Two of us renting a cottage near Glencoe for 7 days in early July 2017 to do day trips throughout the Highlands. Then we have essentially 4+ days to use up before we fly out of Edinburgh. We were thinking of driving north along the eastern coast and then to Orkney. Pondering our options about Orkney.
Option a) park our rental car on the mainland in Thurso or John o' Groats and take a one-day trip excursion package on a tour bus to Orkney and spend bookend nights on the mainland.
Option b) park our rental car on the mainland in Thurso or John o' Groats and rent a car for the day on the island and spend bookend nights on the mainland. What are the logistics of getting a rental once we step off the ferry and getting back to the ferry once we're done visiting for the day?
Option c) take the auto ferry over and spend two days/two nights on the island exploring Orkeny. The auto ferry is not cheap, I realize. Is it worth the expense?
We then plan to drive across the top of Scotland from Thurso/John o' Groats to Durness, down the west coast towards Ulapool and head back towards Edinburgh.
Any suggestions would be welcome, thank you!