Hi
I doubt there’s much point in a guided trip unless you are thinking of climbing or walking the Cuillin Ridge.

I’ve never travelled by bus but I suspect it might be cheaper and not much slower. On the other hand the train line from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh ought to be rated among Europe’s very scenic lines and the main line from Edinbugh to Inverness is pretty good itself. It might be a choice between money and pleasure.

It would help if people know roughly how much time you are planning.
Cheers
David

Hi There

Travel from Edinburgh to Skye is pretty easy, there’s good public transport available – train or coach (www.citylink.co.uk) If you drive, you could hire a car – this is defo the best way to see Skye. Like David said, not much need for a guide, just talk to the locals and they will happily keep you right. Get lots of tourist paraphernalia from www.visitscotland.com and choose what you want to see or do. We went to Portree and found a good choice of places that had clean, inexpensive rooms (most do not have their own website, so try www.yell.com and look for accomodation in Skye) Keep an eye open for Eilean Donan Castle, you should pass it on the way from Edinburgh. I have attached a photo – v.pretty! I hope you enjoy seeing ‘the misty isle’ as much as I did.

Best Regards, Marion

It depends on how long you want to go there for and what you want to do.

You could probably do a couple of days in Portree easily enough by public transport (no trains on Skye itself) but if you want to go walking in the Cuillin, Storr or Quiraing areas, then you’d be best hiring a car.

We rented a cottage for a week when we went in 2006 but there were loads of B&Bs and hotels in Portree. Have a look at http://www.scotland-inverness.co.uk/skye.htm for accommodation, transport, etc. I’ve always found this site to a very good source of info when holidaying in Scotland, even though I’m a native.

If it was me, |’d get the bus to Skye. Slower, cheaper and more scenic over the hills. It can take you up as far as Uig (main ferry terminal) on the west coast of the island. the scenery there is beautiful. Nothing like Portree. And from there you can venture up over the Quirrang/Cuillins, Staffin and Idrigil Point/Old Man of Storr. Very Pretty. But Im biased, I lived there for 10 years. lol
I hope you enjoy your trip.