Booked to go from Kirkwall to a northern island with a car (Orkney ferries)…read more 1) I tried to book 2 months ahead; on-line - not possible. 2) I emailed to ask to book - told had to phone them. 3) I phoned, booked, asked for an email confirmation, but was only given a reference no, and (I thought paid by credit card over the phone). We got on the ferry, gave the reference no - NO record of our payment. Office closed. 4) Whilst on the island - I called the office to sort things out. NO paper trail of payment. Fine - we decide I will pay on ferry. When getting on ferry Sanday - Kirkwall - we were treated like CRIMINALS! Ordered about, no communication, not allowed on the ferry till last (though we were first to arrive - TO AVOID any problems). Put in "special" place on ferry - with NO COMMUNICATION why/how etc. When I asked why: they rudely just said "because you haven't paid", "in case of a dispute". When I later asked why were treated this way, WHEN WE HAD CALLED TO TRY TO SORT THIS OUT - I was told they didn't know about my call....! Problems: 1) Why do they not offer on-line booking? 2) We clearly had a misunderstanding at my first call; but this could have been avoided with an email confirmation. 3) How are they allowed to treat customers this way? WHEN I TRIED TO SORT IT OUT! Why was there no communication? 4) Does Orkney ferries treat all women of colour this way? Or was I possibly just unfortunate to find a xenophobic/racist crew? They hold a clear monopoly on the service - but this should not absolve them of common courtesy!

Orkney Ferries office in Shore Street is the main company and booking office, but there are also…read morebooking offices in Houton and Tingwall. The staff in Shore Street are not particularly helpful or friendly but will do what's required of them - they generally don't volunteer any extra information about special ticket prices, etc. Orkney Ferries themselves are quite basic ferries - but they do the job of getting you from A to B - or from Kirkwall to Sanday, or Westray, or Stronsay (etc) adequately. They're not fancy - but they're workhorses. They're functional car ferries with basic facilities in terms of toilets, seating and cafes - the bacon butties are great though.

When travelling back home after visiting Stromness for the Orkney Folk Festival we had a…read morenightmarish situation, our tent was taking a long time to pack away and there happened to be no Stromness taxis available to take is to the Ferry Terminal. So we begged our tent neighbours for a lift which they graciously gave us. We then just made it at 08:55 for the 09:00, this then happened to be way too late to board as the ferry had already started travelling up the pier. The friendly staff apologised and explained to us that they waited as long as they could. This sent me on a tail-spin as panic set in as we had already booked onward travel. Thankfully the ladies on the staff, like the angels they are, took control of the situation and booked us on to a Pentland Ferry to Gils Bay at 11:15 from there to our original destination of Thurso in time to catch out train. Not only this but they gave us a full refund for the this leg of our journey making it easy for us to buy tickets on the Pentaland Ferry with no monetary loss to us! All in all they turned around a seemingly impossible situation, for that I am very grateful! The ferry journey itself is also staffed by lovely crew. When travelling from Scrabster to Stromness me and my friend both suffered from sea-sickness and were looked after very well. The on-board price of food is a little expensive but that is to be expected. The scenery was stunning and though the sun was watery in a cloud covered sky it only added to the mystery on the Isles. Great company based purely on the fat that the staff are fantastic!

I crossed over from St Margaret's Hope a few days ago on this fast, comfortable little car ferry. I…read morearrived in the islands aboard the Aberdeen ferry but was glad to be returning on one much more comfortable, less crowded and fast.

Pentland Ferries sails between Gills Bay on mainland Britain and St. Margaret's Hope on Mainland,…read moreOrkney. The Pentalina high-speed catamaran (a passenger and vehicle ferry) runs the route in little over an hour, making it the fastest way to access Orkney by boat. Leaving Gills Bay, the Pentalina sails through Pentland Firth and some truly spectacular North Sea scenery. Perhaps most interesting is the small island of Stroma, belonging to Caithness. Until the turn of the twentieth century, Stroma had several hundred residents who farmed the land, but by the 60s, the last two families had left. The stone homes, typical of the Highlands, still stand silently today, as does the lighthouse, church, graveyard and harbor. Locals told us that the island is currently owned by a sheep farmer in Caithness who uses the land to graze his sheep. Otherwise, everything is supposedly preserved within the structures exactly as the residents of Stroma left them when they abandoned the island. A Scottish ghost town. As the ferry passes Stroma, and then Swona (part of The Orkney islands), it's worth braving the whipping wind and chilly North Sea air to keep a lookout for seals and seabirds. Most notable among the wildlife are the adorable puffin, hurtling through the air like feathered missiles. (Once you're sufficiently chilled, there are two lounges below deck in which to relax, plus a tiny window selling hot, homemade soup, burgers and sandwiches.) At last, the Pentalina cruises by Hoy where, if the weather cooperates, passengers can catch a glimpse of the iconic Old Man of Hoy, before the final destination of St. Margaret's Hope comes into view. The quaint village lies like a cobblestone ribbon cutting through the emerald green landscape behind it. The cost of your passage is £14; your car will run you £33. Considering the speed with which you reach the Islands, and the views you're treated to along the way, Pentland Ferries is well worth the price of admission.

Tiny little ferry pot that runs ferries to Orkney and Shetland all year round weather permitting…read more If you want to eat grab someting in Thurso first. Also fuel on the islands tends to be a bit dearer so fill up on the main land first

Not our first time up here in the North - we always love to come back to this area. But we've never…read morevisited John O'Groats - this year though we made some time for a visit. It's often advertised as the Northernmost point - which it is actually not. That would be Dunnet Head. But it is the northernmost settlement (or village so to call). Also ferries to the Orkneys depart from here. The name comes originally from Jan de Groot, a 15th-century Dutchman who once plied a ferry from the Scottish mainland to Orkney, which had recently been acquired from Norway by King James IV. The signpost is not the original from 1964 but was erected after the Hotel re-opened in the 2000s and is now publicly accessible without any fees. And this landmark brings in a lot of visitors. Restaurants, cafés, souvenir shops, a distillery....it's all here. As the counterpart "Land's End" in Cornwall it's often compared to a touristy theme park. And yes, it completely caters to tourists and visitors. But still, it was worth a visit. Some shops were pretty fun, the ocean views are beautiful and there's also the John O'Groats trail - a nice path along the coast. And if you like it very much, then there's the colourful Hotel where you could stay at.

This is so much more than just a famous sign - it's a whole village built around the sign - with an…read moreold Victorian hotel, lots of whimsical murals, boats, a cute cafe and shops, a row of colorful houses, and even a whisky distillery! The John O'Groats sign marks the "journey's end" on the trek from the southernmost inhabited point in the UK (Land's End in Cornwall, England) to the northernmost inhabited point - John O'Groats village, Scotland! It's not actually the northernmost point in the UK though - that's nearby at a place called Dunnet Head. But it is the most northern village. The British even use the metaphor "from Land's End to John O'Groats" to signify a great, all-encompassing distance - kinda like how we American's say "coast to coast". It's a beautiful little village - very quaint and very windy haha! There's a little park which doubles as a trailhead for the 147 mile John O'Groats trail. It also holds the original bright red foghorn from the nearby lighthouse before it was automated. From the park, you can see the Orkney Isles in the distance and a line of very turbulent waves stretching from Orkney to the mainland - this is where the North Sea clashes with the Atlantic Ocean and is considered one of the most dangerous channels in the whole UK! I so badly wanted to get my drone up in the air but it was WAAAAY too windy lol. It's very remote but we got here doing the North Coast 500 route with Rabbies Tours (which is AMAZING by the way). We spent a few minutes in the cafe and shop - so many cute souvenirs and trinkets and very fun bottles of vodka and gin. We grabbed a coffee and a couple of pastries - all excellent! In the summer, a ferry runs from the village dock over to Orkney. Definitely worth a stop if you're doing the North Coast 500!