefully both our replies will be helpful.

Thank you both!
We are traveling 13 days in Scotland, then 7 days in Ireland; with one day in between. There is a “free day” in one of the areas of Scotland, during the tour. I just have to find out if it is feasible from there.
As was suggested, I think I will contact RS Tours directly to see what they may suggest. Thank you for the link!

We are traveling 13 days in Scotland, then 7 days in Ireland; with one day in between. There is a “free day” in one of the areas of Scotland, during the tour. I just have to find out if it is feasible from there.

You can contact the office, but I don't believe there is any way that you could travel to Skye on one free day (I'm assuming you are talking about your free day in Oban). First, you would have to rent a car for the day to get to Skye, which is a four hour drive each way from Oban. That gives you only a few hours there at best. It's just not doable. And public transportation is not an option in that short amount of time. Nor is a tour. Oban is not a big place so there is very little demand for tours from there.

Your best option is to go before your Scotland tour. I would suggest flying in 4-5 days early to Glasgow, and then taking a tour from there, like the Rabbies 3-day tour of Skye that leaves from Glasgow. Rabbies is highly recommended here, and that would allow you the time to explore the island easily. https://www.rabbies.com/en/scotland-tours/from-glasgow/3-day-tours/the-isle-of-skye-3-day-tour

Check Robbie’s website. I know they offer a day tour from Inverness; there may be an option from Edinburgh.

Renting a car from Oban isn't a practical proposition either. None of the national/international companies are there- just a couple of family businesses who rent as a side show.

Check Robbie’s website. I know they offer a day tour from Inverness; there may be an option from Edinburgh.

Chris, it's Rabbies, not Robbies. And they offer tours from multiple cities, including Glasgow, which the OP will be flying into.

Autocorrect strikes again!

Thank you all for your suggestions. I have learned there is a ferry from Oban to Skye that takes approximately 45 minutes.
Since we won’t have a car, is there a place on Oban to rent bikes or a moped?
Also, we have considered to take the ferry (for a ride or hop on hop off) to the inner or outer Heberdines before heading back to Oban.

Thoughts?

That ferry is to the Isle of Mull. There is no ferry sailing to Skye except for a once a year sailing- normally from Armadale, sometimes Portree- normally in May. That is a full day sailing.

There is a small (very small) cruise ship which on a roughly weekly basis does Oban to Armadale (Skye) as part of a week long itinerary from Inverness. But you have to do the full cruise which isn't cheap.

The ferry run I always recommend is Oban to the Isle of Coll- you get several hours ashore while the ferry continues on to Tiree and back.

Once a week that sailing continues on to the Isle of Barra so you can have a long time ashore on either Coll or Tiree, before the boat returns.

The other option is to take the ferry one way to Coll or Tiree then fly the other way to/from Oban Airfield with Hebridean Air Services. A bus meets the plane at Oban Airfield for Oban Town Centre, and there is a 'ring a ride' bus service on Tiree to take you from the airport to the ferryport, or anywhere else on the Island.

On Coll you can

hire a bike from the Coll Post Office (9am – 1pm Monday to Saturday) where booking advisable – tel: 01879 230395. Bike Tours are available on a Tuesday and Thursday at 1pm with a local guide. Tours last approximately three hours and cost £10. To book, contact Carol on 01879 230436.

On Tiree you can also hire bikes- https://www.tireefitness.co.uk/bike-hire

I agree with Stuart. There is no ferry from Oban to Skye. Just check the Calmac website if you don't believe us. https://calmac.co.uk/summer-timetables (these timetables are from 2024, but will still give you you info on where each ferry goes).

I've been continuing to look at this-

You can also do bike hire on both of the islands in Oban Bay- Kerrera and Lismore. Lismore would be a wonderful island for cycling, with very little traffic and no significant hills. The ferry to Lismore leaves from a slipway just outside Oban Ferry Terminal.

For Kerrera you would use the Marina Ferry from the North Pier- NOT the Calmac ferry from 2 miles out of town

Kerrera- https://kerreramarina.com/e-bikes/

Lismore- https://www.lismorebikehire.co.uk/about

Also Luing- the biggest of the Slate Isles- now apparently has bike hire-https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/luing-bike-hire-p1290161

That is the shortest ferry ride in Scotland at 280 yards long- a Council run ferry. You get there on the bus from Oban. This is replacing the former post bus service on the island.

New options there for three interesting islands, none of which would strike you at first glance. A case of knowing the area and thinking laterally.

Thank you all for your replies.

I guess we will not be able to see the famous Isle of Skye on this trip.

You can absolutely see Isle of Skye and do the 8 day Heart of Scotland tour! We did that RS tour in August which met at 4pm on a Wednesday in Inverness. We arrived a few days earlier (to Edinburgh, train to Inverness—and I might just have preferred to fly into Inverness, but we got over jet lag with a night at the W in Edinburgh and enjoyed the Fringe sights for a day.) We arrived in Inverness a day ahead of our Isle of Sky Tour and stayed at the Marriott (very nice.) We booked a 2 day tour of Isle of Skye through Timberbush Tours leaving from Inverness, with an overnight stay in Portry in Skye. It was great! Andrew was our guide. Look on Viatour or Get Your Guide for the 2 day tour that goes Monday/Tueday, which will have you back the day ahead of when your RS tour joins up. Timberbush and Rabbi’s are both good and seem to run exactly the same stops as we saw both busses at every place. We did the tours with the Fairy Pools (which is really a very long hike to see waterfalls!) We stayed in downtown Portry at the Rosedale which was very convenient; the airbnb’s the tours arrange for you can be a ways away from downtown. Highly recommend this…easy to do!!!

Great info above for those doing the short 8 day Scotland tour and arriving a few days early but I believe the OP stated a number of times that he’s doing the 13 day tour and trying to get to Skye on the free day in the middle of the tour at Oban.