jamboboetjie Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Im planning a family trip up north for a few days,which would be the best Skye or Shetlands,and when is the best time to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan_R Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Skye -It is more beautiful, Shetland is nice but a bit flatter. -Skye is easier to get to. -the weather should be slightly better if you are headin up soon. both should be a nice trip though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boof Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 It's Shetland or Shetland Isles/Islands...not Shetlands. Unless you're a lazy, ignorant Daily Record/Sun/Scotsman journalist. Weather here has been cracking for most of the summer and beyond - holiday depends what you're after. You could post on http://www.shetlink.com and see what responses you get - they're usually quite friendly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primavera Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 In Shetland we've had some of the best weather in the UK this year in terms of sustained dry periods, much as we did last year, so I wouldnt really agree on the weather comment from Alan R as my experiences of Skye weather havent been exactly great - it rains quite a lot. Not sure if it gets the worst of the West coast weather, someone else might be able to say. OTOH predicting the weather up here in Shetland more than a couple of days in advance is very difficult. Flights to Shetland are pretty expensive if you dont book well in advance, so a last minute trip here by plane would be very costly - possibly as much as ?150 pp depending on your flexibility I would reckon, and the boat takes 12-14 hours overnight depending which days you are travelling. Skye is much easier to get to, definitely agree with that. Skye's beauty is in its mountains, if you're a mountain lover Skye will be more to your taste. Shetlands beauty lies in the relationship between the land and sea, you cant get very far from the sea in Shetland due to the many Voes that scar the landscape, these are kind of mini-fjords, long inlets between the hills. Depending on your interests Shetland probably has more to do in terms of "things" as it has 2 1/2 times the pop of Skye. Plenty of historical sites, decent beaches, a very good museum, many smaller islands accessible by ferry and enough places to stay/eat to keep most folk happy. I would add Orkney to your list, its quite accessible via a long drive up North then short ferry trips from Scrabster, John o' Groats & Gills Bay. It has ok weather, very geared up for tourism with a lot of excellent eateries, several museums, lots of historical sites. Its far flatter than Shetland or Skye, but also much greener. I have been to Orkney many times in many guises - diving, drinking, to weddings and with my kids and I never get bored of it. Only been to Skye 3 times and it was nice but for me doesnt have the kind of "returnability" that Orkney has. I would thoroughly recommend Shetland too but you should plan it in advance imo. HTH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primavera Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Flights to Shetland are pretty expensive if you dont book well in advance, so a last minute trip here by plane would be very costly - possibly as much as ?150 pp depending on your flexibility I would reckon Sorry for self-quoting, I misread the OP - for some reason I thought you were thinking to go soon, if you are planning ahead you may well get decent prices for flights. You may have difficulty getting info online atm though as Flybe are taking over the franchise, my wife was recently looking for prices for the away game in Inverness on the 15th November and was struggling to get accurate quotes, that might have been fixed now but for a proper price and some decent advice you could phone Leasks Travel Agents in Lerwick on 01595 693162 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morry Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Skye is beautiful went for the first time a few months ago and stayed in the town of Portree. It's a massive Island. If your goana go that far out I would recommend Knoydart. It's on the Mainland however you need to get a ferry over from Malaig to get there. It's the last remaining wilderness on mainland UK. It also boasts the most remote pub in mianland UK. You cant take your car over but you wont need it as there is breathtaking walks everywhere and your sure to see wild deer etc. You can camp for free on the beach or there nice digs available. I had two mates over from the the states and it was their fave part of their tour. You can even get the boat from Skye via Malaig and do both like we did. Portree, Skye: Knoydart: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scallywag Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ This website might help make your mind up ! Living in Shetland I would say there is plenty to keep you occupied. I would love to go to Skye as well so I hopefully it will be a win win situation. If you happen to see a slightly balding man in his early 30s walking along the streets of Scalloway with a Hearts top remeber to say hello ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor FinnBarr Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Im planning a family trip up north for a few days,which would be the best Skye or Shetlands,and when is the best time to go. Too many foreigners on Skye (and thats the locals) so I would say Shetland, and you'll also get to enjoy the delights of the Thule Bar in Lerwick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boof Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 you'll also get to enjoy the delights of the Thule Bar in Lerwick! and thrice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor FinnBarr Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 and thrice Great jukey if I can remember right but my fav part was watching the orange overall clad dockers rolling around the floor, punching lumps out each other whilst everyone else, barstaff included, carried on as normal! Great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamboboetjie Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 Thank You all. Great Stuff Better advice here than a Travel agent Well it seems we are going to have two trips up north Both places sound great. Happy Days Scallywag I'll be looking out for you I'd better away and start saving ps- sorry for being ignorant about Shetland (spelling) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toxteth O'Grady Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Both are great in their own way, Shetland is a bit pricey to get to. Skye is fantastic if you like the mountains, September/October would be good for the Autumn colours , if you don't want to climb the hills just have a pint at the Sligachan Hotel, let the kids play on the playpark outside and feast your eyes on the scenery The Hotel is just to the right of the bridge in this picture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor FinnBarr Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Both are great in their own way, Shetland is a bit pricey to get to. Skye is fantastic if you like the mountains, September/October would be good for the Autumn colours , if you don't want to climb the hills just have a pint at the Sligachan Hotel, let the kids play on the playpark outside and feast your eyes on the scenery The Hotel is just to the right of the bridge in this picture Campsites quite crap tho, too stoney! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toxteth O'Grady Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Campsites quite crap tho, too stoney! Only peasants camp:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor FinnBarr Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Only peasants camp:) Peasant and proud! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.