Orkney Islands: Getting there & around

Flights in and out of Kirkwall airport depart and arrive each day - sometimes more - to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness with connections to London Heathrow, Birmingham, Manchester and Belfast. Ferries connect the islands to Scrabster, Shetlands and Aberdeen. A smaller car ferry operates to Gills Bay and in summer from John O' Groats.

Daily coaches run from Inverness to Scrabster, connecting with the ferries to Stromness. Early-morning departures from Glasgow or Edinburgh, and overnighters from London, connect with the Scrabster bus at Inverness. Summer-only bus services operate from Inverness to Kirkwall. Tickets include bus travel from Inverness to John o'Groats, then a 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.

The largest island, Mainland, is joined by road-bearing causeways to Burray and South Ronaldsay. The other islands can be reached by air and ferry services.

You can get inter-island flights between Kirkwall airport and North Ronaldsay, Westray, Papa Westray, Stronsay, Sanday and Eday. Car ferries operate between Orkney and Hoy, Flotta and the northern Orkney islands. Bike and car hire is available on Orkney.

Bus services are run around Mainland and South Ronaldsay. The Orkney Public Transport Timetable, a detailed schedule of all bus, ferry and air services around and to/from Orkney, is available free from TICs.