Plan a trip

Tailor-made trips to Scotland’s islands and edges

The ferry is the point.

Private trips to the Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland and the far north-west, built around crossings, the sleeper and the light. For people coming back to Scotland, or arriving with more than a week.

Plan a trip How we plan

Planning is free. We send a written proposal with the route, the houses and one price for the whole trip. Nothing is booked until you say so.

The pale curve of Luskentyre beach on Harris, turquoise shallows and a few white crofts under dark hills
Luskentyre, Isle of Harris

One planner

The person who answers your first email plans the whole trip and is there while you travel.

Islands first

The Long Island, the Small Isles, Orkney and Shetland: the places most tours leave for the last day.

By sea and rail

Ferries, the sleeper and private boats, booked early. Summer car spaces go first.

Buffer nights

Ferries stop for the wind. We leave a night before every long crossing home.

No package prices

No two trips cost the same. The proposal gives one price for yours.

Stalking never assumed

On an estate we plan walks, rivers and boats. Shooting only if you ask.

Where to go

Eleven regions, mostly islands.

All regions
Golden dune grass and shell sand on Harris, with a sea loch and bare hills behind
Isle of Harris

Outer Hebrides

Lewis and Harris

White beaches on the west side, bare rock on the east, and standing stones older than the pyramids.

Tobermory's painted harbour front on Mull under grey cloud, the bay flat calm
Tobermory, Isle of Mull

Inner Hebrides

Mull and Iona

White-tailed eagles, Fingal’s Cave on Staffa and the white sand of Iona.

Standing stones of the Ring of Brodgar in Orkney silhouetted against a red evening sky
Ring of Brodgar, Orkney

Northern Isles

Orkney

Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar, Maeshowe and St Magnus Cathedral.

The old stone lodberries of Lerwick standing at the water's edge above a small sandy beach
Lerwick, Shetland

Northern Isles

Shetland

Puffin cliffs at Hermaness and Sumburgh, Norse names and the simmer dim.

By the kind of trip

Start with what you love.

Islands by ferry

Barra · The Uists · Harris · Lewis

Without a car

Sleeper · Knoydart · Small Isles · Iona

Routes

Five routes we know by heart.

Real routes, planned around the ferries and the light. Each is a starting point: we change the order, the length and the houses to suit you.

All routes
The pale curve of Luskentyre beach on Harris, turquoise shallows and a few white crofts under dark hills
Luskentyre, Isle of Harris

11–13 nights · Outer Hebrides · Wester Ross

The Long Island

Four ferries · Three causeways · One drive north

  • The long crossing from Oban to Castlebay, on Barra
  • North through Eriskay, South Uist and Benbecula by causeway
  • Four nights on Harris, with a St Kilda day held in reserve
  • Lewis and Calanais, then the ferry to Ullapool and Assynt

Suggested11–13 nightsTailored to your dates · no package price

View route
Lagavulin distillery's white warehouses on the shore of Islay at dusk, seen across the bay
Lagavulin, Isle of Islay

7–9 nights · Kintyre · Islay · Jura

Whisky by sea

Four ferries · Two warehouses · No driving after tastings

  • Down Loch Fyne and Kintyre, with a night near Gigha
  • Four nights on Islay with a warehouse tasting at two distilleries
  • A night on Jura, under the Paps
  • The crossing from Port Askaig back to Oban

Suggested7–9 nightsTailored to your dates · no package price

View route
Standing stones of the Ring of Brodgar in Orkney silhouetted against a red evening sky
Ring of Brodgar, Orkney

10–12 nights · Sleeper · Orkney · Shetland

Sleeper to the Northern Isles

One sleeper · Three NorthLink crossings · No flights

  • The Caledonian Sleeper from Euston to Inverness
  • The north coast to Scrabster and the ferry past the Old Man of Hoy
  • Four nights on Orkney with an archaeologist
  • Shetland in the simmer dim, then the overnight boat to Aberdeen

Suggested10–12 nightsTailored to your dates · no package price

View route
A small green island in deep blue water off the Isle of Eigg
Isle of Eigg

8–10 nights · Knoydart · Small Isles · Mull

Roadless west

Six boats · One peninsula · No car for half the trip

  • The boat from Mallaig to Inverie, and two nights with no road out
  • The Small Isles ferry to Eigg and Rùm
  • Ardnamurchan, the westernmost point of mainland Britain
  • The Kilchoan ferry to Mull, and a night on Iona

Suggested8–10 nightsTailored to your dates · no package price

View route
Loch Muick in autumn, birches turning gold under low cloud
Loch Muick, Deeside

6–8 nights · Edinburgh · Deeside · Speyside

Estate and pinewood

One estate · One river · The sleeper home

  • Two nights in Edinburgh
  • A whole estate house with a cook, a ranger and a ghillie
  • The Caledonian pinewood at Rothiemurchus or Glen Tanar
  • Speyside, and the sleeper south from Aviemore

Suggested6–8 nightsTailored to your dates · no package price

View route

Experiences

Private days we arrange.

All ten experiences
Lagavulin distillery's white warehouses on the shore of Islay at dusk, seen across the bay
Lagavulin, Isle of Islay

Islay and Jura

An Islay warehouse tasting

Time in a bonded warehouse with a cask and someone who knows it.

A white-tailed eagle flying low over the water off Portree, Skye
Off Portree, Isle of Skye

Mull and Skye

Sea eagles and sea lochs

A private RIB on Mull, Loch Sunart or off Portree for white-tailed eagles and otters.

Daylight by month, StornowayJAN 7 h 09 min, FEB 9 h 24 min, MAR 11 h 45 min, APR 14 h 23 min, MAY 16 h 44 min, JUN 18 h 12 min, JUL 17 h 34 min, AUG 15 h 24 min, SEP 12 h 52 min, OCT 10 h 21 min, NOV 7 h 54 min, DEC 6 h 27 minJANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDECLongest day18 h 12 minStornoway

The Light calendar

The island year.

Daylight on Lewis, month by month, computed from the latitude, with the seasons that matter for planning.

  • Puffins and seabirdsMay · Jun · JulShetland, Orkney, the Treshnish Islesverify
  • Machair in flowerJun · JulThe Uists, Barra, Tiree and Harrisverify
  • MidgesJun · Jul · AugWorst on still evenings on the west coastverify
  • Aurora likely on clear dark nightsJan · Feb · Mar · Oct · Nov · DecShetland, Orkney, Lewis, north-facing coastsverify

Open the Light calendar

How we plan

A slower way to see the islands.

We plan one trip at a time, around tide tables, ferry timetables and the light. You tell us what you want; a specialist designs the route, holds the houses and the car spaces, books the boats, and writes it all down for you.

We don’t do coach tours, castle checklists or the North Coast 500 in five days. We do the islands people read about and rarely reach: Harris and the Uists, the Small Isles, Orkney and Shetland, with the Highland estates that belong alongside them.

Give Harris four nights. The first is for arriving.

From our planning notes
Sea-area map of Scotland with the eleven regions marked
Regions on the sea-area map. Approximate; not for navigation.

The Crossings

Draw your route.

Pick a first island and we’ll draw the chain of ferries, causeways and the sleeper on the sea-area map, with the operator for every leg.

No timetables or fares: we book those for you.

Speak to a specialist

Plan the islands, the unhurried way.

Tell us when, who’s coming and what you’re hoping for. One person plans it and looks after you while you travel.

Plan your trip Send an enquiry

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