We've been planning our Scotland trip for 2 weeks in August, and will be visiting the Shetland & Orkney islands from Thursday 8/7 thru Monday 8/11. We'd like more than 3 days and 4 nights, but that's what our schedule affords, and we already booked an arriving plane ride, connecting ferry, and departing plane ride. We'd seen nothing about this in Rick Steves, Lonely Planet, Fodor's etc. but just discovered the first week of August is the Orkney Agricultural Show, a BIG event that draws thousands of people to the area. Pro: there are even more things to do and see than we'd anticipated, Con: securing lodging may be tougher than we anticipated!
We just scored the last room in Kirkwall, and the 2 of us planned to use B&B's pretty much everywhere, and have also booked places at the beginning and end of our trip (in/near Edinburgh), but now we need to nail a place for one night in Shetland. Shetland may or may not be affected directly by The Show, but the one-night thing may be a problem during August. We plan to rent a car for our brief time in Shetland, so can hopefully reach a place that has an affordable room. A camping Bod is not under consideration. Does anyone have any suggestions or referrals? Thanks so much.