Week after next I'll be getting a little break from stay-at-home-dadding as my wife takes care of the kid for 3 days. As I've not really seen much of Scotland outside of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, and St Andrews, I'd like to take advantage of my right to roam before we finally head back to the states. We'll probably all go to Isle of Mull for a few days before I take my time off, so I'm thinking of spending some more time in the western Highlands and islands. I'm also thinking of heading up to the north-east since that's where my family originally emigrated from. In any event, I'll have to be entirely dependent on public transit, my legs, and maybe my bike if I plan the trip around some riding. With that in mind, here are a few questions:

1. How visitor friendly is Islay? It's a bit out of the way, but the home of my favourite whiskies for sure. How about Skye without a car? Talisker's nice, too.
2. Will it be warm enough to do a fair bit of walking, 15 or so miles a day, anywhere in the Highlands in a week or 2? Rain gear of course will be a must, but I don't mind getting a bit wet. I'm thinking of doing a bit of the Speyside trail, since that's my second favourite sort of whisky.
3. What sort of accommodation could I find? Should I plan well and book B&Bs ahead of time or will I be able to just wander as I'm led and find a place to sleep when the day's over?

I'm sure I'll think up more questions later on, but the cafe downstairs just opened and the little man is hungry. Thanks ahead of time for your input!