Shetlands, Orkneys and Highlands

Recommended days	8
Budget	££
Difficulty	Medium

This was the sort of trip that someone would plan by looking at some of the best sights in Scotland and linking them all on Google. Kind of like the map above! We visited the Shetlands, Orkneys and Highlands on our grand tour.

I was lucky enough to have it paid for by work as it probably cost as much as our 10 day US road trip and involved overnight ferry crossings, very expensive seasonal accommodation in Scotland and a LOT of hours of driving – these roads are not suitable for cruise control!

Dunnottar Castle

With the joys of ferry crossings to a tight schedule we left home Saturday afternoon to head north to Aberdeen. We stopped Sunday lunchtime at Dunnottar Castle, which is in a gorgeous setting and, dare I say it, one of the iconic castles of Scotland.

It’s worth paying the entrance fee to actually cross into the castle although you can view the setting from the headland. After a nice walk around we continued to Aberdeen and then boarded the ferry for the overnight crossing to Shetland.

Shetland Islands

We had a blissfully smooth crossing and after work we took a walk around Lerwick, visiting Fort Charlotte and the Knab lookout point before taking a drive around the north of the island. Utterly still and desolate, beautiful. Like most of Scotland, if the weather is good it’s one of the nicest places in the world. We then headed back to the ferry for another night crossing, to Orkney.

Orkney Islands

We arrived in Kirkwall just before midnight but then had most of the Tuesday free before getting our next ferry, back to the mainland. We had a wander round the pretty streets and passageways of Kirkwall and visited St Magnus’ cathedral and the Earls Palace.

Ring of Brodgar & Yesnaby Cliffs

After a cafe stop we headed to Stromness via the Ring of Brodgar and Yesnaby cliffs. Brodgar is a neolithic stone circle on boggy heathland and Russ managed to fit a run in, to the amusement of the other visitors!

Yesnaby was just awesome and we were the only people there. It’s also the site of the Kitchener Memorial, to mark where he drowned along with the crew of HMS Hampshire.

Scottish Islands

It was a lovely evening ferry crossing and the Tuesday night we stayed in Wick, just south of John O Groats. The next morning we had a great breakfast and watched the sunrise over the bay before meandering south and having various photo stops as the scenery was just so spectacular.

Dunrobin Castle

We were driving south and saw a sign for Dunrobin Castle so we drove through the gates and parked. We couldn’t see a ticket office or anyone around so we carried on through to the gardens and they were deserted other than a gardener.

We explored the area and it was superb, a French chateau in northern Scotland! It really was an unexpected find and even Russ enjoyed it. We continued to Portree on Skye for the night but didn’t have much time to look around.

Castle Stalker

Work in Skye took rather longer than expected so we headed to Fort William, a rather nondescript town in a splendid setting. After a rather insipid breakfast we left Fort William, heading for Oban.

The weather was decidedly mixed but on the sunny bits I drove Russ mad by stopping every 10 minutes as the scenery was just so gorgeous. Our first proper stop was a great cafe overlooking Castle Stalker. Last time I was here with Debbie we could barely make the castle out through the rain but this time there was blue sky!

Dunstaffnage Castle

After many more stops we got to Dunstaffnage Castle near Oban and had a good explore there. Russ was positively thrilled as he just loves castles! As we headed back from the chapel in the woods there was an amazing rainstorm which threw up lovely rainbows.

Oban

We then headed to the hotel, dumped our stuff and went off to explore. Russ needed to top up on food so, like an idiot, I decided to run up the hill to McCaig’s Tower. After I had recovered enough to hold the camera straight about 20 minutes later I took in the amazing views over Oban. Heading back there was more rain but this produced another rainbow, right over our hotel.

Isle of Mull

Well the intention today was to get the ferry to Mull, drive down the island and then get the ferry across to Iona. It was a bit of a tight schedule as the ferry was now on the winter timetable but Iona was somewhere I have always wanted to see.

It is about an hours drive along the coast of Mull and we almost didn’t make it when some psycho woman came round a corner towards us much too fast and her response was to take her hands off the wheel and cover her head! Luckily the van stopped in time as it could have been messy.

When we eventually got to Iona the ferry bloke didn’t recommend us crossing as the seas were so bad they weren’t sure if they could land and if they did, they weren’t sure if they’d be coming back. That was a bugger but something for next time. We did watch the ferry leave and it was pushed sideways as soon as it got to sea….

The weather was still rubbish so we drove back through Mull and got some lunch. Once we got to the mainland we then had a long drive to the next hotel. We did stop at Kilchurn briefly bit the light was too bad for decent photos. Another for next time

Eilean Donan Castle

The drive back to the motorways was really more of the same, gorgeous scenery and atrocious weather. For the first time ever though, I visited Eilean Donan Castle in the dry!

It was times like this, well ok, a few days after times like this, that I really appreciate my job. The driving is hard work and I don’t get much control over schedules but the opportunity to see all these places is certainly superb and the Shetlands, Orkneys and Highlands have an incredible amount to see.

2015

6 thoughts on “Shetlands, Orkneys and Highlands”

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  Thank you! This takes most of my free time but check out https://castle-photography.co.uk/ which is my other hobby.
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