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Car hire on the isles

Joyful_1Joyful_1 Member ✭✭
in Scotland's Islands
I'm planning a trip May 2019. I'll be using public transportation for the  most part. I want to visit Mull, Iona, Lewis and Harris. If  I were going to rent a car at one destination which one would you recommend? I'm assuming that the roads on the isles are less traveled. 

Comments

  • MoFMoF Member ✭✭
    Something to consider, is there are a lot of single track roads in the less traveled areas, such as the highlands and the islands.    I've driven on Islay, and it can be calmer and quieter.  A lot of the islands have their own local rental companies, that will even let you leave the car by the ferry port.

    If you are coming from overseas you still even on the single track need to pull over onto the passing places on the left and never the right.

    That may or may not cause anxiety, to know how to drive and be comfortable with reverse before using these roads. 

    https://www.visitscotland.com/about/practical-information/driving-in-scotland/

    Then read up on single track roads in the highway code.  

    https://www.gov.uk/browse/driving/highway-code-road-safety



  • HorizonsHorizons Member, VisitScotland Ambassador ✭✭✭✭
    Hiya @Joyful_1, I'd personally recommend hiring a car on Lewis for multiple reasons.
    • Stornoway is surprisingly big and easy to hire a car from.
    • Many tourism hotspots on Lewis and Harris are genuinely difficult to get to efficiently by public transport (ex: Bus W2 for Callanish standing stones runs every 2 hours from Stornoway, Luskentyre is a request stop, etc).
    • Too many beautiful spots to count.
    Using public transport, it is relatively easy to be based near Craignure and be able to see Tobermory, Iona and Staffa across a couple of days. That said, I'd love to drive to places like Calgary Bay, pretty much impossible to get to by bus.

    And @MoF is absolutely correct, following single track driving road ettiquette is paramount. The Hebridean roads are fairly quiet, the most traffic I personally saw is pictured below


    I'm Anirudh, an Indian travel blogger who has explored a lot of Scotland by public transport. My blog. Find me on Facebook | Instagram

    Best of Scotland in 1 week itinerary (fully by public transport)

    My Scotland travels (includes Edinburgh, Skye, Mull, Arran, Orkney, Loch Lomond, Islay, Oban, Speyside)

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