How many days in Sutherland and Orkney?

I want to do that drive someday! Please do a trip report. My husband is a McKay so we have some familial interest. So I don't know for that portion of your trip. But Orkney I have been to. We spent 4 days and could have stayed longer. In 4 days we did the Neolithic sites on the mainland, Kirkwall, drove down to the Churchill barriers to see the Italian Chapel/Tomb of the Eagles, Burgh of Deerness, Broch of Gurness and coast/beaches. So if you want to add in Hoy and Westray I would say do more days in Orkney than Sutherland. Hope you have a great time!!

I agree that since you are already going out to the further reaches, you're better off concentrating your time there. On some future trip you might get a chance to spend more time in Sutherland when you lack the time or stamina to go out to the far-flung isles.

Hi, Standing Stone,

As you're going to be in Ullapool (sailing in from Stornoway?), I'd highly recommend taking some of the side roads on your way north. The first one that you'll come to is a road on your left to Achiltibuie, by way of Stac Polly (Stac Pollaidh) and Loch Lurgainn. Just after Stac Polly, a road (the Wee Mad Road) leads north to Lochinver. From Lochinver, the B869 leads west to Stoer and Drumbeg, and terminates at the A894. Personally, I consider the B869 to be the most beautiful coastal road in Scotland.

After you get to Laxford Bridge, bear to the left on the A838 toward Durness. Just after Rhiconich, go west on the B801 toward Kinlochbervie. Just past Oldshoremore, you can park for the hike out to Sandwood Bay. The hike is about four miles each way, although it's possible to drive about two miles along a track and cut the hike in half. That track may or may not be open. Sandwood Bay is the most beautiful beach on the Scottish mainland, topped only by the beaches of South Harris. It's an easy hike, over level ground most of the way. It can be a bit boggy in places, especially after rain, but you shouldn't have any problems.

Smoo Cave at Durness is worth a visit. If you're at all interested in the history of the Highland Clearances, there is a small museum at Bettyhill, and you should definitely visit Strathnaver, which was cleared by the hated Duke of Sutherland, and his factor, Patrick Sellar. If you are interested, read John Prebble's book before you go.

I hope that you have already made accommodation for your days along the northwest coast. The road which you'll be on is part of the North Coast 500, which opened a couple of years ago. You may find many cars and motorcycles passing you along the way, as most drivers take the route in a clockwise direction. Some are going for the scenery, which is spectacular. Some, however, are trying to set a speed record for the circuit.

I hope that you have a wonderful time, especially on Harris and Lewis.

Mike (auchterless)

Thank your very much for all your advice!

About Orkney, I forgot to mention that it’s not my first time there, but back in 2013 it was my first time in Scotland, I had few informations and I rushed the trip. So I spent only one day and a half in the Mainland, obviously not enough time to properly visit all the island, but I had time to visit at least Skara Brae, Yesnaby cliffs, the Brough of Birsay (found by chance driving around), the Standing Stones of Stenness and Kirkwall (with the cathedral).
This time I would like to have the time to feel more the athmosphere of these islands.

@Mike, all your tips are really useful, thank you! Do you think that 3 days would be a reasonable amount of time in this area, or I would spend to much time just driving?

Obviously (and unfortunately), I have to deal with the global duration of my trip and the other palces I want to visit. I would spend minimum a week in each place I mentioned!

I have done a very similar drive and I have made a couple of trips to Orkney. It's wonderful. So, I want to second the road to Drumbeg. It is an amazing road. You need to do it! We spent the night in Lochinver, but we started further south than Ullapool and stopped off at the Inverewe Gardens at Poolewee, so I would shoot for getting further north if you can. Mike's hike sounds great. My regret was that I did not get out to Cape Wrath. You might want to check into that. We spent our second night in Durness. It was a funky B&B and we had pizza for dinner. We had lunch the next day at Tongue and then toured the Bettyhill museum. At this point we headed south--we had done Orkney at the beginning of the trip and so cut off the last bit to Thurso. You might still want to dip south to Strathnaver if you are interested in the Clearances. It's an abandoned village site.

I do think that you can do this in three nights. I would spend more time on Orkney. I will admit to prejudice as my grandfather is from there. I would look into visiting Hoy. It's really different. We were met by relatives, so I can't speak to the transportation, but I am sure that there are taxis or tours. The Martello Towers were interesting and the very sad lifeboat memorial. If you do get down to Longhope, you'll be at our family farm. Sadly, the original house is gone and they live in a new raised ranch! But the views across the Pentland Firth to Scotland are amazing. There is also a good hike over to see the Old Man of Hoy from the island as opposed to the ship.

Did you have time to really explore the developments at the Ness of Brogdar? Another interesting thing to do on Hoy is to visit some of the jewelers and other crafts. I loved the Hoxa Tapestries. The Tomb of the Eagles is great. My great-grandfather was the postman in St. Margaret's Hope also on South Ronaldsay. We took the ferry over to Sanday and enjoyed the Balfour Castle. There is a lovely walled garden. We, sadly, did not tour Highland Park as it is one of our favorite whiskies. I would love to explore further afield. Check out the tours offered here.

If you have not explored this site, you should. Sigurd first started it in the early aughts. It is really good.

Finally, I recommend reading some George Mackay Brown's books. They are lovely.

Pam

Hi, Pam,

Thanks for the backup on the B869!. One of my favorite memories from that area is having a picnic at the benches at Drumbeg, overlooking Eddrachillis Bay, on a beautiful sunny June afternoon. What I really like about that area, other than the coast, are the mountain peaks that stand alone - Canisp, Quinag, and especially Suilven.

@Standing Stone - to echo what Pam wrote, you can certainly accomplish all of this in three days. You'll be tempted, however, to spend a bit of time in many places.

The Cape Wrath visit is okay. There's not much to see once you get there, other than the lighthouse and the cliffs. The minibus ride is something else! The road out there is a mess of potholes. However, if you think that you'd like to visit, even if just to say that you'd been there, check out Bill Bryson's description in his latest book about British travel, "The Road to Little Dribbling." Or you can look up that section of the book on the internet.

I remembered two stops that you should make while you're in that vicinity. Both in the same area. Just north of Scourie, there is an unclassified single track road which leads to the hamlets of Foindle, Fanagmore, and Tarbet. Take the road clockwise to Tarbet, and from there, you can take a small boat out to Handa Island, which is a bird sanctuary. There is a not too strenuous walk around the island where you have a pretty good chance of seeing puffins out on the sea stack, and being dive bombed by great skuas and Arctic terns.

The second stop that you should make is also in Tarbet. The Shorehouse Restaurant is one of Scotland's hidden treasures. If you don't believe me, check out the reviews! Not only is the food wonderful, but they play traditional Scottish folk music on their sound system/boombox. I've only been there, and Handa Island, once, but now that I'm remembering it, I so want to go back.

You're fortunate in that most of the A roads in Scotland are now two lanes. When I first started visiting Scotland many years ago, just about every road north and west of the Caledonian Canal was a single lane road with passing places. The A830 was an absolute nightmare. I remember just missing the last ferry to Skye on a Saturday evening out of Mallaig, and having to backtrack to Fort William because there was no ferry service on Sunday. If there hadn't been a self service petrol pump at Arisaig, which took 50p pieces, I'd have run out of fuel before I got back to Fort William! Ah, memories!

Have a wonderful time, and enjoy every bit of that scenery!

Mike (auchterless)

Thank you very much for all this suggestions, they’re going to be very useful!