Orkneys - which ferry and any recommendations on motorhome stops?

[PaulC70]

Hey all, only 2 weeks to go and we'll be heading for the Orkneys!!! Woohooooooo!

Planning on heading up via Bamburgh - Cairngorms - Dunnet Head then onto Orkney mainland for some exploring! Cannot bloody wait! Once we've done there we'll head back round the west coast along to Skye and stay there for a few days too before coming home. All in I have 2 weeks to do this in so no rush.

Anyway, I believe there's 2 different ferry routes (edit: there's other's but much much longer)

1. Northlink which is Scrabster to Strommness at about £127 one way and 1.5 hour trip
or
2. Pentland which is Gills Bay to St Margarets Hope at £111 one way but only 1 hours trip.

So, there's not a lot in it really and just wondered if there's any advantage of one over the other as on the face of it the Pentland seems the better option? Anyone got personal experience of either and have any burning thoughts?

 

[CazPaul]

I think they do one from Aberdeen to Orkney.

 

[PaulC70]

I think they do one from Aberdeen to Orkney.

I should have been clearer, the nearest two that Im looking at as I dont get why anyone would consider the aberdeen one at 6 hours.

 

[CazPaul]

I should have been clearer, the nearest two that Im looking at as I dont get why anyone would consider the aberdeen one at 6 hours.

We know a couple who live on Orkney and they usually get the Aberdeen ferry saying it’s normally a much smoother crossing and the ferry is nicer, cabin is nice.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

Ferry choice may also come down to timings of crossings. Scrabster Stromness ferry is quite large so often plenty of capacity and fairly comfortable. Has advantage that Stromness us reasonably large (in Orkney scale) so something to do if you are waiting for a crossing. There is also a council run (at least it was 3 years ago) compact site on the edge of town which works as a stopover if pre booked for that first night. Kirkwall has a well spaced site again council led next to the leisure centre which 3 years ago had good toilet/showers.

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[PaulC70]

We know a couple who live on Orkney and they usually get the Aberdeen ferry saying it’s normally a much smoother crossing and the ferry is nicer, cabin is nice.

possibly smooth being east coast I guess so reasonably sheltered, and yeah a cabins good for longer trips but no advantage if only an hour or so I guess.

 

[Puddleduck]

Roads south to and from Aberdeen are better as well.

 

[vzac]

We went via scabster last yr. You also get a close up view of the old man of Hoy. There are 3 council run sites all are good. Hoy is interesting, you need at least 2 weeks to explore the Orkneys.

 

[Wabs]

You’ll be cramming a lot in for just 2 weeks,,,

 

[PaulC70]

You’ll be cramming a lot in for just 2 weeks,,,

No, not for the way we tour I won't. Im not after rolling eyes or judgements on my itinerary, we are not all the same in how we use our vehicles or in what our partners mobility issues may or may not dictate what we can get to.

However, any comments on personal experience on which ferry to use will be more than welcome.

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[Wabs]

I wasn’t knocking you, and I apologise if you took it that way,,,I hope you have a great time

 

[Kannon Fodda]

If the weather is rough the Scrabster - Stromness ferry will take the longer inner route rather than the outer old man of hoy route. My crossing was rough, taking the inner route, with at the time a van that was only a month old. Only time I've actually seen them get the chocks out for vehicles on the ferry deck. I then stayed on the Stromness promontory campsite, buffeted all night with the gale force winds and woke in the morning unable to see a thing out of the salt encrusted windows. Top tip, don't go over the Churchill causeways at high tide in gale force winds unless you want a salt wash on your van

I probably did similar to PaulC70's plans of having around a fortnight, perhaps actually less for a visit onto the Orkney mainland coupled with a charge around the NC500 (the latter now means I know which areas I would want to spend time in if I get to go back). To be honest I'm not a massive tourist so a quick visit into a couple of the neolithic sites, Highland Park Distillery tour and a walk around Kirkwall including Cathedral and Castle area, walk though Stromness, visit to the Italian Chapel and I was fairly happy. At the time the naval museum was closed and that is really the only thing I would have wanted to see. Yes I could have spent more time there but three days on the island more than satisfied me. If you are visiting many of the archaeological sites I think there is a combined pass which is cheaper than individual fees, but motorhome sized parking is very limited in capacity.

 

[dash300]

You’ll be cramming a lot in for just 2 weeks,,,

No, not for the way we tour I won't. Im not after rolling eyes or judgements on my itinerary, we are not all the same in how we use our vehicles or in what our partners mobility issues may or may not dictate what we can get to.

However, any comments on personal experience on which ferry to use will be more than welcome.

Fair enough comment I thought!

 

[PaulC70]

If the weather is rough the Scrabster - Stromness ferry will take the longer inner route rather than the outer old man of hoy route. My crossing was rough, taking the inner route, with at the time a van that was only a month old. Only time I've actually seen them get the chocks out for vehicles on the ferry deck. I then stayed on the Stromness promontory campsite, buffeted all night with the gale force winds and woke in the morning unable to see a thing out of the salt encrusted windows. Top tip, don't go over the Churchill causeways at high tide in gale force winds unless you want a salt wash on your van

Im planning on being very flexible and if it's rough rough we'll likely wait another day, but if "forced" take the shorter ferry and make a dash for it lol. Good shout too on the churchill causeways as we want to see them for sure but yeah, don't want to get salted to the bone lol.

 

[Otter Spotter]

I should have been clearer, the nearest two that Im looking at as I dont get why anyone would consider the aberdeen one at 6 hours.

Ferry lives Aberdeen at 5.30pm and is usually a much smoother ride than the Pentland which can be delayed due to weather. The currents through the Pentland firth can be fierce.

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[Tobym]

Scrabster ferry is drive on drive off, Pentland ferry you have to reverse on and drive off, hope this helps

 

[Kelsae2]

Only used the Pentland Ferries catamaran. Yes you reverse on and drive off, but the staff are very good sorting everyone out.
Never had a problem with the crossing in any weather.
It is now a newer and bigger catamaran compared to the original.
Hope you enjoy your time on Orkney.

 

[Catpirate]

Used to really like the Upper Deck restaurant in Scrabster, good for lunch as you wait.

 

[bigtwin]

Anyone going to Orkney needs to understand that they are going to Orkney; there is only one Orkney.

Referring to Orkney as ‘The Orkneys’ can be a sensitive topic for the locals.

While I’m here, anyone been to The Channels?

Ian

 

[Gellyneck]

As previously said there is a new (larger purpose built) vessel on the Pentland service and it is still a reverse on and drive off.

The shore crew are well versed with getting motorhomes on and off by placing down boards to flatten the risk of grounding.

When we went over last both Northern services were impacted by weather with the Pentland Ferries service restarting before the Northlink (by two days) and when that did restart it followed the Pentland inner route.

These are some photos of either end.

St Margarets Hope

St Gills

The ferry terminal at Stromness

Scrabster terminal from Lidls car park in Thurso

The memorial at Scapa Flow is worth a looksee and parking is not normally a problem.

You pass by the Italian Chapel on the way from St Mags Hope to Kirkwall and parking is also normally OK in a few dedicated bays.

There is also parking of a sort at Scara Brae (no photo though).

Parking in Kirkwall is opposite the Tesco \ Lidl stores and I think, from memory, andy63 parked there and might be able to give some more info on travelling around by motorhome.

This is a photo of the Council site in Kirkwall showing the facilities block and the sports centre behind.

If truth be told be just pitched up at this site as we've got bus passes so just hoped on and off buses foc.

There's a scenic tour bus (open topped) that departs from the bus terminal in Kirkwall (a few minutes walk from the parking previously mentioned) that takes in some of the archaeological sites.

There's a number of Orkney inter island ferry services. You can download the route \ timetable from their website.

Orkney Ferries - Published Timetables

orkneyferries.co.uk

A 2019 version of info document that's worth a read attached.

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[nicholsong]

If the weather is rough the Scrabster - Stromness ferry will take the longer inner route rather than the outer old man of hoy route. My crossing was rough, taking the inner route, with at the time a van that was only a month old. Only time I've actually seen them get the chocks out for vehicles on the ferry deck. I then stayed on the Stromness promontory campsite, buffeted all night with the gale force winds and woke in the morning unable to see a thing out of the salt encrusted windows. Top tip, don't go over the Churchill causeways at high tide in gale force winds unless you want a salt wash on your van

It is not only at that level that the Pentland can encrust windows: We used to fly Kirkwall-Wick and ofte flew at 500ft to avoid being trapped above the cloudbase because of the high decision height(650ft) at Wick. Even at 500ft the spume reached us and made landing at Wick a bit of a challenge.

 

[Catpirate]

Used to be a frequent flyer Aberdeen to Wick, often had to divert to Kirkwall and get a ferry to the mainland. Used to be a Shorts 360, looked and felt like a single decker bus with wings. They had a raffle on the route based on seat numbers for a bottle of whisky, won a few times.....