Seymour Travels Scottish Island tour - Orkney and Shetland

The DETAILS:

Tour Activity level: I can easily do 2 Rick Steves or Road Scholar tours back to back. I could probably not do 2 Seymour Travels tours in a row. Mark’s tours are immersive, active and full. He and Liz set them up with a great pace so they don’t feel overly full when you are doing them but you are just learning and experiencing so much! I LOVE this kind of travel! I’d say a base of walking 4 miles plus being agile enough to get down on your hands and knees to crawl into a chambered cairn or walk up a spongy hillside is key for me to enjoy fully what the tour offers. Not everyone crawled into the cairn but I have massive FOMO (fear of missing out) so I had to! Some didn’t do all the walking, others walked much further than I did.

Pre-tour activity recommendations: In addition to getting in cardio fitness, do some balance work to get your feet and ankles ready for lumpy, squishy ground and rocky paths. I use a BOSU ball before I travel but after this trip I realize I did not do enough work and may get one of the small balance gadgets that are out now for specific foot/ankle strength/mobility. Several of the chambered cairns needed to be accessed by stooping or crawling. I made it into Maeshowe just by stooping over although I had to take my day pack off, At Unstan Chambered Cairn I had to get down on hands and knees to access. I was not going to miss that! (It was very cool…it has “stalls” inside!) I also recommend working on standing up from the ground too although other tour members were always there to lend a hand, hahaha!!

Getting there: I booked this relatively last minute (May for August) so did not do my usual research. I flew to Aberdeen and spent 2 nights ahead of the tour there. I picked Aberdeen as a landing point because on the Loganair schedule there were the most flights daily out to Kirkwall and back from Lerwick (Sumburgh) whereas other locations might only have had 2 flights a day. I gave myself 2 nights in Aberdeen ahead of time plus an extra night in Orkney before the tour start. On the way back I only gave myself one night in Aberdeen before the start of my flights back home. IF I were doing this again, I’d go with 2 nights minimum on each end in the mainland city you choose so you’ve got some flex time in case flights are cancelled to/from the islands. Aberdeen also worked because I saw there were overnight ferry crossings to/from the islands in case the flights went arse over teakettle. Aberdeen was an easy hop from Amsterdam which has direct flights from Seattle.

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Flights: GEG SEA AMS ABX all good and ontime. ABX AMS SEA GEG went pretty well in retrospect. A little late out of Aberdeen because 3 people who were supposed to be on the flight and had had their luggage loaded were not there. The pilot, who I’d watched go in/out of the plane a couple of times, put on his jacket and updated us from the doorway.. They were having to offload the 9 kilos of luggage to pull out the bags for the missing passengers. However he also said we had plenty of fuel so he’d “go fast” to make up some time. Looking at the grin on his face that must have sounded like a fun proposition, lol. (An aside - are all Dutch pilots 6’3” or taller? This guy’s head nearly touched the ceiling of the plane as he talked to us! Then in Amsterdam I started people watching and yes, all the guys in KLM pilot uniforms seemed quite tall). Late out of Amsterdam due to getting a part swapped out on the navigational system so it was fine with me however long they wanted to take! That pushed me to get to my Spokane flight on time but thankfully the plane docked at an A concourse gate instead of S gates. I was in Delta One so was literally the first off the plane with my carry on bag. First to the GE kiosks with facial recognition, first to the Immigration officer who was really, really nice (not the jerk I”ve had before), first thru Security (note to self do not buy a kilo of steel cut oats in Scotland as they will look at your bag at every security point, lol!!), walked quickly to Concourse B and made my flight in less than 30 minutes. Was even able to make a comfort stop (another note to self…use the toilets in the Immigration area because if you are first there is no line and there are always lines at the concourse bathrooms). There are of course flights from Seattle to Spokane every hour or 2 so I would have gotten home. I just hate to have a late arrival for family who picks me up.

BTW, the transits from non-Schengen to non-Schengen was SO easy in Amsterdam. I’d allowed 3 hours which I knew was overly generous. On the way back thru my Aberdeen flight landed at one of the remote stands for the CityHopper planes and the bus dropped us at D3. My flight to Seattle left from D47 or so, on the same concourse. You are in the secure area so no additional security screen needed for US flights. I did walk back up to the main shop/food outlet area for some food.

Loganair: In spite of FB pages with tales to the contrary, all my Loganair flights were on time or just minutes of delay. I’d stressed myself out reading a FB page on delays and cancellations for Loganair but it was important to see that there ARE repeated problems according to the islanders. I definitely believe there are huge issues getting to/from Orkney and Shetland and you need to allow flex time going and coming especially if international flights are involved. The weather on the islands has a huge impact as it shut down or caused delays at both airports during our stay. I/we just happened to fly on gorgeous blue sky days! There are apparently severe operational issues with this airline too - not sure if they just don’t have enough planes and staff so if something goes wrong everything is messed up or what. The ATC mess in Britain did not impact us except on departure day there were still some issues in Edinburgh. BTW, I don’t remember the last time I flew in prop planes and had forgotten how much vibration there is but flying at 5,000’ the views of the islands are awesome!

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Aberdeen: I got great advice from Mike and Stuart on my stay here. I wound up at the Premier Inn - very nice, good location. I found Aberdeen pretty gray, well, it IS the Granite City. I had a slight moment where I was uncomfortable right on Union St as I headed toward the M&S. There was a big group of men, mostly 20’s/30’s milling around drinking what appeared to be wine directly out of bottles which is not a good sign, lol. This was a Monday evening about 6PM, not many others about - I just went the other direction when I came out of M&S to avoid them. The next day there were more families out and about so I felt better. I enjoyed the Art Gallery, Provost Skene’s house, the gardens and just walking around. It’s probably more lively when the university is in session. I did not get out to the beach nor did I find any tablet flavored ice cream, hahaha!

Orkney: The Aberdeen airport is very small and I arrived WAYYY too early! Flight went fine. I was going to be a capable public transportation user and take the bus out to the island of Burray where the 1st hotel was. At the last minute I defaulted to a cab but hadn’t booked ahead. I tried calling the numbers on the bus shelter but no answers. A cab came to pick up 2 other ladies who were going in to Kirkwall and I asked the driver about booking - he said…oh, I’ll get someone to come get you, don’t worry, It’ll be about 10 minutes. Well, he was right on the nose and the guy was there in 10. On the drive out he talked the whole way and pointed out all the sights. Excellent driver had me laughing and enjoying my first conversation with an Orkadian. The tour stayed at The Sands Hotel in Burray and it was wonderful. Rooms were lovely, water view was spectacular, the restaurant had delicious food (cabbie said he and the wife go there for special occasions) and the staff was friendly and awesome. Kath, Andrew, Emma, Sallianne and Tracey gave us warm welcomes and made me want to come back! This is way out of Kirkwall but worked well for our needs. You’d have to have a car if you stayed here.

Orkney sights: During Mark’s Northern England tour he told me I’d love Orkney for the Neolithic sights and he was right! Wow! Standing stones everywhere including random stones in fields. Chambered cairns - we went in to Maeshowe which dates from about 2800BC (amazing Viking graffiti from about Christmas 1153 when they took shelter from a blizzard) and Unstan Chambered Cairn then walked up to Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn although only a few of us went into that one (had poured rain the night before and Mark was sure there would be standing water inside). We went across the Churchill Barriers multiple times and you could see one from our hotel. We visited the Italian Chapel, St Magnus Cathedral, the Earl’s and Bishop’s palaces. We spent the morning at a local farm which is located on Scapa Flow learning how this teacher has had to diversify her talents to make a living on the island. We visited the Broch of Gurness and were able to catch low tide to walk over to the tidal island of Birsay. We walked along the cliffs at Yesnaby to see gloups, WWII pill boxes and seabird nests and tasted whisky at Scapa Distillery on Scapa Flow.

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Shetland: On Shetland we stayed about 5 minutes north of Lerwick near Tingwall at Herrislea House. This is a small hotel and we took up all the rooms, in fact, Liz had to “live out” (a term used in period dramas like Downton Abbey,) lol!! The airport was about a 45 minute drive in the early AM. The location was perfect for us as we were all over the island. The hotel has a new owner and David is planning some reno work next year. He is young-ish and a very gracious and engaging host. I’d recommend this as a location from which to explore the islands and stay out of the traffic in Lerwick.

Shetland Sights: We did a few museums here - Shetland Museum, a boat museum on Unst, the Scalloway Museum with the Shetland Boat focus and a croft house museum. We did boat trips out to Mousa Broch (neolithic) and one that was wildlife based to watch the diving gannets (a real David Attenborough moment! Or Maybe it was a Tippi Hedren moment - remember The Birds?). Landscapes were outstanding with St Ninian’s Isle, Sumburgh Head and the Eshaness Coast. We learned about herring fishing and did a pretend portage with our pretend Viking Boat across the short isthmus from the Atlantic to the North Sea at Mavis Grind. (Why was I loudly humming Volga boatmen?) We also did a day of the “Most Northerly” sites by visiting the island of Unst, the most northerly inhabited isle in Britain plus the most northerly castle, most northerly Bus Shelter (sadly the honesty cake box was gone!), most northerly tea room (hahaha!!) and Mark was sure we were the most Northerly group of American tourists, lol. One of the group members reminded me we also probaby saw the most Northerly “MAMIL” - Middle Aged Man In Lycra!! Great fun!

Crowds: Well, basically there were none EXCEPT when we hit Skara Brae on Orkney on a day cruise ships were in port. They do limit the number of admissions per hour but there were buses there the whole time we visited. We had plenty of time there so I did 2 walks thru the ruins and managed a time when there were fewer people there. The very small exhibition rooms were jammed and so uncomfortable I just tried to get out of there. This was the ONLY location I felt I wanted to have a mask on. I had no idea some cruise ships carry their own buses. We saw a bunch of “bendy buses” in Kirkwall so the ships are not even contributing to the local economy by using local providers for shuttling people from the boat to the downtown area. There were local bus providers for the day trips to outlying areas. In Lerwick we had a few hours there midday at the same time as a cruise ship had docked out in the harbor and was tendering people in. The boat captain of our wildlife tour said some of the big boats are “too cheap” (his words and view) to pay the docking fee to come in closer.

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Capsule Wardrobe:
4 short sleeve Tees
1 LS Tencel button up shirt from Lands End
1 LS quarter zip Drifit shirt
1 pr jeans
2 pr travel pants (Costco older travel pants, Costco Eddie Bauer travel pants)
2 pr athletic shoes (1 waterproof which I wore ALL the time, the others I did not have out of the suitcase but would still take again)
Underwear, bras, nightgown, compression shorts
Waterproof jacket with hood
Puffy vest
Waterproof rain pants
Neck gaiter
Smartwool glove liners
Ball cap (to wear under the hood of my rain jacket)

What worked: I wore everything in my bag except the lighter weight EB travel pants and they were just for back up.

Woulda/shoulda/coulda:
I should have packed 2nd pr of jeans. I was trying to save some luggage weight and made a poor decision there. I was on my hands and knees at times going into chambered cairns and it would have been good to have the heavier jeans instead of the lighter weight travel pants. I should have had a LS tee. I was chilly on one of the boat rides even with the waterproof jacket and puffy vest.. At the last minute I got a shirt from Lands End which is cute but not good for travel - it’s Tencel but wrinkled pretty badly. I needed another LS quarter zip but again was trying to cut down and left it out. I might have learned a lesson about going lightweight vs assessing what I really might need.

Outerwear: For visiting either of these islands I recommend waterproof everything, lol!!. I took a Ball cap to wear under the hood of my rain jacket to keep rain off my glasses - I really needed a waterproof one as the regular one got soaked. I needed a Stocking cap. While it wasn’t really cold it felt really good. I bought an Orkney one from the gift shop at Skara Brae and then bought a beautiful knit one in Scalloway, Shetland. I’d recommend Waterproof glove covers - or waterproof gloves. My smartwool liners just absorbed water. Again, it was not really cold, just very, very wet. Waterproof pack or pack cover - I had my Sea to Summit day pack which is very lightweight. I wasn’t carrying anything in there that could not get wet (except my lunch, haha) so it was OK that it got thoroughly soaked from time to time. I wore the puffy vest a number of times especially when we headed out on the boat trips. For future travelers, a base layer would be good if you get cold easily. Temps were not low but the wind was strong and it was wet, wet, wet. I bundled my outerwear in an Eagle Creek large compression packing cube which fit well in my day pack so I had everything at hand as the weather changed during the day.

Suitcases/Personal item: Osprey Ozone 2-wheel 21.5 incher and Baggallini Any Day tote plus the Sea to Summit 2.5 oz day pack (folds down to a fist sized pocket). I also tried out a sling waterbottle holder for water and I can hook my binoculars to it. All worked well. The Osprey weighed 17.1 when I left home. Not sure what it was on the way back due to the 1 kilo of oatmeal and a few outerwear items I acquired. Oh yeah, and a tasting glass from Scapa whisky distillery, lol.

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Weather: Need to escape from unrelenting August heat waves? Go to the Scottish Islands!! Rain and Wind. Wind and rain. The low would be 54, with a high 59. Living in the mountain west it was just so odd to have such a small temperature swing! If you go, expect a few days of sun out of 2 weeks but better to prepare for rain and wind and rejoice if you get a bright day!

The weather did not stop us. Everyone had waterproof jackets and nearly everyone had brought waterproof pants. One day on Orkney when we visited important Neolithic sites there was intermittent rain with some periods of hard rain and wind sustained at 30 with gusts to 46. No matter how waterproof your gear is, you are going to get wet in those conditions. I’d worn the neck gaiter, a poly/cotton blend, which got so wet it wicked water down onto my shirt. The rain jacket kept me dry but was as soaked as a waterproof garment can be and still keep you dry. This was the day my ball cap got soaked as well. Mark and Liz flexed the plan for lunch from a picnic, hahaha, to having a comfort and lunch stop at the Skara Brae cafe which was an excellent move. We did not visit the site that day (which was closed due to weather anyway!) but used their facilities which was a good way to dry a bit.

Money: I did not even go to an ATM this time. I had GBP left over from my trip in the spring where I turned in OLD GBP for new. I used ApplePay most of the time although a few times used a chipped CC. I only used cash once to specifically get change to leave for housekeeping. I transited thru Amsterdam and took some Euro with me but just used ApplePay in the airport for a drink or a sandwich. Even the senior lady at the till in the craft knitwear shop in Scalloway fired up her iPad when I asked about ApplePay. She didn’t bat an eye and she had to have 10 years on me.

Shopping: I am not a shopper BUT really, who could resist the silver Groatie Buckie bracelet (local name for Cowrie shells) or the really gorgeous knits.

Locals: We met wonderful people facilitated by Mark and Liz - standouts were Keith the Park Ranger at Ring of Brodgar who spent his day off with us talking us through the Barnhouse Settlement, Stones of Stenness and Ring of Brodgar plus the ins and outs of archeological discoveries in the Brodgar Ness dig area including all things Ritual and Ceremonial (archeology code words for we don’t know why the heck those ancient people built this!!! 😉😆), and Rosemary and Betty at the Hoswick Visitor Center who talked about the textile industry and about their island heritage. Both boat captains for the 2 different trips we took were really knowledgeable and talkative. Hotel staff in both hotels were welcoming and friendly.

Jet Lag: After reading the discussions on the forum over the last few weeks I downloaded and used the Timeshifter app. I am doing a separate post on my experience so it will be easier for people to search for but WOW! For me it worked really, really well! I wanted to wait to post to see how I felt today to make sure it worked coming home as well as going to Europe. I returned last Thursday evening and followed the program for the last day on Friday. Yesterday felt “normal” as does this morning! It’s a WIN!

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/jet-lag-i-tried-the-timeshifter-app

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Conclusion: This was an awesome itinerary led by experienced, extremely knowledgeable, engaging guides. They’ve both worked for Rick for a number of years so know how Americans are comfortable touring and what we enjoy. They also have an agenda of wanting their groups to look, think and question. They pace the tour well but wowser, we saw/did/experienced a lot. There was little down time. At most of the sites Mark or Liz would give us background/history, orient us and set us free with a meet up time. The group was excellent at being back at the set time and were enjoyable to travel with. I think 8 out of the 10 have traveled with Seymour Travels before this trip. Mark is already working on his 2026 itineraries. Flexibility is a key on these trips so they do not give out detailed daily itineraries, especially on Orkney and Shetland where weather is likely to play a key role in what you can and can’t see on a certain day. They build in some flex time so they are able to move things around to suit conditions. I’m a control oriented person but I have a high level of trust in Mark and Liz and was willing to cede control to them! I’d highly recommend this company if you want an active, immersive and personal experience!

The End....lol

Wonderful report as usual, Pam. I'm intrigued and will keep it in mind for the future. The temperatures sound perfect for me!

PS: Did you notice who was using what type of camera? Seems to me I'd want to bring my regular DSLR on this one...

Thank you Wray! One guy had a DSLR camera and took at least 10 jillion photos. He also brought his computer and downloaded every night. He had a GoPro as well and used it when we went on the boat trip to see the Gannets. The boat captain talked him in to affixing it to a special pole which he held underwater to see the Gannets from below. It was amazing footage!

Most of the rest of us used phone cameras. There might have been a few small digital cameras. It was quite wet so having something that you can slip in a pocket worked well but if you want to take your big camera as long as you have some protection for rain/windy rain you'll get great shots.

Love your trip report. Hubs and I loved our trip with mark and Charlie in 2022. It was my 2nd visit to Shetland and David’s 1st visit. ( also our 1st Seymour travel tour). I found out he was to be our RS guide in 2020 but Covid hit. Glad I did. Both of us are hooked on Mark and Liz. Our second in 2023 June. Our third will be in about 80 days.

Pam is correct on their knowledge and friendship. Mark liked his bumps. It’s funny , I started looking at oklahoma’s topography when we drive on our turnpike and I see as bump I think of Mark! Lol.

Yes… you need to be prepared. I felt like this year I was out of shape. We walked a lot around SW England.

Pam I have FOMO. I know what you mean about squatting down going thru the chambers.

You hit most of our activities. They threw in a few different ones.

I have seen on fb about Logan air issues. Weather is an issue. But it is sure worth going! We flew and did the ferry back to Aberdeen. David wanted to experience that.

We are so blessed to travel and find Mark and Liz. I am getting so excited to meet back up with them in November and 2025. I think I am going to have to figure out how I can finagle a trip in 2024 with them. But I already have two different trips scheduled.

Love your report . Thank you for letting me relive our brilliant trip again.

Kim

Great report, Pam. I need you to write mine for me. So glad that you had a good time, everything sounds so interesting. See you Saturday.

I've been looking forward to your trip report, Pam, and it was marvelous as expected!

I am too much of a slug to attempt an adventure like this one, but I greatly enjoyed experiencing your every step, climb, and crawl vicariously.

Pam, superb trip report! I feel like I was right there in the thick of it! Like Kim, I can't wait till late 2025 for the Seymour tour in France! And I also can't wait to figure out when I can get to Shetland and Orkney! I would love to go to the Shetland Wool Festival. I've been on their mailing list for awhile and dream every year. Maybe 2026!

Your packing list is spot on - great job planning for the weather! And I love all that activity you did! All that training paid off, I'm sure! And I'm still cracking up about you bringing back those steel cut oats! You are a woman after my own heart, sister!

Good news about the Timeshifter app, too! I need to get over to that report and check it out.

Lastly, I love how Mark and his crew really delve into the country and don't just point out sights with a bit of explanation. I think that's wonderful. Thanks for sharing all this wonderful info!

Mardee …. Are you following Shetland wool week on Facebook? I am lusting over all the wool pictures they are posting. Wish I could go too!!

Kkm

@Kim, your trip last year is what got me interested in Mark's tours in the first place. I had not even considered Orkney and Shetland and don't really know why. The neolithic sites on Orkney are so fabulous and everything else was just gravy!

@Leslie - looking forward to Saturday! And you can give an oral report, hahaha!!

@NancyG - I am more of a slug at home but dang it...Mark makes you WANT to see/do/go/experience!

@Mardee - You will have an easy time driving on Orkney and Shetland after your driving in the HIghlands in the Spring. The main roads were built by the military so are long and pretty straight. The side roads are often one-lane but it seemed like there were lots of passing places marked. I laughed because in Liz's van it was mandatory for the person riding shotgun to wave at the locals. That is pretty easy and commonplace for an Idaho person but some had to be cued, lol!

A wonderful report, Pam.

At Kirkwall the bendy buses on the Hatston shuttle are owned by a local independent company (I've been raking over my memory to remember the company name but can't). The sheer number of cruise ships at Kirkwall is becoming a big problem especially with those which have to tender in, as normally only 1 ship can berth at Hatston.

At Lerwick there is a length restriction of 230 metres at both cruise berths. Although you do wonder sometimes if there is truth in trying to save costs as ships under that size often anchor off Bressay, if they berth at Holmsgarth Pier 5 they would have to pay for a shuttle bus into town.

@isn31c - It's thanks to you and Mike that I enjoyed Aberdeen and figured out where to stay and what to do. Deeply grateful for all the information you share here!

That is interesting about the bendy buses. One of our guides said they big cruise ships have their own bendy buses but I'm glad to know they are supporting Kirkwall by using local. I loved both islands and want for them to profit from tourism instead of just having to provide infrastructure and not get a local benefit. The boat captain definitely had his own agenda so I have no way of knowing if what he said was 100% correct or not....but it certainly is the view of some of the locals. In fact in some of the stores we were asked if we were from the cruise ship. We were quick to deny and I think all of us emphasized we were spending 6 or 7 hotel nights on each island to support the local economy.

Another fine report Pam, thank you for the details! My neighbor just went to Shetland on a knitting-oriented tour, I'll have to ask her if she saw some of your sights. Also thanks for doing the time shifter report, I'm leaving in just about two weeks and have been pondering whether to check out the app.

And PS, to save your weight next time, I highly recommend Bob's Red Mill steel cut oats - they've won the Scottish International Golden Spurtle award multiple times! They likely have them at Freddies in the natural food section :)

I laughed because in Liz's van it was mandatory for the person riding shotgun to wave at the locals. That is pretty easy and commonplace for an Idaho person but some had to be cued, lol!

Ha ha! Yep, same here - Katie and I call it the "country hello." If I'm out walking along the country roads, every single driver will wave to me. :)

Mark and Liz are aces at dispensing knowledge woven with stories so it doesn’t feel like you are having a history lesson but yes, you are!!

That's exactly what you want in a guide! Thanks for this wonderful report.

Thanks for sharing another wonderful trip report, Pam! We’ll have to drop an item on the floor at the bakery next Saturday at our meet up to see if you’re still in shape or slacking off like a slug now that you’re home - LOL!

Glad to hear you continue to be very pleased with Mark’s tours!

Pam, what a great report, for what was clearly a great trip. I have to ask, on Orkney, you didn’t visit the Eagle’s Tomb? It’s at the southern tip of South Ronaldsay, after following the Churchill Barriers all the way down. We went and it was absolutely pouring rain. To e yet the chamber, we had to lie on a 5-wheeled trolly and roll in through the low opening. Maybe next time! You certainly experienced many ancient sights.

Edit: I just looked up the Tomb of the Eagles, and it seems that it’s permanently closed. That’s a shame. Maybe too fragile for masses of people?

Pam, what a fantastic trip report. The next best thing to being there. You make your adventure come to life.

@CL - I'm not a knitter but I am sure she was in ecstasy all the time. We spent time with some ladies in Hoswick at their craft center. They are in their 70's I'd guess and had knitting classes in school. When they told me that I started asking younger people if they had knitting classes. David, the owner of our hotel and his wife said yes, they had had classes in school but that now their daughter's school was just doing what sounded like one-off classes or series. The wife said David was a pretty fair knitter too, lol! I was also talking to a cafe owner who was showing us some of their knitting displays and she said she was volunteering to teach at the local school. They all feel very strongly that the craft and tradition should be continued. And yes, we have Bob's Red Mill steelies. These look the same but I bought them at a water mill that was built in the 1870's. They mostly grind Bere which is an ancient form of barley.

https://baronymill.com/

@ Mardee - YES!! one, 2, 4 -finger or whole hand waves all work!

@EP - you have to want to learn!

@Jean - yes, full report on Saturday!

@Cyn - that is interesting. Maeshowe has been closed a lot recently according to Mark but they luckily scored entrances for us. Have to go in on a guided tour for that one. The Eagles must have been being overvisited. We did not get south of St Margaret's Hope.

@ Andrea - thanks for the kind words!

Thanks, Pam! Great report and so interesting. If I end up booking a Mark Seymour tour, I will be blaming you:)

Hey Pam: Wow, I’m so intrigued with your travels to this area. I’m considering Scotland in my next travel plans (summer only time available for me). A fellow vegan here… What was your experience food-wise? Did you have to supplement a lot, or were you able to eat out? Did you try any vegan haggis?

Thanks for sharing!

@ Valerie - Hahaha.....these are more strenuous than the Road Scholar tours but you would love Mark and Liz for amazing guides!

@Shawn - honestly, not much vegan food. I started out with the mindset that I would eat fish when necessary. There was often a sweet potato curry on restaurant menus. I didn't try it on Orkney and Shetland but since they all had something similar I wonder if it is packaged - really not sure. I did have a vegan curry in Aberdeen but I lost my sense of taste in late May and only partially have it back so it was good as far as I could tell. We stopped nearly every day at a grocery store for meals not covered by the tour and hummus and salads were available. None of the prepared sandwiches that I saw were vegan but I could have missed them. I usually defaulted to egg mayo or tuna mayo although I did get the plain hummus a couple of times for an evening meal when I didn't want to eat in the restaurant. I'm not a breakfast eater but both hotel restaurants had plant-based milk to go with cereal in the AM. I did not see haggis on any of the menus on either Orkney or Shetland although I did see blood sausage. I had vegan haggis in 2018 in Edinburgh at a vegetarian/vegan restaurant and it was actually quite good!

Pam,
I am hoping that you start travelling even more often....so that I can read more of your excellent trip reports.
Thanks.!

Pam, fabulous trip report! What an awesome tour! Glad the midges stayed away. It was probably the wind and rain that swept them away from you. Glad you're home safely and no jet lag either way.

I just loved your trip report, Pam! I have been looking forward to it, and I am impressed at how fast you got it done. As you know, I was on Orkney and Shetland in July and still haven’t written a report. I won’t go into why, but I’m beginning to think I may never get to it.

I can tell you fell in love with Orkney and Shetland as much as I did. Such magical islands! I too loved the Neolithic and other historic sites, and the scenery was to die for. Great hiking and lovely people too. And puffins! My gosh, they are cute! I’m guessing you missed them because surely you would have mentioned them if you saw them. They were starting to leave when we were there, and I’m so glad we finally saw them because we have missed them a number of times in n the past.

Mark and Liz sound fantastic. I hope to travel with them sometime. It must be wonderful to travel with such a small group.

For the benefit of people who are sold on Orkney and Shetland thanks to your excellent report… Our tour was with McKinlay Kidd. It was not a group tour; we were by ourselves, but MK made all the arrangements. (See “Complete Orkney and Shetland” on their website.) We loved it and can’t wait to do another of their tours. I don’t think we got as much in-depth knowledge as you got on your tour, but we did get quite a bit since MK booked us on a number of full day and half day tours. It sounds like we had more free time than you did, which was good for us because we love to hike.

We visited Rousay, Westray and Papa Westray in the Orkneys, spending two nights on Rousay and two on Westray. There are lots of historical sites and birds on these islands, so we really enjoyed them. They have a very low population, such that it’s a completely different way of life. For instance, they have no police and most people never lick their doors if they even have them. (Locks, I mean; they do have doors!) in the Shetlands, we went to Unst like you did, but we were on our own, so we spent most of the time hiking at Hermaness, which was fabulous. We also took a boat tour around Bressay and and Noss, which may be the one you took. The cliffs and the birds were amazing.

My husband and I loved Orkney and Shetland so much we both said it was one of our top three trips. (The other two are Africa and Antarctica, so that is really good company.) However, I can see that it might not appeal to everyone. If you like hot weather and sunshine, it’s probably not the place for you. (We think the fifties in summer is a great relief from hot temperatures, and a blazing hot sun is harder to deal with than gray skies and light showers.)

Thanks so much for writing this report Pam. I’m glad you had such a wonderful trip.

Love your trip report Pam. Adding these places and this tour, to my very long travel list!

BTW, we took seven Logan Air flights, and they all were on time. I guess we were lucky. I loved that there was no security and no ID on the small islands. On one, they didn’t even ask our names. I think they just figured why else would we be there if we weren’t booked on the flight.

Oddly enough at the airport at Kirkwall, I had the most thorough — as in ridiculous — security search I’ve ever had. (We were flying to Shetland.) I had to explain what all my liquids were, and my hand lotion had to be put in a special machine, then it had to go back through the X-ray machine again. Liquids had to be in a clear bag slightly bigger than a sandwich bag, so I had to transfer everything out of my my quart size bag, only they didn’t all fit. Luckily, my husband had extra room in his. This all took so long, I thought we were going to miss the plane. At one point someone came in from outside and said, “We’re missing two people for Shetland. Is anyone here going to Shetland? “Yes, we are,” we yelled. You would think the security guard might have speeded things up a bit, but no. He kept pulling stuff out of my bag and checking it carefully while I was having a heart attack. Luckily they held the plane for us. Honestly. We are quiet, mild mannered seniors!

Pam, Another really fantastic trip report. I so enjoy your reports!

@ Vandabrud - thanks for the kind words! I like to write the TRs for myself, mostly, so I can go back and relive the trip, lol!!

@ Rebecca - yes NO midges!! Another tour member and I were being bothered by some kind of bug one day and Liz told us to step out of the heather and on to the rocky path. That solved it. We didn't get bitten so they were not midges but were something like what I would call sand-gnats. I'd left my midge head net at home at the last minute as I was shucking weight and absolutely did NOT need it.

@ Carroll- I'm thrilled you all had such a wonderful time on Orkney and Shetland! Interesting and fascinating islands. If you get motivated to write up a TR I will eagerly read it! I usually write mine up in WORD or this time used googledocs. I started writing it during the trip and then used my FB posts/pictures to help me with anything I missed. Yes, indeed, our boat tour on Shetland was around Bressay and Noss with Captain Phil. The puffins had gone - they usually depart in early August so I was not expecting to see any. I did see a bunch in May on the Farne Islands wildlife boat tour I took with Mark. Very fun that you got to Rousay, Westray and Papa Westray! Funny (now) about your search at Kirkwall. One of our tour members had to hike up his pants legs. They were extremely concerned about something but his legs were bare and not sure what was causing the concern. Very weird.

@ Tammy - this is a very outdoorsy tour and I'm sure you'd love it. There was diving on some of the wrecks in Scapa Flow (the ones that are not designated as Commonwealth Grave sites where men went down) but my word that water is SO cold!

@ Laura - thank you so much for the kind words!

Another wonderful report Pam!
I read it while eating my own porridge this morning!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

If I end up booking a Mark Seymour tour, I will be blaming you:)

Ha ha, Valerie! She already got me to do it! You might as well just go ahead and book it! 🤣🤣🤣

Like Carroll I had my most rigorous ever security search at a small Scottish airport.
In my case at Campbeltown - it is so small it makes Kirkwall airport look huge, and has two flights a day on small turbo prop aircraft, so I got the message that as a non local the security guys felt they had to justify their existence. There were only about a dozen of us flying that day.
But the low level cloud incredibly scenic flight to Glasgow more than made up for the pre flight experience.
Anyone going to Orkney should experience at least one of the inter island flights in my opinion, even just as a straight return, although they are best done as flight one way and ferry the other, and soak in whichever island you choose on the airport to seaport transfer.

@ SJ, we've still not gotten into the Scottish oats yet! They look exactly like the Bob's Red Mill steel cut oats, though, lol.

@ Mardee - hahaha!!

@ isn31c - That is interesting that you got the major pat down at a small airport. I did get patted down in Aberdeen for my onward flight to Amsterdam and also got my suitcase opened but it was pretty quick. I had a window seat on the flight between Kirkwall and Lerwick and just could not stop looking. At one point I could see the shadow of the plane on the cloud surrounded by a rainbow. Really beautiful! As we took off I could also see the Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn area along with the two islets coming out into the Bay of Firth. Very cool to recognize something!

Sounds like you had a lot of fun, Pam. Great TR!

Pam,
Compared to the Rick Steves tour format with ample free time does this tour have very little free time? I have that impression from your report. Is that why you can do two RS tours back to back because of the ability to recharge your energy levels. But this 14 day tour is packed with activities? I relish the RS tour format that allows time for myself. While this tour sounds marvelous, I wonder if I would be happy.

@ Mary - Thank you!

@ JudyB - The intensity for me is due to the information from Mark and the number of sites, I think. He knows SO much and wants everyone to have a good grounding in what is going on. I did not feel like we were just zooming from site to site and checking off a list. We spent quality time everywhere. Yes and no on the free time. There are not big blocks of free time on the tours. However, when you get to a site, they orient you to the site and then you are free to see and do what you want so you are not with the group.

For instance....for our time along one of the cliffs - Mark oriented us and talked about the Stevenson brothers and their lighthouses (relatives to Robert Louis Stevenson - uncles/Dad were in the "business) , discussed Iron Age Brochs and about the geography of the region. Then we had a couple of hours to walk along the cliff tops, go see the Iron Age Broch if we wished, birdwatch, see the gloups, look for whales (none!) etc. We could go as far as we wanted or not, as long as we were back at the van by the specified time. So it's free time in that you are not with the group. It's not free time in that you are in a specific location and tied to returning to the van. Does that make sense?

For myself I need some time alone away from any group. I can be very social but I'm actually an introvert and need time by myself. I don't eat breakfast so I joined the group at the departure time and when we split at the end of the day I usually had food in my room for dinner (unless we had a group dinner). That gave me enough down time to satisfy me although it might not be enough for others.

Fabulous TR, Pam! This tour sounds fascinating and an area of Scotland that I’ve not read much about! Thanks for all of the awesome details! It had me checking out the tour group website for sure!
Pam (who followed your link from TripAdvisor message)

Wonderful trip report and I, too, felt like I was right there with you. I love all the details you included. Thanks for sharing your tour with us!

Pam, this is just wonderful…complete with your great sense of humor! What an amazing trip!

@ PamC! As soon as I saw your post I knew who you were. Fun that you’ve been on the forum before! TBH, before the trip to Northern England with Mark in May, Orkney and Shetland was not on my radar. On that trip I was fascinated with the neolithic sites we saw whereupon Mark said…you should really do Orkney. The neolithic sites there are wonderful! He was right!

@Andi - thanks so much!

@Cathy - Thank you Cathy! Hope everyone is on the mend!

Pam,
I’m sorry that I’m just now reading your trip report. I loved looking at your pictures earlier in the month. Your trip report filled in a lot of details. I can’t wait to see where you are headed next.

@Janet....no trips with Mark planned until Oct 2024...not sure I can last that long, lol!! Then I've got 2 for 2025!