Orkney Islands Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Land

Bus

Scottish Citylink (0870 550 5050; www.citylink.co.uk) has daily coaches from Inverness to Scrabster (£16, three hours), connecting with the ferries to Stromness. Early-morning departures from Glasgow or Edinburgh, and overnighters from London, connect with the Scrabster bus at Inverness.

John o’Groats Ferries (01955-611 353; www.jogferry.co.uk) operates the summer-only Orkney bus service from Inverness to Kirkwall. Tickets (one way/return £30/42, five hours) include bus travel from Inverness to John o’Groats, passenger ferry to Burwick and another bus from Burwick to Kirkwall. There’s one bus daily in May and two daily from June to early September.

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Entering the destination

From scrabster, shetlands & aberdeen

Northlink Ferries (0845 600 0449; www.northlinkferries.co.uk) operates ferries from Scrabster to Stromness (passenger return £26 to £30, car return £82 to £90, 1½ hours, three daily Monday to Friday, two on weekends). Northlink also sails from Aberdeen to Kirkwall (passenger return £32 to £50, car return £126 to £172, up to 7¼ hours, three or four weekly) and on to Lerwick (passenger return £27 to £40, car return £100 to £160, up to 7½ hours, one daily) on the Shetland Islands. Note that there are only two or three services weekly from Lerwick to Kirkwall, but daily services from Lerwick to Aberdeen.

Fares vary according to low-, mid- and peak-season trips (we’ve provided low and peak fares), and travel times vary due to winds.

From gills bay

Pentland Ferries (01856-831 226; www.pentlandferries.co.uk) offers a shorter and less expensive car-ferry crossing than the Northlink trip. Boats leave from Gills Bay, about 3 miles west of John o’Groats, and head to St Margaret’s Hope in Orkney (passenger/car £12/28, one hour). There are three to four crossings daily in summer and usually three in winter.

From john o’groats

During the summer period, John o’Groats Ferries (01955-611 353; www.jogferry.co.uk) operates a passenger-only ferry from John o’Groats to Burwick, on the southern tip of South Ronaldsay.

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Boat

Car ferries to and from Orkney can be very busy in July and August – it’s best to book ahead at these times.

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Air

British Airways/Loganair (0845 773 3377; www.loganair.co.uk) flies at least twice daily (except Sunday) from Kirkwall airport to Aberdeen (one hour), Edinburgh (1¾ hours), Glasgow (1¾ hours) and Inverness (45 minutes), with connections to London Heathrow, Birmingham, Manchester and Belfast. There are two daily flights (Monday to Friday, one each on Saturday and Sunday) from Kirkwall to Sumburgh airport on Shetland (35 minutes). You can book on the website; fares fluctuate depending on date and time of departure.

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