Planning for May 2019

JulieH49

My husband and I plan to explore parts of Scotland in May 2019.  Our goal is to use public transport the majority of the time. A broad outline of our travel (subject to change) is one week in the Inner Hebrides, a second week between Fort William and Inverness, and the third week in the north near John O'Groats and Orkney.  My initial questions then are about transportation and accommodation. 

1. Is it reasonable that we can travel this route with public transportation, allowing for a car rental on Orkney? 
2. Flexibility of accommodation. We are NOT planning on visiting Skye or walking any of the national trails, e.g. The West Highland Way. But we are planning on walking 6-10 km frequently depending upon our location. Do we need to book accommodation months in advance or can we wing it with 2-3 days in advance?  Our accommodation preference is family owned guest houses, b&b's and/or hostels. 

Thank you for your thoughts and ideas regarding transportation and accommodation. I know I'll be back with other more specific questions. 

VisitScotlandLiam

hey @JulieH49, I would always recommend booking well in advance, especially for May as it usually gets quite warm then.

@horizons will be able to let you know what is and isn't possible public transport-wise!

Hope this helps 

JulieH49

Thanks Liam, You confirmed my impression about accommodations. It appears we will need reduce our desire for flexibility to find housing while we traipse about. With that said I'll wait before asking more questions about transport. My thanks again for your response. 

Horizons

Hey @JulieH49, I have a lot of info to give but am currently short on time. The answer is broadly a yes to both questions. I recommend reading the summary of my week-long and month-long public transport trips across Scotland by public transport to access some links and inspiration in the short term. I'll get back with a detailed response when I can in the next week.