I'm planning a trip to see my son who is doing his University Exchange year in Glasgow. His girlfriend and I are flying Portland (Oregon) to Glasgow on April 5 and flying out of GLA on April 19th. I'm in my late 40's, short hikes ok (I have hip issues), they are early 20's. Since I know we will need to rent a car and I will be the driver I'm trying to see how realistic it is to work in a few trains into the trip to break up the driving (I'm a bit nervous of driving on the right side of the road but I'm sure I'll be fine - with gritted teeth lol). However, I don't know if it's feasible to have multiple car rentals (cost?) or just rent once for the long haul. Since we are only there for about 2 weeks, I know we are going to scratch the surface and we are just fine with exploring a bit. I love pagan, ancient sites, castles (maybe 2-3 would be ok), Roman history, nature/birds/cliffs/beaches, whisky, local foods (we are foodies). I am budget conscious as well so that figures in to this trip. Airline tickets are already purchased!
List of what's on our list to see (please feel free to add places/sites you'd recommend):
1. Glasgow (4-5 nights) plan to train to Edinburgh/Stirling and see these sites this way (my son has done this so he will be the tour guide).
2. Kelpies (even a quick stop is fine!!)
3. Isles of Lewis/Harris (2-3 nights?) (I want to see the Callenais stones/other sites/beaches)
4. Orkney (2-3 nights?) Stone Circles, other neolithic sites, birds, museum there-thinking of visiting other than just main island.
5. Culloden (My son loves history and wants to stop here - 1-2 night around there - I know people stay in Iverness but I was thinking of avoiding there but will stay 1-2 nights). Thinking of Clava Cairns here and maybe a whisky tour if we want to do more.
6. Shetland - thinking if we went from Orkney to Shetland then could either fly to Glasgow or ferry to Aberdeen then train back to Glasgow. Shetland is on the wish list for this trip - not sure if there is enough time but thought I'd add it in for your thoughts.
7. Want to spend at least 1-2 night back in Glasgow for our fair-wells to my son who is finishing out the year at University of Strathclyde...
We want to have days where we can relax and not move too fast -
We like self-catered accommodations.
Best way to get from Glasgow to Isles of Lewis/Harris - should we stop in Skye or skip?
Then getting from those Islands up to Orkney without too much back tracking.
Is Aberdeen worth a night stopover? Would maybe need to do this after if we go to Shetland and take the ferry back?
Accommodation recommendations are much appreciated!
I have been reading everyone's posts and have learned so much!
Your Help is Much Appreciated!!
Posted by
Isle of Skye, Scotland
1575 posts
I honestly don't think you have anywhere near enough time for everything on your wish list.
You have already allocated 5 of your 14 nights to Edinburgh/Stirling. But you also want to see Culloden (near Inverness), Orkney & Shetland and Lewis & Harris. There is no direct way to get from Lewis & Harris to Orkney or Shetland. I live in Skye. It takes me 7.5 hours to drive to Aberdeen to get the overnight ferry to Shetland. I think you are going to have decide between either the Western Isles (Lewis & Harris) or Orkney & Shetland. My personal choice would be the latter.
So here is a potential plan for your remaining 9 nights.
If you wanted to rent a car you could do so on departure from Edinburgh and drive up to Inverness to see Culloden. My husband and I are both history buffs and he is Scottish. Even he was underwhelmed by Culloden. But if it's a must for you then so be it. You could overnight in the area and then spend the next day driving to Aberdeen, maybe taking in a whisky tour on the way as you will pass close to Speyside where there are many distilleries.
Then take the ferry to Kirkwall in Orkney - it arrives very late at night (around 11pm), so you'd need to ensure your accommodation could check you in that late. Second night near Kirkwall. Then you could spend 2 days and the 3rd night more in Orkney exploring the main archeological sites of the main island (mainland). The fourth night you'd spend on the ferry to Lerwick in Shetland arriving around 7am. You could spend 3 nights on Shetland and depart on the evening ferry on the 4th day. You'd sleep on the ferry back to Aberdeen (that takes us to 8 nights). This would leave you a day to get back to Glasgow where you'd spend your final night.
You would definitely want a car to properly explore Shetland. The above is only scratching the surface.
You could fly to Orkney and then on to Shetland but flights are very expensive and prone to cancellation. I personally find the ferry more reliable and a great way to get to Shetland. The cabins are fine but if you do take the ferry you will definitely want a cabin and not a 'pod' (basically just a seat).
The beaches in Shetland are beautiful and you wouldn't be missing out on beaches by not going to Harris.
Hope that's a start for you.
Jacqui (Skyegirl)
Posted by
OP
Coos Bay, Oregon
30 posts
@Skyegirl,
Thank you for your quick response and recommendations. I will see if my son will agree to forgo Culloden as I'd rather spend the time in the Isles.
If we do this, would it be feasible to train from Glasgow to Aberdeen then rent the car there and take the ferry to see Orkney & Shetland then drop the car back off in Aberdeen and train back to Glasgow?
Thank you again for your help!
Posted by
Western Canada
4023 posts
You will be driving on the left, not the right as you said. ?Typo?
Posted by
OP
Coos Bay, Oregon
30 posts
yes of course, I meant drive on the left. thank you!
Here's the rough updated itinerary:
1. Glasgow 4 nights
2. Train from Glasgow from Aberdeen
3. Ferry from Aberdeen to Orkney - arrives at 11 PM
4. Orkney 3 nights
5. Overnight ferry from Kirkwall, Orkney to Lerwick, Shetland
6. Shetland 3 nights
7. Overnight ferry from Lerwick to Aberdeen
8. Possible 1 night stay in Aberdeen
9. Train from Aberdeen to Glasgow
10 1-2 nights in Glasgow then fly back to US
I am thinking of renting car in Aberdeen and then dropping if off there, however if it would work better/cost less I can rent the car in Orkney and then drop off and rent one again for the Shetland leg of the trip. Are there any suggestions on this?
Thank you again!
Catherine
Posted by
Isle of Skye, Scotland
1575 posts
Catherine
I've never rented a car as obviously we take our own when we visit Shetland, but Bolts are the go to car rental on the island and are very close to the ferry terminal. No idea for Orkney but there's bound to be a local agent. The ferry should be cheaper without a car. You'll want to carefully check the ferry timetables as the ferries don't stop in Kirkwall every day.
Jacqui
Posted by
Lake District, England
11104 posts
Given the price of taking a car on Northlink it would seem way more prudent to do all ferry legs as foot pax, then rent local cars in both Orkney and Shetland.
In principle you should be able to connect by air at Inverness Airport from Stornoway (Lewis) to Kirkwall or Sumburgh (Shetland) on Loganair. Without looking I don't know it that works out in practice.
The other way from Aberdeen to Orkney in principle is to fly from Aberdeen to Wick, then the evening Northlink ferry from Scrabster (Thurso) to Stromness (Orkney).
At the moment the Wick flight is suspended after the financial failure of the operator (Eastern Airways). An announcement is overdue by 8 days from Highland Council about a replacement carrier.
There are also daily flights from GLA to Stornoway (Lewis) on Loganair.
EDIT- W R Tullock are the only car rental company on site at Kirkwall Airport (they are also the Europcar franchise), and they also have a town centre office- https://www.wrtullock.com/car-rental/
But I've just been looking at Tullock's prices, and that is real market gouging in force to a captive market. It might almost be cheaper to rent in Aberdeen and pay the £150 ferry cost for a car each way (ABZ-KWI and LWK-ABZ) and the £100 or so for the KWI-LWK passage. You need to check that carefully.
You would do the Kelpies the same day as Stirling or Edinburgh as Falkirk is on the way.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
16553 posts
IF you are birders, I hired a private guide for one of my days on Orkney in June. We had really, really dreadful weather which prevented us from going to the Western side of the islands as the wind was too strong. As it was we had wind gusts up to 52mph so we did not see as many birds as the guide expected us to. The guide is Raymond Besant and is a local Orkney guy, professional photographer and videographer and a birder. He has a FB page which I follow for his photos as well as a website where he books tours. I had a wonderful time with him and for myself it was well worth the money!
https://www.facebook.com/raymondbesant
Have you watched the Saoirse Ronan film called The Outrun? It takes place on Papa Westray, one of the outer Orkney islands. Raymond did the underwater cinematography for it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outrun_(film)
Another Orkney guide I follow is Kinlay Francis who owns Orkney Uncovered. IF you are only going to have 2 days on Orkney you might consider doing a day tour with him to get to a good number of the neolithic sites. They are mostly easily accessible via car but he might be able to be more efficient for your short time. I spoke with him briefly at a tea room (he was coming out, I was headed in with my tour group, hahah) and he seems very personable.
https://www.facebook.com/OrkneyUncovered
Shetland is fabulous as well. Very different from Orkney. I love both and have been to each twice...last time was in June/July of this year with 12 nights on each.
Posted by
Mountains of S. Oregon
1048 posts
In 2022, we flew into EDI (from Seattle) and connected to a LoganAir flight to Stornoway arriving at 3pm. I like to take advantage of being groggy to make progress in our itinerary. We stayed three nights, which is not enough time to visit more than Harris and Lewis. We're doing Uist/Berneray/Barra on our May '26 trip. We left Stornoway at 8am on another LoganAir flight, arriving in Shetland at 11am, where we spent another three nights, which was adequate for all the mainland sights, but insufficient time for any islands. We did Yell, Unst, Fetlar on our '24 trip.
At this point, you could fly to Orkney, where three nights would be enough time for the mainland and maybe Bressay or Hoy, We did this near the end of the same trip because we met some friends that wanted to join us.
Due to our friends, our trip proceeded from Shetland to Glasgow (flying, yet again), an afternoon/night in Glasgow, picked up our friends at GLA, drove via Loch Lomond (Firkin Pt., Inverglass, Kilchurn) to Oban for three nights (Westcoast three Island Boat trip, Kilmartin Glen). From there we drove to Ft. William for one night, saw the Jacobite in the station, then saw it again at Glenfinnan on the way to Mallaig for the 2pm ferry to Skye. Three nights in Portree, then via the bridge to Inverness for one night (Culloden, Clave Cairns), then one night in Dunkeld, then to EDI via Stirling, Doune , and the Kelpies to drop the car and fly to Orkney. Then back to Edinburgh for the last few days of the trip. Sorry to end up with nearly a full trip report!
My math tells me that flying more than makes up for the extra cost by giving us precious daylight touring hours/days. LoganAir has "demand pricing" peppered with occasional sales, so there are deals to be had. Seasickness is also avoided.
Posted by
OP
Coos Bay, Oregon
30 posts
Thank you for all your wonderful replies and suggestions for our trip next spring.
I was able to book a 3 day Rabbies Tour from Inverness to the Islands of Lewis and Harris - I've seen such great reviews on their tours, then once we are back to Inverness after that tour we are taking the Train to Thurso and on to Orkney for a few days.
I also booked a Rabbies Day Tour to Hadrian's wall from Edinburgh!
I have booked the ferry to and from Orkney - going via Scrabster---Stromness.
I am wanting to rent a car in Thurso to take on the ferry - Does anyone have suggestions as to a good company? Close to the train station would be great as we would want to pick it up on arrival and drop it off before getting back on the train.
Thank you all once again!
Posted by
Lake District, England
11104 posts
That is a very good question about cars up in the far north.
As far as I know your only option is Hertz at Wick Airport (Wick being the other terminus of the far north line, after Thurso) then a taxi from Wick Station to the airport on the edge of town.
The advice would always be to take the mid morning train from Inverness as the afternoon train is too tight timed IMO. As it happens that would give you time in both directions to pick up the car.
The afternoon train works if it's on time. If it picks up any delay then, as you have to transfer the 2 miles or a bit less from station to Scrabster it has the potential to unravel.
Or you could just go foot pax, then the guaranteed connecting bus to Kirkwall and pick up a car in Kirkwall next morning.
Posted by
OP
Coos Bay, Oregon
30 posts
I was just looking at the ScotRail app and we need to travel from Inverness to Wick on a Sunday - I am only seeing 1 train on Sundays and that is an evening train (17:54--22:17). I was able to look into February as April has not opened up yet for trains. Does anyone know if there is only 1 train on Sundays?
If true, then I will rent a car in Inverness and plan to drive - which is not a big deal - I was just looking forward to the train ride - it has good reviews for being beautiful!
Posted by
Glasgow
150 posts
It would most likely be cheaper to hire on Orkney itself, than Thurso which itself is not too far from the harbour at Scrabster.We stayed in a beautiful B&B in Scrabster before our ferry to Stromness (with our own car as we live in Scotland)and then walked down to the harbour where there is a nice restaurant for dinnner - the Captain’s Galley.
https://www.captainsgalley.co.uk/home
I’m delighted that you are making it over to Lewis and Harris. Harris in particular is out of this world beautiful and the beaches are just stunning.My only concern would be staying in Stornoway which feels very urban IMO and quite unlike the rest of the Outer Hebrides.It is the capital of course but still…
The Outer Hebrides, along with the Isle of Mull, are wildlife central- especially for star species such as golden and sea eagles, otters and often course, seabirds.Red deer abound (literally!)
I hope you get decent weather for the Ullapool - Stornoway crossing as it is a stunner with the Coigach/Assynt mountains rearing out of the ocean.I’ve seen Orca and certainly Minke whales and often dolphins on the journey which we’ve enjoyed summer and winter.
I don’t often disagree with Skyegirl but I must say that I love Culloden as a site.The wrap around short film presentation which you should definitely experience, always reduces me to tears.Then the walk round the battlefield. The visitor centre has some excellent memorabilia and info on the battle.My husband is steeped in Scottish history and is also a Gael and certainly highly rates the site.Anyway - views will differ!
Your time in Inverness is obviously packed but I’m saying the above just in case you have time for Culloden.
There are great views on the Scrabster sailing , of the Old Man of Hoy sea stack (also a superb walk out to it on Hoy itself) so look out for it.
I assume in Glasgow you will visit the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow University which has some fine Roman artefacts.