6 Days in Scotland - Perthshire/Fife or Shetland?

Hi, J.E.,

There are three non-stop flights daily from Aberdeen to Lerwick, and one flight which stops in Kirkwall. You would be better off hiring a car on Shetland - you'll be able to set your own schedule, without having to worry about waiting for a bus. Other than in Lerwick, the main island is fairly rural, and there are car ferries to the outlying islands.

Loganair is the main carrier to Lerwick. They do have a 15kg baggage weight limit, which you may want to consider when travelling to Lerwick.

If you're heading up to Aberdeen from the Lake District, you'd need to go through Glasgow on your way to Edinburgh. You won't see any of the Fife coast, as the train stays inland until Dundee. After Dundee, however, you'll be able to see much of the coast as the train travels through Angus, Kincardineshire, and Aberdeenshire. The train travels inland between Montrose and Stonehaven, so you'll see a good bit of the Howe of the Mearns, which was popularized in Gibbons' novels.

Aberdeen Airport is about eight miles from the train station. The 727 bus runs frequently from outside the train station to the airport. Taxi would be about 35 pounds. There is also train service to Dyce, which is near the airport. You'd need to switch trains at Aberdeen Union Station. There are several hotels at the airport; however, if you arrive in Aberdeen too late to catch your flight to Lerwick, you could stay in town and catch a bus or train the following morning. I have to warn you that central Aberdeen is a bit grim, but at least there would be a greater choice of restaurants.

Good luck with your plans!

Mike (Auchterless)

That is not accurate.
There is an hourly train service from the Lake District to Edinburgh where it is a same station change (either at Haymarket or Edinburgh Waverley depending on timings) for Aberdeen. From Edinburgh the train crosses the Forth Bridge then you see quite a bit of the Fife Coast before crossing the Tay Bridge into Dundee.
In Glasgow, also an hourly train from the Lake District, you would have to change trains between Central and Queen Street. I would always use the Edinburgh route. The service is also more frequent than from Glasgow.
Don't book a through ticket. Book one ticket to Edinburgh then a 2nd one to Aberdeen- far cheaper.
August is the best time of year to go to Shetland. It is only just past mid Summer when they have the 'simmer dim' when the sun never sets so the days are almost endless.
It is not impossible to get between the main islands between bus and on Shetland mainland the bus system is surprisingly good, but it is certainly far easier by car. There are several car hire places in Lerwick itself, as well as the airport.
There is always a bus from the airport to Central Lerwick. Tell the driver where you are staying and he'll set you down as close as he can in what is a small town for a 'capital'. Thanks to oil money the roads are really good and are usually empty. Shetland barely does traffic jams, the total opposite.
There is an 'integrated' daily bus service up the spine of the country daily where a succession of buses meet the ferry, which waits if they are late, and a bus on the other side meets that ferry. A very slick operation. All the way to the northernmost bus stop in the UK on Unst. A stop which is decorated and actually has it's own web site.
The easiest island to get to is Bressay across the harbour from which you can cross the island to a wee ferry to the birders paradise of Noss.
And don't miss the Mousa Boat- another island which is both a nature reserve and an Iron Age broch.
Some of the outer islands, notably Fair Isle, are best reached by inter island air from Tingwall Airport (north of Lerwick), not Sumburgh right at the south end. You can day trip, or can stay overnight in a lighthouse.
For a real away from it all experience try Out Skerries on a Friday- the only day when they have a day trip ferry. A tiny three island group. I have actually stayed overnight there once.
There's a really good museum in Lerwick and Mareel- for theatre and movies.

An alternative to flying from Aberdeen is to take the ferry overnight from Aberdeen to Lerwick. It leaves Aberdeen either 5pm or 7pm depending on whether it calls in at Orkney.

Coming back you leave Lerwick at either 5.30 or 7pm, again depending on a stop in Orkney. Book a cabin for a comfortable night's sleep.

Book a car for Shetland - you will need it to get around the island. Inter island ferries are cheap and it is well worth trying to visit the more eassily accessible islands like Bressay, Yell, Unst, Whalasay with your car

Do a boat trip to Noss for the seabirds.

Check day flights from Tingwall Airport to places like Fair Isle or Foula. Many yeares ago we did the day trip to Foula . It was a small plane and I sat next to the pilot on the outward journey and husband on the return. It was a wonderful experience. Foula is so isolated and they has to move the sheep off the landing strip before we could land.

By the way Loganair do have a flight from Sumburgh to London City on a Monday and Thursday at 1455, arriving at 1840. There are several hotels in the London City airport area to overnight before a flight home with easy travel on the Docklands Light Railway into London and Heathrow. So you don't have to go back to Aberdeen.
They also have flights to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Thank you all for the info on Shetland! This is very helpful.

I have been to Shetland twice. First time flew from states to Aberdeen. We took the overnight ferry to lerwick with sleeping Berth. Rented a car from Bolts, rented self catering cottage. Returned via ferry again back to Aberdeen. Rented car and drove around scotland and returned out of Edinburg.

Past summer we went to Iceland, flew to Glasgow, flew to Kirkwall for a week, flew to sumburgh for a week. Return via ferry again to Aberdeen, walked to train station caught train to Edinburgh waverly, stayed a night and returned home from Edinburgh

Kim