Another Scotland plan including some island bagging

Sounds wonderful - I'm so envious!

jjgurley, I agree with wasleys that it does sound wonderful! And how have I never heard about Shetland: Scotland's Wondrous Isles before? I know what I will be watching next.

I'm sure you will have a incredible trip. I'm very jealous. :-)

There was a new travel guide published in August called Shetland Your Essential Travel Guide by Laurie Goodlad with Misa Hay contributing. I ordered directly from their website, https://shetlandwithlaurie.com/

TBH, I've just flipped thru it as I'm going to France next week and didn't want to hurt my brain with too much info, hahahaha!! Since you've visited previously it might not add much to your knowledge base, though.

Are you giving yourselves a night in Glasgow coming/going? I also follow a FB page called Flight Delays and Cancellations Orkney/Shetland following the flights from both airports to the mainland.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1952704408270771

I might consider doing your 3 nights in Kirkwall (that you have after Stromness,) first in case you have a travel hiccup and need to catch up unless that messes up with ferry schedules.

My mouth has been watering looking at the treats on the FB site for the Peerie shop cafe on the Esplanade in Lerwick!

I hope you will do a Trip Report! I will be returning to Orkney and Shetland in late June 2025.

I have a 4 1/2 hour connection in GLA so only a full day of delay will cause problems. I'm going with the "we've always had good weather" theory. I think Foula and Fair Isle are the biggest risks for cancellation, so I need to have backup accommodations if one is cancelled. Maybe I should rent a camper van.

Foula and Fair Isle are the very high risk destinations. The weather changes on a dime out there, and those are extremely vulnerable flights. I would do either or on any trip, not both.

It tells it's own story that Air Task don't take your money until they know the flight is running on the day, due to the very high number of cancellations and retimings. The plus side is that Air Task run relief flights after a day of cancellations, including combined Fair Isle and Foula flights when circumstances require.

Having used all the Orkney airfields there is no way on earth that I would do a "Fly back to Kirkwall, then on to Sumburgh, drive to Tingwall via market for provisioning and flying to Foula for two nights." journey in one day.

If the Kirkwall to Sumburgh flight is at 1140 on your day there is the possibility of catching the 0845 boat from Westray, arrives KWI 1025, then a quick journey out to KWI airport IF the ferry was on time. But the risk is of both ferry and flight cancellation.
For my liking I would take the last ferry or flight back to KWI the previous night. Ideally I would choose a night when the KWI to Lerwick ferry was running, as you also need the KWI to Sumburgh flight to be pretty much on time.
That transfer to my liking just has far too many huge red flags in it.

The previous iteration of the plan had coming back to Kirkwall from Westray the night before, but I hate to check into back into an accommodation for just 12 hours (although I do it all the time if it's on a route from point to point). I wish the cancellation data was available. Maybe I'll write a script that checks FlightAware and keeps a record.

I also figure if the weather is okay for Foula, the chances of it being okay for Fair Isle are improved.

The whole plan is a little risky, since there are no "easy days" to compensate for problems. We alternate May trips between Scotland and Ireland, and next year is Ireland, so this trip is 2026 or 2028 (this trip and Borders trip), and flight/ferry schedules (and maybe routes) will no doubt change in ways that will require adjustments. The LSI/FIE flight might return, Loganair might be acquired, all sorts of possibilities. Maybe we'll all be doing virtual tours while huddled in our air conditioned shelters :-)

I have zero pointers but massive amounts of admiration. I hope it all works!

Writing this from the MV Hjaltland on the way back to Aberdeen from Lerwick. Our two week trip to Shetland was hugely enhanced by your previous trip reports, so thank you for those! You already know that the flights you plan to Fetlar and Fair Isle could be affected by weather. I guess you could concentrate on Orkney and Shetland and save Barra and the Uists for another trip, but I imagine that your sense of adventure coupled with a degree of flexibility will see you through.

The new guidebook to Shetland mentioned above is excellent and despite having visited previously we found it very useful.

I might take a leaf from your book and post a trip report when home in Skye.
Jacqui