Travel and transportation to and on Orkney by air, sea and land

By air:

It might surprise you to learn that Orkney is extremely well served by flights to the major Scottish cities. You can fly to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Inverness and Glasgow, all of which have a number of flights daily, and all of which offer excellent connections to other UK and overseas airports. Heading north, Shetland is only a 35 minute flight each day and again there are a number of daily flight times. Aberdeen is a 55 minute flight away and Edinburgh 1 hour 20 mins, and with Orkney's airport fairly centrally situated, Orkney is in fact, less remote than many mainland areas of Scotland.

The airline serving Orkney is Flybe. Book online or telephone 0871 7002000.

For Kirkwall airport, use this weblink or telephone 01856 886210.

 

By sea:

Getting to Orkney by land and a choice of sea ferries is a straightforward exercise. There are three companies that operate ferry services to Orkney from the Scottish mainland.

Northlink operates a daily ro-ro ferry service between Scrabster on the north coast of Scotland and Stromness in Orkney. There are several sailings every day and the crossing takes approximately 1 hour 30 minutes.

Northlink also operates a regular ro-ro service between Kirkwall and Aberdeen, with connections to the Shetland Islands. The company operates brand new ferries built to a very high safety and comfort specification.

Scrabster, on the Scottish mainland, is served by ScotRail (Thurso station), telephone 0845 7550033 or Scottish Citylink bus service from Inverness. Telephone 08705 505050 for Citylink.

Two other ferry services operate to Orkney from the Scottish mainland. Pentland Ferries offers a catamaran service - introduced in summer 2009 - from Gills Bay (Caithness) to St Margaret's Hope (South Ronaldsay). Crossing time is approximately one hour.

During the summer months, John O'Groats Ferries operates a 45 minute passenger only service from John O'Groats to Burwick (South Ronaldsay).

 

NorthLink Orkney & Shetland Ferries Ltd.
Kiln Corner, Ayre Road, Kirkwall, Orkney KW15 1QX
Tel: 01856 885 500 Fax: 01856 879 588

Pentland Ferries
Pier Road, St Margaret's Hope, Orkney KW17 2SW
Tel: 01856 831 226

John O' Groats Ferries Ltd.
The Ferry Office, John O' Groats, Caithness, Scotland, KW1 4YR
Tel: 01955 611 353 or 01955 611342 Fax: 01955 611 301

 

Travel within Orkney

For transport around the islands, Orkney Ferries operates a fleet of ro-ro ferries between Orkney mainland and and all of the smaller islands. (see map showing inter-island ferry routes) In addition, Loganair (telephone 01856 872420) operates regular, scheduled flights from Kirkwall to six of the North Isles. Orkney has a good network of well-maintained roads, and getting around is no problem. Although the rate of car ownership in Orkney is amongst the highest in the United Kingdom, the roads are quiet and traffic jams are virtually unknown. There are also regular bus services on the mainland of Orkney.

 

Orkney Ferries
Shore Street, Kirkwall, Orkney, KW15 1LG
Telephone: 01856 872 044 Fax: 01856 872 921

 

Car Hire

There are a number of established car hire firms in Orkney, many of them acting as agents for the larger multinational companies. For more information, please see Visit Orkney.

 

 

 

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Map of Orkney