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Public Transport Questions - How to get to Skye

Public Transport Questions - How to get to Skye


Postby DinnersReady » Sat Aug 06, 2016 11:34 am

Hi guys,

I've already checked all the public transport and it's pretty expensive to get to Skye from Edinburgh.

I wanted to know if there are scottish equivalents to drivy or others, where a person rents his or her car to someone for a certain amount of time, which is usually cheaper than renting a car from a company.

Also, is there an equivalent to blablacar? I thought that maybe I'd be able to catch a ride from Edinburgh to at least Inverness or so...

Any other cheap options are very welcome as well :)

Cheers,
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Re: Public Transport Questions - How to get to Skye

Postby Skyelines » Sat Aug 06, 2016 2:17 pm

There is a blablacar.co.uk website also have a look at carclub.easycar.com.

You might be lucky on blablacar but I don't think easycar will be cheaper overall than bus.
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Re: Public Transport Questions - How to get to Skye

Postby Caberfeidh » Sun Aug 07, 2016 8:55 am

Train tickets are much cheaper when booked far in advance (i.e. a fortnight or more in advance). Bus or hitch-hike is cheaper still. Hitch-hiking is relatively easy once you are in the west but eastern types tend to be stingy with the lifts! Get to Crianlarich and from there hitching will be easy. Just select a nice long straight bit of road with good long visibility and a place to pull in, take your rucksack off but DO NOT SIT IT IN A PUDDLE OR MUDDY PATCH , face the traffic, stick out your thumb and smile nicely. A bobbly hat helps.
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Re: Public Transport Questions - How to get to Skye

Postby DinnersReady » Wed Aug 10, 2016 6:52 pm

Caberfeidh wrote:Get to Crianlarich and from there hitching will be easy. Just select a nice long straight bit of road with good long visibility and a place to pull in, take your rucksack off but DO NOT SIT IT IN A PUDDLE OR MUDDY PATCH , face the traffic, stick out your thumb and smile nicely. A bobbly hat helps.


thanks, this is good advice! We will travel to Crianlarich then and try our luck from there. Need to get to Duntulm Castle, but I guess Portree or something would be fine as well and then public transport...

Shot in the dark, but does anyone of you guys know if there are lockers in Edinburgh where I could lock in a bag for 2 weeks? Or some other place where I could leave it?
I fly with my camera gear and will take it as hand luggage in a camera pack, but then I'll go hiking the Skye Trail with my big backpack...
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Re: Public Transport Questions - How to get to Skye

Postby nigheandonn » Wed Aug 10, 2016 7:22 pm

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Re: Public Transport Questions - How to get to Skye

Postby Sunset tripper » Wed Aug 10, 2016 8:11 pm

You can get the megabus Edinburgh to Inverness for around £6 return. I know folk who do it all the time though if you cant be flexible with your dates it gets a bit more expensive. The return from Inverness to Portree with citylink starts at about £30 :D
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Re: Public Transport Questions - How to get to Skye

Postby DinnersReady » Thu Aug 11, 2016 4:57 pm

Sunset tripper wrote:You can get the megabus Edinburgh to Inverness for around £6 return. I know folk who do it all the time though if you cant be flexible with your dates it gets a bit more expensive. The return from Inverness to Portree with citylink starts at about £30 :D


this is absolutely amazing!!!
this is like 90% less expensive than booking with citylink... thanks a bunch!
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Re: Public Transport Questions - How to get to Skye

Postby IanEzzi » Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:23 pm

Are Megabus services actually just Citylink coaches? I ask as looking at buses from Edinburgh to Inverness and both companies have services at exactly the same time...

£26 return on Megabus, £40 return on Citylink...
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Re: Public Transport Questions - How to get to Skye

Postby malky_c » Tue Aug 16, 2016 2:03 pm

IanEzzi wrote:Are Megabus services actually just Citylink coaches? I ask as looking at buses from Edinburgh to Inverness and both companies have services at exactly the same time...

£26 return on Megabus, £40 return on Citylink...


Some are one, some are the other. You can book through either company, but they have different pricing structures. Citylink tend to have an advance purchase price (2 days in advance) or a turn-up-on-the-day price, while Megabus prices get gradually more expensive the more seats are booked. The Megabus and Citylink advanced purchase tickets usually restrict you to a particular journey, while the more expensive Citylink fare is basically an open return. Always worth checking both websites to get the cheapest deal.

Both services are owned or part-owned by Stagecoach - Citylink is a joint venture with someone else (can't remember who).
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Re: Public Transport Questions - How to get to Skye

Postby IanEzzi » Fri Aug 19, 2016 12:40 pm

Dinnersready - did you ever get to Skye?

We might have a seat free in a car after someone pulled out last minute, you'd need to be quick though, we're leaving this afternoon!
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Re: Public Transport Questions - How to get to Skye

Postby DinnersReady » Fri Aug 19, 2016 4:42 pm

IanEzzi wrote:Dinnersready - did you ever get to Skye?

We might have a seat free in a car after someone pulled out last minute, you'd need to be quick though, we're leaving this afternoon!


hey man,
thanks a lot for the offer! But our flights are leaving on the 1st of September, we are actually from Germany, so we can't go any sooner...
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