We are flying to Edinburgh and will stay there for 5 days so we can explore the city, as well as take day excursions to the surrounding areas.

After that, we head to the west coast for another 5 days. 

We really want to visit Skye and any other spots that are good as day trips.

My questions are:

1) How can we get from Edinburgh to near Skye? Is there a train or bus?

2) Where should we stay for those 5 days on the west coast so it's possible to see Skye and other destinations near to it?

I'm planning a trip to Scotland from mid to end June.

Currently I'm living in Austria with my Border Collie dog. This means I will travel over land.

Thinking about a variety of possibilities:

* over land all the way (driving my own car)

* using the train (maybe partly a car-train, as this is offered quite well from Austria at least to Germany)

* combine car & train

Any ideas what would be best?

I'm looking for a bigger place (city or town) to start from (leaving my car there or getting there by train should be possible).
I would love to stay overnight in (not to expensive) places such as B&B or inns with nice pubs (food) along the trails.
Not important if it's daytrips or a more day trip staying along the way (don't want to use my tent this time).
Wht is important is the possibility to get back to where I started from by public transport (incl. my dog).

Any help would be possible!

Thanks in advance, Mela