Orkney

[grantw]

Leaving tomorrow morning from London to spend 4 or 5 days on the Orkney islands. I think i'll head up along the A1 as I haven't done that route north before. Does anyone have tips for on the way up or on the islands themselves?

 

[David]

I'm in the Borders and the A1 is OK up to here no major roadworks

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[grantw]

I'm in the Borders and the A1 is OK up to here no major roadworks

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Thanks!

 

[AndyCook]

The Orkney Islands are great.
Are you taking ferry from Aberdeen or shorter scrabster crossing?

Old man of hoy worth walking too
Many many ancient monuments to visit
Highland park distillery
Lots of old ww2 batteries etc around scapa flow
We also took fly rods and had good time trout fishing on lochs




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[grantw]

Good tips thanks. We're doing the shorter crossing.

 

[sae70]

I used to organize dive trips up to Scapa Flow / Stromness for up to twelve divers travelling up with all the kit in two rented transit minibuses.

For each trip I would give everyone an itinerary for the journey up as we were on a deadline to catch the ferry from Scrabster in the morning. It also gave everyone a good idea of when a rest stop could be expected.

Here the itinerary for the last trip I did up there;

Witham, depart 18:00 0 miles
Grantham Services, Arrive 20:03 Depart 20:48 98 miles
Scotch Corner, Arrive 23:18 Depart 00:03 229 miles
Kinross Services, Arrive 03:02 Depart 03:47 389 miles
Inverness Services, Arrive 06:54 Depart 07:39 549 miles
Scrabster Ferry Terminal, Arrive 10:01 Depart 12:00 661 miles
Stromness, Arrive 13:30, Sleep, Dive!

We would always be slightly ahead of these times and drop into the Hotel on the hill overlooking the ferry terminal for a full Scottish breakfast and a gallon of black coffee

 

[Gary Stockton]

Bring your passport so you can get out again on Friday

Just kidding - if you're in the Edinburgh area and need any help with anything please shout!

 

[sae70]

Here is a copy of the itinerary for one of the trips I did with my notes on that may be of help to you

You can see how the times and mileages alter slightly as the journey goes on!

 

[Gary820]

I generally find the A1 good to drive, boring but gets you there.
We're heading to Edinburgh at the end of October for a few days ourselves, bit of sight seeing etc, wife has never been to Scotland so I suggested a trip

 

[AndyCook]

For a faster journey we always take the M74-M6 then A66
Since the A1 has quite a few sections which are not dualled.



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