Travel to Shetland

[Sanchez]

Hello everybody, I'm new so most of you don't know me yet. I'm Sanchez, a student from the USA.

 

Right now, I'm considering traveling to Shetland, sometime in the next year or so. I looked at Sumburgh airport, but the flights look a bit expensive--cheapest I saw from London was 400 pounds. How would you recommend I get to the islands?

 

Thanks for your help. If you see me around the boards, don't hesitate to say hello!

[shetlandpeat]

Hi, I travel from Preston, if you can book well in advanced for the train you can get is at a reasonable cost (last time from London was 65 GBP return) to aberdeen, or you could fly to Manchester. Once in Aberdeen, the ferry can be less than 50 GBP return, without a cabin.

From Preston, near Manchester, it takes 5 hours to get to Aberdeen, the ferry is a 10-15 minute walk away.

You can fly from Aberdeen, it would be the London to Aberdeen fare that would be the most, the train times for travelling up from London is 2 and a half hours more. I think flying from Aberdeen would cost about 150 GBP but you may need to check that out..

[MuckleJoannie]

The ferry without a berth is definitely the cheapest option, but remember to take a sleeping bag with you.

 

If you can book in advance there may be cheaper flights available. Also the early morning flight from Aberdeen tends to be cheaper as fewer people use it.

[muckleflugga]

Try Easyjet from Luton, then Flybe from Aberdeen, I just picked a random date in August, £69ish for the Luton - Aberdeen, then £92.31 for the Aberdeen - Sumburgh part, both fsres return! and both the flights can be done in one day.

[MJ]

sleeper berth on train £19 each way (london to scotland ie Aberdeen/Dundee/Glasgow/Edinburgh) as long as you don't mind sharing a room.

[carlossimon]

Señor,

 

When flying to the UK from the USA, book with British Airways all the way through to Sumburgh, I think you'll find that way it won't cost much more to fly to Shetland than flying USA to London, maybe £80 extra.

 

Adios mi amigo!

[Sanchez]

Señor,

 

When flying to the UK from the USA, book with British Airways all the way through to Sumburgh, I think you'll find that way it won't cost much more to fly to Shetland than flying USA to London, maybe £80 extra.

 

Adios mi amigo!

 

Muchas gracias para su ayuda! I looked at the BA website, they have some pretty good deals.

 

Here's another question: I'm very much a budget traveler. If I do go to Shetland, I'm going to be looking for very cheap options for eating/sleeping etc. Is camping allowed in the Shetland countryside (public land, obviously), or are there any decent campgrounds?

 

If camping isn't such a big thing, are there youth hostels?

[Ghostrider]

^^ There's a camping site at Clickimin in the town: http://shetlopedia.com/Clickimin

 

The Levenwick camp site in the south mainland used to allow tents, not sure if they still do, but worth a try: http://shetlopedia.com/Levenwick_Hall

 

I don't know if the Braewick camp site in the west mainland cater for tents, but again woth a try: http://shetlopedia.com/Braewick_Cafe_and_Caravan_Park

 

There are also a network of "Camping Bods" offering "basic" "budget" accomodation. I can't link you directly to a list of them as this site won't recognise the "ö" character in the url. However if you copy/paste ALL of the following in to your browser it should take you there:

 

http://shetlopedia.com/Category:Camping_Böds_in_Shetland

 

There's one youth hostel in the town: http://shetlopedia.com/Lerwick_Youth_Hostel

 

We get some campers in the summer, down sides to it is that its only really feasible due to weather from late May until the end of August, and even then we can get spells of weather that make being under canvas less than pleasant. If you stick to purpose built sites most or designed with the weather in mind so you shouldn't have to suddenly up sticks and move in the middle of the night. However if you're camping on ground elsewhere - some folk are happy enough to let you pitch a tent in a corner of a field for a night of so, providing you get permission (everywhere belongs to someone, and if you ask around at the local shops or Post Office, or knock on the door of a nearby house someone should be able to tell you who to talk to and/or where might be available), just make sure the spot you choose has a reasonable amount of shelter from all directions, but isn't at the very bottom of a dip or slope. Without shelter you could find yourself waking up minus your tent with the wind we can get, and at the bottom of a dip or slope waking up surrounded by the shallow water of a temporary flood on a night of heavy rain.

[Fifi]

I don't know if the Braewick camp site in the west mainland cater for tents, but again woth a try: http://shetlopedia.com/Braewick_Cafe_and_Caravan_Park

They certainly used to welcome tents, probably still do I would imagine, but decided to build the wooden wigwams which provide fun, basic accommodation - and withstand the wind!

 

http://www.wigwamholidays.com/Braewick_Wigwams

[carlossimon]

Señor,

 

When flying to the UK from the USA, book with British Airways all the way through to Sumburgh, I think you'll find that way it won't cost much more to fly to Shetland than flying USA to London, maybe £80 extra.

 

Adios mi amigo!

 

Muchas gracias para su ayuda! I looked at the BA website, they have some pretty good deals.

 

Here's another question: I'm very much a budget traveler. If I do go to Shetland, I'm going to be looking for very cheap options for eating/sleeping etc. Is camping allowed in the Shetland countryside (public land, obviously), or are there any decent campgrounds?

 

If camping isn't such a big thing, are there youth hostels?

 

Buenas dias,

 

Sanchez, mi esposa es Colombiana, mi habla español un poquito!

 

As a student you'll also get 25% discount with Northlink Ferries. I think you'll not have too much problem finding places to stay or pitch a tent, keeping the tent from blowing away maybe your biggest headache though!

 

Chao

[ArabiaTerra]

There is also a Youth Hostel in Uyeasound, in Unst.

[Sanchez]

Señor,

 

When flying to the UK from the USA, book with British Airways all the way through to Sumburgh, I think you'll find that way it won't cost much more to fly to Shetland than flying USA to London, maybe £80 extra.

 

Adios mi amigo!

 

Muchas gracias para su ayuda! I looked at the BA website, they have some pretty good deals.

 

Here's another question: I'm very much a budget traveler. If I do go to Shetland, I'm going to be looking for very cheap options for eating/sleeping etc. Is camping allowed in the Shetland countryside (public land, obviously), or are there any decent campgrounds?

 

If camping isn't such a big thing, are there youth hostels?

 

Buenas dias,

 

Sanchez, mi esposa es Colombiana, mi habla español un poquito!

 

As a student you'll also get 25% discount with Northlink Ferries. I think you'll not have too much problem finding places to stay or pitch a tent, keeping the tent from blowing away maybe your biggest headache though!

 

Chao

 

Que bueno! Debes practicar conmigo, por que yo tengo mucho a aprender tambien.

 

I was in Iceland last spring, and I'd never felt a gale that strong in my life. Are the conditions similar on Shetland?

[MuckleJoannie]

The wind is an almost constant feature of the Shetland climate. Gales are frequent in winter time and not unusual in summer.

 

From an article on the Saxa Vord radar site on the island of Unst in the far north of Shetland:

 

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/s/saxa_vord/index.html

 

 

 

However, the radar station holds the unofficial British record for wind speed, which in 1962 was recorded at 177 mph; just before the measuring equipment blew away.