I have always wanted to hike in the Shetland and Orkney Islands since I went on a Lindblad/NatGeo expedition that stopped briefly in both areas. Unfortunately Rick Steves does not offer any itineraries that include both the Orkneys and Shetlands but I found that Seymour Travels did. The owners, (Mark Seymour and Liz Boardman) are well known to RS people as Mark was a guide with Rick for many years and Liz still leads RS tours.
And so, in August I joined Liz and Mark and nine other people for a two week tour which allowed me to more fully enjoy and appreciate the ruins, shorelines, and history of both island groups. Traveling in a group of ten people was so much better for me than touring on my own as I no longer enjoy driving in the British Isles and the sites I was interested in were in remote locations where public transportation was at best sketchy.
Mark turned out to be an excellent story teller with a vast knowledge of Scottish history from prehistoric times to current. He also brought in local experts to speak to us at various sites His preferred tour format was a brief talk about where we were and then setting us off to explore on our own for an hour or two before meeting back up. There was amazing flexibility in what we saw and when ……sometimes this was necessitated by the weather and tides, sometimes because of the group’s need for a break.
What did I get to see? A partial list includes Maeshowe Cairn, Standing Stones of Stenness, Ring of Brodgar, St. Margret’s Hope village, Skara Brae, Brough of Birsay, coast along Braewick Beach, Esha Ness peninsula, Stenniss Beach, Mavis Grind, St. Ninian’s Beach, Clickimin Broch, sites in Unst and Scalloway, Isle of Noss. It's a great list of must see spots in both islands if you are planning a trip of your own. We managed to avoid cruise ship docking dates in towns which allowed us to savor places like the Ring of Brogar without a throng of people.
I came home with a wealth of insights from presentations, discussions along the way within the group and with locals, and from my own personal reflection and exploration time. It was truly a magical trip through the amazingly beautiful Orkney and Shetland Islands.