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tell me about shetland please?

janeb said:
Thanks, that's really helpful

I didn't know the crossing is that notorious! Am not a great traveller by boat although I do love them - may need to stock up on quells :(
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it was fine going out for us - just the way back was a bit hairy.

i think it's the luck of the draw weather wise - and surely it'll be better in the summer? i'd get a cabin if you can afford - trying to snooze on a sofa while the boat pitches and rolls all over the place is next to impossible...
 
killer b said:
it was fine going out for us - just the way back was a bit hairy.

i think it's the luck of the draw weather wise - and surely it'll be better in the summer? i'd get a cabin if you can afford - trying to snooze on a sofa while the boat pitches and rolls all over the place is next to impossible...
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I think we'll get a cabin, although when I get sea sick the only thing that helps is fresh air so if it's a rough crossing I spend all my time on deck. No worries, just adds to the 'experience' :)
 
janeb said:
so if it's a rough crossing I spend all my time on deck. No worries, just adds to the 'experience' :)
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You won't be doing that on the Hrossey! :eek:

1174188605_a9c4c38558_b.jpg


You wouldn't last very long on that deck in some of the seas/winds they get up there.
 
pogofish said:
You won't be doing that on the Hrossey! :eek:

[You wouldn't last very long on that deck in some of the seas/winds they get up there.
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Good point

bulk buys quells and ginger biscuits, hopes for a nice summer crossing
 
nino_savatte said:
What's the damage?
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That is what I'm still trying to work-out (online interface is god-awful & incompletre), the prices for cars are staggering & even foot passengers aint cheap - @£250 return IIRC, cabin extra from what I can make-out. Bike rates are unclear. Might be @680 Euros OTOH? Going to sit down & work it out properly sometime soon. Also varies quite a bit by high/middle/low season.

Icelandic bus fares are horriffic apparently as well & the ferry docks at the far East of the island, with a lot of country between you & the main tourist areas - Which might be a good thing as much of it is the most spectacular of all. :)
 
janeb said:
bulk buys quells and ginger biscuits, hopes for a nice summer crossing
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Dunno about Northlink but when P&O had the route, the first hint of a rough crossing was often when the staff lined-up to give free buckets to the embarking passengers! :eek:

Also, in the winter & particularly the Teuchit Storms after new year, it is not unusual for the ferry to be unable to get into Aberdeen. If you are lucky, it will disembark passengers at Peterhead instead but sometimes, even that is too much & it has to sit offshore till the storms subside, 4-7 days sometimes! :eek:
 
There is also the possibility of Smyril bringing a service back into Scrabster next year. Think that might be at the expense of the Lerwick connection tho.

Some more info here:

http://homepage.mac.com/wasleys/faroe_iceland_mw/faroe_iceland_text/04_get_there.html

Ferry Service
The Faroese Smyril Line operates a complicated (and frequently changed) timetable between Denmark, UK, Norway, Faroe and Iceland. UK is not served throughout the year, but in the shoulder season Lerwick (Shetland) is included. In high season the timetable now runs to a two week cycle and UK calls are at Lerwick or Scrabster (near Thurso in mainland Scotland). However some of the summer calls at Scrabster and Lerwick are not associated with direct sailings to/from Faroe and Iceland.

The net effect of this is that in high season there are two direct sailings a fortnight between UK and Faroe, one of which continues to/starts from Iceland. This means that to use Smyril for a high season trip from UK to Iceland without stopover in Faroe you will sail from Scrabster but retun to Lerwick. In the short spring and autumn shoulder periods the pattern is much simpler and gives a weekly Lerwick - Faroe - Iceland service in both directions.
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Interesting:

Reservation
We made all bookings for ferry sailings (including NorthLink between Shetland and Aberdeen) and accommodation in Faroe and Iceland through Smyril's Shetland office. Staff there were helpful and it worked well. Unfortunately that office has now closed so bookings will need to be made with Smyril directly if not using a travel agent. When planning the trip we thought the Smyril ferry prices to be high, however we got a special deal by early booking for the shoulder season which was very reasonable (in fact the fare for Shetland - Faroe - Iceland - Shetland was not much more than for Aberdeen -Shetland - Aberdeen).
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There is another page (got the link at home) from someone who had done it by pushbike which is also very informative.
 
pogofish said:
Dunno about Northlink but when P&O had the route, the first hint of a rough crossing was often when the staff lined-up to give free buckets to the embarking passengers! :eek:

Also, in the winter & particularly the Teuchit Storms after new year, it is not unusual for the ferry to be unable to get into Aberdeen. If you are lucky, it will disembark passengers at Peterhead instead but sometimes, even that is too much & it has to sit offshore till the storms subside, 4-7 days sometimes! :eek:
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Now you're proper scaring me :eek: :( ;)

Reverts back to nice 'not too far away' Orkney and the Hamnavoe

 
Seen them get into harbour here in worse than that BTW. Quite amazing seeing a big boat hit the bar, half out of the water! :eek:

389134665_c316ef05bf.jpg


The time they were stuck offshore for a week was pretty bad tho. You could see the St Clair, out in the bay being absolutely hammerred by storms with no chance of getting anyone off & they were rapidly running out of food. Eventually, the weather eased a little & they made a dash for Peterhead but it was another couple of days till it got in here to offload the vehicles. what was that, 2004?
 
janeb said:
Now you're proper scaring me :eek: :( ;)

Reverts back to nice 'not too far away' Orkney and the Hamnavoe
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don't listen to him! we were coming back in February, and the weather was so bad that the ferry was cancelled for three days before we were able to leave... and it wasn't too bad. none of us were sick anyway.
 
Bump


Right, getting round to booking ferries etc. Can go Aberdeen - Lerwick - Kirkwall with car for about £370 in June which seems a lot of money, but £100 of that is for the cabin for 12 hours Aberdeen - Lerwick. Or I can get sleeper seats for free and save £100.

Previous comments however generally recommend the cabin........is it worth an extra £100 (which we could afford but I'd rather spend on food and drink if I had a choice)?
 
janeb said:
Bump


Right, getting round to booking ferries etc. Can go Aberdeen - Lerwick - Kirkwall with car for about £370 in June which seems a lot of money, but £100 of that is for the cabin for 12 hours Aberdeen - Lerwick. Or I can get sleeper seats for free and save £100.

Previous comments however generally recommend the cabin........is it worth an extra £100 (which we could afford but I'd rather spend on food and drink if I had a choice)?
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Yes, it is worth it. The sleeper seats aren't that comfortable and you can get all sorts keeping you awake while you're trying to sleep.
 
nino_savatte said:
Yes, it is worth it. The sleeper seats aren't that comfortable and you can get all sorts keeping you awake while you're trying to sleep.
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Thanks, thought might be the case. We're planning to camp when we get back to Orkney for the 2nd week so that'll save some money - so the cabin it is.
 
GRRR

Left it too late to get ANY accommodation in the week we want, have tried any number of agencies etc, so have decided to spend both weeks on Orkney and plan earlier for Shetland next year,
 
janeb said:
GRRR

Left it too late to get ANY accommodation in the week we want, have tried any number of agencies etc, so have decided to spend both weeks on Orkney and plan earlier for Shetland next year,
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Orkney is nice. Skara Brae gets clogged with daytrippers from the mainland but it's worth a look. Stromness is also quite nice...much nicer than Kirkwall in fact. I didn't get a chance to go beyond the mainland but I understand that Hoy has a lot of wild, unspoilt beauty...then there's the famous Old Man of Hoy.
 
nino_savatte said:
Orkney is nice. Skara Brae gets clogged with daytrippers from the mainland but it's worth a look. Stromness is also quite nice...much nicer than Kirkwall in fact. I didn't get a chance to go beyond the mainland but I understand that Hoy has a lot of wild, unspoilt beauty...then there's the famous Old Man of Hoy.
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Yes, I love Orkney - have been 3 times so far and have friends who live out on Papa Westray so we go there for a few days, in fact, they live about 30 secs away from this beach

812988088_ffb62f98c3.jpg


which is one of the reasons we go :)

This time we think we'll do a week around mainland and then a week on the islands, a couple of days on Papay, a couple on Westray and a couple of Sanday if it all works out to plan with ferries, flights and rooms.

Not been to Hoy yet but have heard the walk to the Old Man is really good so might try and do that as well as a daytrip

I love Islands :cool:
 
janeb said:
Yes, I love Orkney - have been 3 times so far and have friends who live out on Papa Westray so we go there for a few days, in fact, they live about 30 secs away from this beach

812988088_ffb62f98c3.jpg


which is one of the reasons we go :)

This time we think we'll do a week around mainland and then a week on the islands, a couple of days on Papay, a couple on Westray and a couple of Sanday if it all works out to plan with ferries, flights and rooms.

Not been to Hoy yet but have heard the walk to the Old Man is really good so might try and do that as well as a daytrip

I love Islands :cool:
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I think islands are :cool:too. I'd love to go to the Faroes one day.

Nice beach btw.
 
nino_savatte said:
I think islands are :cool:too. I'd love to go to the Faroes one day.

Nice beach btw.
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I'd been trying to work out getting to Faroe from Shetland, but I clearly need to plan more in a vance. Hoping to go to North and South Uist, Benbecula and Eriskay in the Autumn but Mr jb is less keen and now refers to me as an Island Bagger (which is prob true tbh)

*consults CalMac timetable*
 
janeb said:
bulk buys quells and ginger biscuits, hopes for a nice summer crossing
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jane, do you know about pressure points at all?? There's one on your wrist for easing sea/travel sickness. I sat and held my wrist for over 1 1/2 hrs between Capri/Ischia/Sorrento.

Press at wrist level roughly where your two main tendons are. Hth :)
 
janeb said:
*consults CalMac timetable*
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That won't get you very far.

You need to look-up Northlink for Orkney & Shetland plus Smyrl Line for Faeroes, Norway & Iceland. Smyrl's website was infuriating the last time I looked - the online portal was very incomplete & didn't go beyond the current season. :mad:

Think the Northlink offices in Aberdeen & Shetland can book all Smyrl tickets as well. :)

Smyrl's schedule varies by season & from this year, it looks like there may be a weekly summer connection from Wick to the Faeroes/Iceland, as well as Shetland. :)
 
geminisnake said:
jane, do you know about pressure points at all?? There's one on your wrist for easing sea/travel sickness. I sat and held my wrist for over 1 1/2 hrs between Capri/Ischia/Sorrento.

Press at wrist level roughly where your two main tendons are. Hth :)
Click to expand...

I used to have something that did it for me when I was younger and got travelsick more easily, just a simple elastic wristband with a plastic dimple that pushed into the right place on your wrist, I think Boots still sell them :)

I love islands, too. There's something dead exciting about getting on a boat and going up on deck to watch the mainland slip into the mist, then the outline of some little rock rise up from the sea. Last time, I sailed into Port Ellen on Islay just as it was starting to go dark and you could see all the lights of the houses on the coast twinkling away, it was ace. I've never been to Shetland, but I've been to a few off the west coast and it really does feel like you're on the edge of the world in places. Then again, in others it's really friendly and bustling. One of my favourite crossings is the one from Port Askaig on Islay to Jura, it takes all of about five minutes but there's a real change in atmosphere as soon as you get off at the other side; while Islay is relatively busy with quite a bit going on, people driving around and so on, Jura is just... empty, save for a single village a few miles away from the ferry and the odd scattered house. Anyway, I could go on for ages about this but I won't :D

eileandhiura.jpg
 
pogofish said:
That won't get you very far.

You need to look-up Northlink for Orkney & Shetland plus Smyrl Line for Faeroes, Norway & Iceland. Smyrl's website was infuriating the last time I looked - the online portal was very incomplete & didn't go beyond the current season. :mad:

Think the Northlink offices in Aberdeen & Shetland can book all Smyrl tickets as well. :)

Smyrl's schedule varies by season & from this year, it looks like there may be a weekly summer connection from Wick to the Faeroes/Iceland, as well as Shetland. :)
Click to expand...

Sorry, I meant the CalMac for my Hebrides trip :)

Thanks for the tip about the Wick/Faeroes link - suspect not enough time this summer but will look into it
 
geminisnake said:
jane, do you know about pressure points at all?? There's one on your wrist for easing sea/travel sickness. I sat and held my wrist for over 1 1/2 hrs between Capri/Ischia/Sorrento.

Press at wrist level roughly where your two main tendons are. Hth :)
Click to expand...

I'd tried the band thing before with little success tbh but will try holding the pressure point next time - it's just a pain that I love sea travel so much, but get so sick :( The smaller the boat the better for me, I can easily cope with rough and choppy, it's swell on big boats that gets me every time
 
That road equivalent thing is causing something of a stir on the islands not covered, because the "pilot" runs for a whopping two and a half years! For that period, I'm under the impression that the area can't be extended beyond the Western Isles so certain islands, particularly in the inner Hebrides, are at a severe disadvantage particularly when it comes to attracting tourists and business. Making it cheaper to get to the likes of Harris than to closer Islay seems quite a strange plan.
 
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