Looking for Scotland Travel Help

On our trip, we flew to Shetland (airstrip at the very southern tip of the island at Sumburgh Airport), and rented a car there from Bolts Car Hire. We later turned it in at the ferry terminal in Lerwick (the capital city), and took the ferry to Kirkwall in Orkney. There, we rented from WR Turlock, a Ford dealer.

From Orkney, you can return to mainland Scotland by ferry, or by flying, which we did to Inverness. From there, it was a really rainy drive to Skye, and the sun broke out just as we reached the Skye Bridge - wondrous views!

You will find information on ferries in west Scotland here:>https://www.calmac.co.uk/en-gb/#/

Northlink has an overnight ferry to Shetland that leaves from Aberdeen. Some services stop in Kirkwall in the Orkneys. The ferry terminal in Aberdeen is a short walk from the train/bus station.

https://www.shetland.org/visit/plan/getting-to-shetland/ferry

For Islay there are Citylink coaches from Glasgow which connect with all ferries at the mainland port of Kennacraig, (with rumours of Ember also adding service) as well as the flights from Glasgow.
Also a twice a week ferry from Islay direct to Oban.
The same bus also connects at Tayinloan with the ferry to the Isle of Gigha.

Inverness to Ullapool for the Outer Hebrides now has 3 bus services- D & E, City link and Ember.
Scrabster for Orkney has the train, Ember and Stagecoach (previously Citylink) and flights from Glasgow to Wick on Scottish Air Charter.
There are rumours that Scottish Air Charter intend to start flights to Orkney and/or Shetland from (probably) Glasgow in competition with Loganair.

To the Isle of Skye, for Uist, Ember intend to start running buses in competition with Citylink, later this year.
The buses connect with trains at Fort William and Kyle of Lochalsh.
The Outer Hebrides have 3 airports- the beach landing at Barra, also Benbecula and Stornoway.

There are also flights from Oban to the Isles of Coll, Tiree and Colonsay (as well as the Oban ferries), also an Inter island flight from Benbecula to Stornoway all with Hebridean Air Services.
The Islay to Oban ferry also calls at Colonsay.

jphbucks, that is a wonderful idea! I have not been to Islay, but I do love Mull, and of course I'll be going to Shetland and Orkney next May.

Mull is easy to get to by ferry from Oban, and you just book it with CalMac.

Here are some links that will help you with the Shetland and Orkney transportation. Of course, as everyone has mentioned, NorthLink controls the main ferries between Aberdeen, Orkney and Shetland, and there is also one that goes to Scrabster on the mainland (Caithness).

But the ferries to the Orkney Islands are managed by Orkney Ferries. They have not released their 2027 timetables, but told me that they would be releasing them in January of 2027. They said they'll have a more definite date in December, so you might want to just keep an eye on their website. https://www.orkneyferries.co.uk

And the ferries from Shetland are managed by the Shetland Islands Council. https://www.shetland.gov.uk/ferries
Their timetables right now go through April 30th, 2027. They announce new dates that are open on their Facebook page first, so you might want to check there: https://www.facebook.com/FerryServices

I'm sure you know that LoganAir handles most of the flights, and they've released a lot of their fares for 2027 at this point, including the summer period. There are still some that are not there, but you can just keep checking.

I'm staying in Aberdeen in early May and taking the overnight ferry to Shetland. NorthLink has released their 2027 timetables. You might possibly remember this, but the ferry from Aberdeen only stops in Kirkwall on four days out of the week. https://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/book/routes-times-and-prices/2027-timetables

After the Northern Isles, I am taking the ferry from Stromness on Orkney to Scrabster on Caithness, and from there will take an Ember bus to Inverness, where I plan to rent a car and drive to Skye for a few days. So that would be one way of getting to Skye from the Northern Isles. It's a quick morning ferry that takes about an hour and a half, but if you want, you can spend the night on the ferry the night before for around £50 (plus cost of ticket), which is what I intend to do. https://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/book/offers-and-discounts/hamnavoe-bb and of course, they make this route at other times during the day as well. The early morning one is the only one that offers the B&B option. Here is a link to the timetable for that: https://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/book/routes-times-and-prices/2027-timetables/

Thanks for all the helpful replies! Especially you, @Mardee - glad to see you've shed your troll imposter.

I believe there's plenty of great information here to get started with planning for next summer. I'll try to post our final itinerary once we have it in a few months.

@Mardee - glad to see you've shed your troll imposter.

Yes, it made things a little confusing. 😂