Travel Information

Shetland and Orkney Islands ports

The northernmost part of the British Isles, the Orkney and Shetland archipelagos, consist of around 200 islands. The major island is called Mainland, as in the Orkneys. This island, on which the capital, Lerwick, is located, is about 55 miles long and 20 miles wide.

Lerwick is an old fishing port, which has been vastly expanded and modernised to meet the growing ferry and shipping needs, but the town still retains much of its charm. P&O Ferries provides service from Scrabster (near Thurso) on Scotland's north coast to the Orkneys. The two-hour trip is made two to three times per day in the summer and in the winter, services drop to one or two trips per day.

Book Shetland & Orkney Islands Ferry Tickets

They also operates an overnight ferry service once daily on weekdays to Aberdeen. It is imperative to book in advance during July and August. John o' Groats Ferries accepts passengers only and operates from Easter to September two to four times daily between Scrabster and the Orkneys. Orkney Ferries provide extensive links to both the North Isles and South Isles, connecting 13 of the smaller islands. NorthLink Ferries also provides a service to Aberdeen. The ferry stops en-route at Kirkwall in Orkney. There is one sailing a day, with some sailings skipping the Kirkwall stop and sailing directly to Lerwick. The journey time for this crossing is roughly 12 hours.

Symril Line ferries connect the Shetlands with Scandinavia and Iceland. They sail along the following route: Hanstholm (Denmark) - Tórshavn (Denmark) - Lerwick - Bergen (Norway) - Lerwick - Tórshavn - Seyðisfjørður (Iceland) - Tórshavn - Lerwick. This route is serviced once a week.
Pentland Ferries operates two to four sailings daily between St. Margarets Hope in Orkney (on South Ronaldsay) to Gill's Bay in Caithness, northern Scotland, depending on the time of year. The journey takes one hour and the vessel can accommodate both passengers and vehicles. This route offers the shortest current car ferry crossing to Orkney.
Stromness, in the Orkneys, is serviced by three ferry companies. Orkney Ferries services the North Isles route: Stromness-Hoy-Graemsay. This route is serviced two to three times on weekdays and twice on weekends, with a journey time of 45 minutes. P&O Scottish Ferries also has a service to Aberdeen, with a crossing time of up-to 10 hours. NorthLink Ferries connects to Scrabster in Scotland, with ferries sailing up-to three times daily. The journey time is 90 minutes.