The Best Ways To Get To Isle Of Skye From Edinburgh

If you do decide to drive, make sure that you exercise caution.

Bus or Coach

Naturally, you won’t find any direct public transport routes that go from Edinburgh to Skye, given the length of the journey and the treacherous nature of the roads. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to just hop on a bus, pay your fare, and then head straight out to Skye.

With that said, the long-distance coach company Citylink does run a service from Edinburgh to Skye. You’ll probably want to pre-book your seats, as the service can get a little busy. If you’re adamant about not driving or hiring a car and want to get to Skye via the road, then this is the perfect way to do so.

You will have to share the coach with other passengers, but they’ll probably be just as excited to see Skye as you are!

Skye itself is probably best experienced through driving or walking (although the 50-mile span might take you a while!). Once you’re there, a bus might not be the best way to explore.

Bear that in mind when you’re building your itinerary, as you don’t want to be left high and dry without any options for seeing everything this majestic island has to offer.

Train

The good people at UK Travel Planning have put together what amounts to a train route that you can use to travel from Edinburgh to Skye. However, you won’t be able to complete the entire journey by train, because there’s no train bridge across from the mainland to the Isle of Skye.

First, you should take the train from Edinburgh’s Waverley Station out to the Highlands station Mallaig. From there, you’ll be able to book passage on a ferry that travels to Armadale, a village near the southern peninsula of Skye.

As UK Travel Planning says, this whole journey is likely to take you around 7 to 9 hours, but it can be completed in a single day. Just be aware that once you arrive, you’re probably not going to have much time for sightseeing.

An alternative to this journey involves staying overnight at the beautiful Fort William. You can then catch either a bus or a ferry to Skye the next day. This has the advantage of allowing you to take your time and not needing to rush for all of your transport within a single day.

It also lets you take in the sights of the ferry or bus journey during the early morning, which is when Scotland is at its best.

Tours

There are many tours that will take you from Edinburgh to Skye. If you don’t mind taking a guided experience, then this is the way to go.

These tours will include transport and will also show you all of Skye’s most important and beautiful landmarks (provided you book the right one). If you’re not sure where on Skye you want to explore or what you want to do, this is definitely your best option.

Just be aware that breaking away from the pack might not be possible, so set aside some extra time for independent exploration if that’s important to you.