My wife and I plan to spend the entire month of April touring much of Scotland we weren't able to see in our three-week, Sept-Oct 2024 trip. Flying into and out of Glasgow, our plan after 2 days in Glasgow is to visit Ullapool and surrounding areas before heading to Lewis & Harris from 8-11 April to visit the sites there. Having read Forum entries for several years I would appreciate reader's perspectives on their history experience of CalMac ferry service we might expect on those dates. For perspective, after these areas we'll be travelling Fort Augustus, Eastern Scotland (have to see Glenfiddich Distillery and St. Andrew's Old Course), the Lowland/Borders area, Arran, Mull of Kintyre and Oban are before heading to Glasgow for our return flight. My detailed itinerary has much more information of places to visit and side trips to take for the trip. But for now, if folks can offer their perspectives on the April ferries it is much appreciated.
Posted by
Minnesota🌲
10868 posts
I'm assuming you are driving?
Regardless and with all due respect, there is no way anyone can predict what will happen with the ferries on a future date as it's so weather-dependent. Chances are you'll be fine but you just never know. I do know the ferries heading to and from Lewis and Harris are the really big ferries, so you'd have better luck with those than possibly the smaller ones. I was there in May of 2023 and took the ferry up to Lewis and Harris and then onward and didn't have any problems.
But overall I would say most people make their destinations with no problems using the ferries. It might be more difficult if you were going to a much smaller outlying island, but the main islands in the Hebrides are probably a pretty safe bet. And there's almost always a work-around. When I was there, there were issues with some of the ferries because of age and repair work needed. So some changes were made to my ferry bookings, but I still managed to get to all the places necessary with little to no disruption in my itinerary.
Posted by
Lake District, England
10938 posts
The thing is that the number 1 role of the ferries is freight- especially getting the food in the shops. So that means traffic has to be kept moving if humanely possible. Most of the freight can't be taken in by air.
If a ferry breaks down traffic will be re-routed via another port. So if the Ullapool ferry breaks down you will be re-routed via Skye, or as capacity allows with extra sailings added if crew hours allow it. Likewise vv. If the weather is a problem then relief sailings are added before or after the weather event if possible. Also from Ullapool then if they have a major backlog of traffic it is not totally unknown to send passengers on the overnight freight sailings which aren't in the main timetable. It just isn't possible or desirable to record all of that on the forum.
If you are re-routed or stranded for reasons other than weather, then CalMac have a compensation scheme including a mileage payment to drive to another port, and paying for overnight hotels and meals- https://www.calmac.co.uk/en-gb/book/passenger-rights/#/
Last week there was a sailing from Oban to Tiree which left Oban on it's operational limits. By the time it got to Tiree the weather had worsened beyond the forecast, the ship tried to dock twice but the wind snapped the shore lines both times (at very high risk to the shore crew) so she had to go back to Oban. It must have been quite dramatic. Apparently in that case an exception was made and hotel rooms overnight paid for. But it shows that they will sail if at all possible.
Everyone is very hopeful that a new ship will be in the fleet by April, which will add much needed resilience to the fleet.
Weather is an act of God- but then Ullapool may be cancelled, but the Skye route on (more likely to be the other way round), so just re-route accordingly and be cheerful with the staff. They are under as much pressure as you, if not more. Flexibility is the key.
Posted by
Mountains of S. Oregon
1021 posts
You might arrange your itinerary so that the islands are at one end of the trip, and use Logan Air instead of the ferry so you don't end up with two rental cars at the same time. The cancellation rate is lower (in my experience), and sea-sickness can't ruin a day or two.
We typically do three week trips (way too short), and a few years ago, we flew SEA to EDI and immediately connected to Stornoway by air. You'll be tired and jet-lagged already, so continuing the travel makes sense. On that trip, we then flew Stornoway to Shetland, then back to GLA to rent a car and do the mainland portion.
Posted by
Freedonia
18271 posts
I visited Lewis & Harris in early September. The ferry was fine. The return journey to Ullapool looked iffy due to weather but it eventually ran.
Some of the roads on the islands are one lanes. Get familiar with the rules for passing traffic.
If you will be there over a weekend, make your hotel reservations way in advance. I decided to go in July and my choices for September in Stornoway were slim.
If you take the ferry both ways, and it's meal time, I can recommend the CalMac & Cheese as well as the Steak Pie.
Posted by
1915 posts
Six years ago we went to Arran and Barra in September. For Arran we took the ferry from Ardrossan and departed via Lochranza. Since we were driving we made reservations to Arran after first confirming with the car rental agency that it was permitted to take one of their cars on the ferries. I don't believe you can make a reservation for the Lochranza ferry. You just get in line. We flew to Barra - always wanted to take a flight that landed on the beach. Given that the Outer Hebrides were being hit with the tail end of an Atlantic hurricane it proved to be the better decision. The ferries to and from Barra were cancelled for several days. But the Logan Air flights remained on schedule.