Planning trip & want to see Hebrides, and the Orkney & Shetland islands, I only have 2 weeks, has anyone done all three of these areas, within this time frame, and, enjoyed it? Or, just to limit to northern isles plus Faroes, in 2 weeks? Has anyone else done this? If you did, what would you do differently this time? Thanks!
Posted by
Scotland
505 posts
You can't do all four in two weeks. The Faroes are much further out in the North Sea and there aren't that many flights out there (and NOT cheap).
To get to the Shetlands, it's either a very long ferry (weather dependent) or a relatively expensive plane ride.
For two weeks, I think you would be best to explore the (Outer Hebrides) and then drive up north to go see the Orkneys. The thing to remember is that only Skye is accessible by bridge, so the rest of your travels are ferry dependent. And not all ferrys run every day (it's been a huge debate as to whether to run ferries on Sunday in some of the Outer Hebrides), and even those that run daily may only go once every few hours.
You should Google CalMac to get ferry schedules and info for the Hebrides to get a feel for the schedules, cost and the various options for island to island travel.
You could also do Orkney and Shetland, depending on the ferry and plane schedules.
Kate
Posted by
OP
Midwest City, OK, USA
3 posts
Thank you! Your advice is great. I have looked a lot at the CalMac schedule, ordered brochures, and I've been keeping up with the news about the debate over Sunday service, too.
I wasn't planning to drive at all, I don't do well with driving on the side of the road I'm not used to. I kind of like train and bus travel, really.
What about Orkney, then Shetland, then Faroes, all by ferry? Or am I crazy?