Which islands in Scotland would you focus on?

I would maybe pair Skye and Lewis but skip the northern isles or drop Skye and vist the northern isles
Lewis is a stunningly stark landscape and Tarbet to Stornoway might be my favourite journey in the UK after visting last year

The natural partners are Skye with Lewis and Harris OR the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland. Choose one or the other and use the days 'saved' to give more time.

Skye, Lewis and Harris are mainly about scenery and there is some stunning walking. The Northern Isles have the prehistoric remains, especially Orkney. Scenery is good but not quite on the dramatic scale of Skye or Harris. Walk Highlands is the walkers Bible so check out walks on that. There is plenty of choice from short easy walks to the real head bangers stuff.

You are more likely to see puffins on Shetland - Sumburgh Head is the classic spot and you can get within a short distance of them. For Skye, Lewis or Harris you would need to do a boat trip. I've seen otters, wales and dolphins regularly on holidays to Shetland.

I agree with Richard and Wasleys about doing one or the other. And when you say 2-3 days do you mean 3-4 nights which give you 2 or 3 full days? Or 2 nights which just gives you 1 full day for touring.

To me the difficult thing about Orkney and Shetland is that the transport to/between/back can be a bit difficult with weather delays and equipment breakdowns. I would allow some days before and after on the Scottish mainland to give yourself some flex time around your long-distance flights.

I went to Orkney and Shetland in August 2023. I am going back to both in July 2025 I was so blown away by them. The puffins had left already in August but you'll have good spotting in June. There are several FB pages I follow for both areas and they do have puffin reports.

There is a new guidebook out for Shetland written by 2 local women who both have a presence on FB. Here is the link to one with the guidebook.

https://shetlandwithlaurie.com/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGwdcRleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHanlGbVAuiTBC4HFlGBx3iFeGqO6LRt39JrNvpRZfvtnwfEBDfdwLpUE9g_aem_cBCO7mvnGR-h1WBe_fWxzA

If you are at all interested in seabirds, I did a boat trip with Shetland Seabird Tours. The captain and owner of the boat, Phil, was impressive. At one point he spotted a pod of Risso's Dolphins. He stopped the boat, whipped out his camera with a long lens and said he was helping to document which individuals were being seen in the area for conservation purposes.

https://www.shetlandseabirdtours.com/the-team/

For seeing Puffins on Orkney try the Broch of Birsay (a tidal island which can only be accessed on either side of low tides so requires careful planning) and also around the Kitchener Memorial. Both are fairly near each other and also near Skara Brae and the Cliffs of Yesnaby.

For outstanding scenery and coast, I'd also choose Skye , with Harris/Lewis - which also gives you the chance to pop over to Berneray and North Uist potentially also which are very different again.

Shetland is more rugged and scenic than Orkney which is largely flattish farmland though with some fine coastal cliffs (though not on a par with those on Skye or Mangersta on Lewis.)

Harris is outstandingly beautiful and given your comment about wanting to enjoy natural beauty, those islands I've listed have it in spades and yet are all very different. Your issue, especially on Harris , may be in finding the accommodation you want at this stage.

It doesn't work with the day tour from Oban but from Mull, you can do the add on boat trip to the Treshnish Isles which is outstanding for puffins - they are virtually around your feet.

Shetland's Sumburgh Head is very good too, though not with anything like the same numbers but of course, you can easily see them from the roadside. Delightful!

There are some excellent boat trips from Skye - from Elgol and Portree itself - which have a good chance of dolphins and various whales; Minke mostly commonly but also humpbacks sometimes feed in the Sound of Raasay. Occasionally Orca but they are perhaps more likely between north Mull and the Small Isles.Always keep a lookout too when on the various ferry crossings!
The family last year going over to Staffa had the joy of a school of dolphins swimming near the boat.

Sea eagles are fairly common too.

Skye, Harris, Lewis and Berneray/N.Uist offer world class walking and certainly some of the finest virtually deserted white sand beaches you will see anywhere.Glorious.

The great thing about all the islands is that they tend to be breezy so midges can be less of an issue as a smidgin of breeze keeps them away.A still, calm evening however and out they will come though keeping on the move simply by walking tends to leave them behind.

I agree with the other responders who recommend Lewis/Harris (which are actually one island) and Skye as your main focus. Be sure to also include Glencoe - the drive there is most dramatic if you start at the south end and head north. If you would like to get a small sample of Orkney, you can take a VERY long daytrip there from Inverness. We did that several years ago - the tour included Skara Brae, Ring of Brodgar, and the Scarpa Flow among other stops. It was a good overview - we spent a few days visiting Orkney on a subsequent trip. All of our trips to Scotland have been in June - sorry to tell you the midges are plentiful in June. You can buy very strong DEET in the US, not sure if it is also available in Scotland.

In 2022 we spent three nights each on Skye, Harris/Lewis, Orkney, and Shetland (by air, so we didn't lose ferry time). Those visits were barely long enough to see enough on northern Skye, Harris/Lewis, mainland Orkney, and mainland Shetland to see the core attractions. We had a rental car on all four, and I plan very jam-packed fast moving trips that include some vigorous hiking. I wouldn't recommend less than three nights on any of them, and if you think you might return to Scotland in the future, I'd focus on just a couple with more time.

Although LoganAir can be pretty spendy, not compared to the expense of the vacation, and it returns extra touring time at both ends. My wife gets seasick, so long ferries are a no-go for her, and the decision is easy.
Flying from Stornoway to Shetland was a two stop flight including Inverness and Kirkwall, so it wasn't all that fast. Unfortunately, we had some constraints to go to Orkney on the way.

Last Spring we returned to Shetland to get to Bressay, Yell, and Unst. Next trip(s) we're headed back to all three to visit Uist/Barra, the Orkney "sub-islands" (Hoy,Stronsay,Sanday,Eday,Westray,Papay), and more Shetland sub-islands (Fair, Foula, Fetlar) and will also get to Muck, Eigg, and Canna. Island bagging wasn't my original plan, but reading this forum is too compelling to resist. I have spreadsheets coming out my ears.

Here's another vote for Skye and Harris and Lewis. I really loved Harris and Lewis, and it is blessedly much less touristed than Skye, and has so many wonderful places to see and things to do. I also agree with Pam in that it's easier to get to those places than it is Orkney and Shetland. Save those for another visit when you have more time.

Either way, pick one set or the other. 2/3 days in all three is just not long enough.

Another vote for the cliff scenery at Mangersta ,we spent a glorious night at the Eagles Nest.
The little museumn down at Uig Sands on the way back to Stornoway is outstanding and the cafe is fine too,bargain.

Hi, jdcarlton79,

Another vote from me for Skye, Lewis, and Harris. Unless you are willing to fly from he West Coast islands to Orkney and Shetland, as jjgurley did, you'd be best served staying to one side of the country.

You'd need at least three nights on Skye. Take the ferry from Uig to Tarbert, on Harris. South Harris has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. You could spend several days on Harris/Lewis, and not feel as though you've seen it all.

If you can include this in your travels, I would very highly recommend a trip out to St Kilda, which is about 50 miles west of Harris. There are two companies which will transport you out to St Kilda - Kilda Cruises and Sea Harris. Kilda Cruises runs more frequently. It's an all day adventure - three hours out on the boat; five to six hours on land; and three hours back to Leverburgh. It's better to leave from Leverburgh, as opposed to Uig, as it gives you more time on land.

You will definitely see puffins. There are thousands of them on the sea cliffs. On the return journey, the boat will take you around Boreray and Stac an Armin. It's a truly amazing place, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was on my bucket list for years before I finally got there.

If time doesn't permit a full day on St Kilda, you could consider taking the ferry from Leverburgh to Berneray, visiting North Uist (and possibly Benbecula and South Uist), then heading back to Skye via the ferry from Lochmaddy to Uig. There are several good hikes on North Uist (and many on Harris, as well).

As far as the midges go, we've had pretty good luck with Repel, which is available on Amazon, and is also carried by Target. June is definitely midge season ( It starts in May.), but you can get midge hats in most outdoor stores. They run about 12 pounds. We bought the Lifesystems brand a few years ago, and they have proved a godsend! I have to say that you need to have an Engineering degree to get them back in to their carry pouch!

I hope that you have a wonderful time in Scotland. You need to solidify your plans for the Highlands and Islands fairly soon, as lodging is not that plentiful, and books up fast!

Very best wishes,

Mike (Auchterless)

I have a bit of a different view than some of the other posters here, based on our (my dh and I) recent 14 day trip driving around Scotland, etc in May ('24).

Our trip included arriving in Edinburgh, then flying out the next morning and spending several days on Orkney (with a side trip to the island of Rousay one day) mostly for all of the Neolithic history. I wished we had time to pair it with Shetland, too, a natural pairing imo. You could do both I think.

We also decided to spend several days on Mull instead of going back to Skye (we'd been to Skye six years ago), both for the gorgeous scenery and to spend a few hours with the puffins on Lunga (literally as close as 5-6 feet away at times.) Another bucket list item for us. After visiting both Skye and Mull, we have come to the conclusion we like Mull better; still drop dead gorgeous scenery, and not very busy at all. (of course that could have been because we were there mid-May.)

We only spent one night around Oban, before taking the ferry over to Mull, but you could choose to add another one or two days as time allows. The town itself is fun to walk around, and we loved seeing the big ferries come in and discharge their vehicles. I might also try to fit in a trip to the Glencoe area, for yet more majestic scenery.

If you have time to slog through it, I've included a link to a trip report I did on the Fodor's website. I did one here as well, but the Fodor's one includes photos. It might give you a bit more to go on. Hope it helps!

https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/our-may-2024-scotland-trip-orkney-mull-kilmartin-edinburgh-and-more-1723544/

Thank you all so much for the great tips!!