Isle of Skye Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus

Scottish Citylink runs direct buses from Glasgow to Portree (£29, 6¼ hours, three daily) and Uig via Crianlarich, Fort William and Kyle of Lochalsh. Buses also run from Inverness to Portree (£17, 3½ hours, twice daily).

Car & motorcycle

The Isle of Skye became permanently tethered to the Scottish mainland when the Skye Bridge opened in 1995. The controversial bridge tolls were abolished in 2004 and the crossing is now free.

There are petrol stations at Broadford (open 24 hours), Armadale, Portree, Dunvegan and Uig.

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Boat

Despite there being a bridge, there are still a couple of ferry links between Skye and the mainland.

CalMac (01471-844248; www.calmac.co.uk) operates the Mallaig to Armadale ferry (driver or passenger £3.40, car £18.40, 30 minutes, eight daily Monday to Saturday, five to seven on Sunday). It’s very popular in July and August, so book ahead if you’re travelling by car.

Skye Ferry (01599-522273; www.skyeferry.co.uk) runs a tiny vessel (six cars only) on the short Glenelg to Kylerhea crossing (car and up to four passengers £8.50, motorcycle £5, pedestrian £1, bicycle £1.50, five minutes, every 20 minutes). The ferry operates from 9am to 7pm Monday to Saturday from Easter to October only, and 10am to 6pm Sunday from mid-May to August.

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