In the past visitors looking for Isle of Skye travel options were fairly dependent on the regular ferry services which traveled to and from the island from various mainland locations (including Mallaig and Glenelg). The ferry services still run today but, in 1995, however, the Skye Bridge was opened which made things easier for visitors to the island.

The bridge links Skye directly with mainland Scotland. It initially opened with a toll payment system in place. Locals and visitors, however, were not happy with the charges made here and the Scottish Executive bought the bridge out of private ownership in 2004 and removed the toll payment system so crossing it is now free of charge. This bridge really has opened up Isle of Skye travel and access routes for both locals and visitors.

Visitors can also access the island via airplane as there is an airstrip near Broadford. This does tend to be used for private planes, however, and most will come to the island either via ferry or by vehicle over the bridge. There are also a variety of bus services into the island from many major mainland towns and cities. These use the bridge which, again, has broadened the options when it comes to deciding which Isle of Skye travel routes to use.

Most of these services will run into Portree. If you are using the train as part of your Isle of Skye travel itinerary then most people will head for the Kyle of Lochalsh to access the Skye Bridge. Some will then pick up a bus on to the island itself or, indeed, simply walk across it.

The main road on the island itself is the A87 trunk road. Visitors looking for Isle of Skye travel options when they arrive on the island without a car have a variety of options. Most will opt to use one of the local bus services that run on the island. Some only concentrate on major routes and towns whilst others run local services across the island itself.

If you want to use a car when visiting the island but don’t want to drive into the area then you can hire cars from a variety of locations. One particularly popular way of really experiencing the best of Isle of Skye travel opportunities is to hire a bike. You can do this in Portree and Broadford, for example. There are also plenty of taxi firms on the island and some coach operators do guided tours of Skye if that would be of interest to you.