Shetland, Summer 2022

[Wowbagger]

I fancy this. I was having a natter with my swimming pal Sherry yesterday after our dip - we were warm enough that the conversation actually flowed instead of being punctuated with lots of "Fuck!" and "Shit!" type expletives. She's going to Skye in late January just to spend her time chillin' (seems like the correct word, somehow) and thought she might take her wetsuit and flounder around in a loch. In January.

Anywa, I said it was high time I went camping in Scotland and she wholeheartedly recommended Shetland. I've fancied going there for quite a while. Sleeper to Aberdeen, then 14-hour crossing...

Sounds OK to me, and also fairly flexible, on the basis that we might well be under the wave of some other Greek-lettered microbe by then.

My Dear Wife won't camp. Anyone else fancy this?

[Cudzoziemiec]

Sounded good to me until you mentioned the 14-hour ferry.

[FifeingEejit]

I was meant to go in March 2020 but we'll you know.

You get a whole day in furryboot toon between sleeper arrival and ferry departure and you wake up in Lerwick either fresh as a daisy or knackered from boaking all night.

My plan was to go to the top of yell then head back to the sound before heading north west then going South East before taking the shorter night sailing to Kirkwall to grab some orcadian roads.

Next summer's all up in the air for me just now.

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[Canardly]

I would be tempted subject to domestic logistics. Again the ferry sounds a bit intimidating,  four and a half hours from Dieppe is bad enough. Are cabins available?

[FifeingEejit]

Yes, I've heard they maybe even have seat belts to keep you in your bed.

If the Aberdeen-Lerwick option doesn't sound good then travelling to Thurso and sailing to either Stromness or at Margaret's hope then rising up to Kirkwall for the v. Late ferry to Lerwick is probably a decent journey to do.

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[Canardly]

Cabin prices seem to have doubled 2021/2022 making them somewhat expensive.

[FifeingEejit]

Oh that reminds me Shetland is on RET but because Orkney had commercial operators who failed to get on board there is no RET for orkney so when I was booked it was al sot as expensive to sail from Lerwick to Kirkwall as it was from Aiberdeen tae Lerrick.

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[Cudzoziemiec]

Real Extended Time?

[Polar Bear]

Shetland is an awesome place.  I recommend going north to Unst and taking yourself to the north west tip where you can see Muckle Flugga and puffins.  Oh, there are bonksies too.

There are not many camp sites as such but there are bods which are interesting.  We spent a few days in the one at Walls in 2010 After our Hilleberg Hallo 3GT flysheet was destroyed in the savage winds on Fetlar.

There used to be a private hostel and camp ground at Uyeasound on Unst and it may still be there but I haven't checked recently.

Oh, and on Unst you can visit the most northerly bus stop.  It is usually decorated and worth the effort.

And don't forget the simmer din.

[FifeingEejit]

Real Extended Time?

Road Equivalent Tariff aka subsidised fares.

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[aidan.f]

This rather interests me.. Wow do you have a date to suggest?

[Wowbagger]

This rather interests me.. Wow do you have a date to suggest?

None at all at present, although May/June would appeal, if only for the extended daylight hours.

[Ripio]

Shetland is an awesome place.  I recommend going north to Unst and taking yourself to the north west tip where you can see Muckle Flugga and puffins.  Oh, there are bonksies too.

There are not many camp sites as such but there are bods which are interesting.  We spent a few days in the one at Walls in 2010 After our Hilleberg Hallo 3GT flysheet was destroyed in the savage winds on Fetlar.

There used to be a private hostel and camp ground at Uyeasound on Unst and it may still be there but I haven't checked recently.

Oh, and on Unst you can visit the most northerly bus stop.  It is usually decorated and worth the effort.

And don't forget the simmer din.

There were plenty of campsites when we went in may 2017.
Some of them community run facilities, often at old harbour areas which also had campervan sites etc.

[Pingu]

There's always the possibility of a pint in Krakatoa before boarding the Furryboottoon - Lerrick ferry 

[andrewc]

Orkney & Shetland have been on The List for a long time.   


No sleepers from Liverpool so it's 6 1/2 hours looking out of the window & then getting in to Aberdeen mid afternoon.


How long where you planning ?

[JenM]

Catch sleeper from Preston at 00:30 arriving Aberdeen 7:40

[Wowbagger]

Orkney & Shetland have been on The List for a long time.   


No sleepers from Liverpool so it's 6 1/2 hours looking out of the window & then getting in to Aberdeen mid afternoon.


How long where you planning ?

I hadn't got that far. Certainly a minimum of a week actually on the islands, probably a bit longer. Given that it's 2 days' travelling each way pretty much, dedicating a fortnight for the entire trip, 10 days of which I'd spend on the islands seems like a pretty good idea.

[Polar Bear]

Once you have been you will want to go back. 

We used to catch the Aberdeen sleeper form Euston and knock around in the granite city for the day catching the ferry for the teatime sailing.  We'd take a cabin and so far have managed to sleep well.  My one worry was that I didn't find anywhere safe to leave the bikes and luggage though in fact nothing happened to them.  It would be nice to have somewhere secure to leave them for the day though.

Getting off the boat at breakfast time is the perfect way to start a tour. 

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

I have looked at Shetland, but would resort to flying with the Airnimal from Southampton via some other convenient Scottish Airport.  But I think I am investing my brownie points in a trip to the westernmost parts of the French Pyrenees

[Canardly]

Unfortunately I don't think I will be able to join this.