Island hopping

How to make a week disappear. Come to the Orkney Islands, buy an island hopper ferry ticket. That’s it, that’s all you need to do - a week has gone, just like magic.

I love islands – that feeling when the ramp goes down on the ferry, you double check with the ferryman what time it’s coming back and then you’re free to explore for a day. There were a few islands which I definitely wanted to visit whilst I was here – adding up the cost of them meant it made sense to buy the island hopper ticket so I could jump on any ferry I wanted to for the week. All for the princely sum of £42. I went to a couple on foot, the others I took a bike over as it’s the best way to see more in a day. I went to Hoy twice as there was too much to do in a day, and even then I didn’t see it all mainly due to spending a whole afternoon watching sea eagles when I’d planned to be cycling. I’ve been to museums, visited memorials and cemeteries, seen Neolithic ruins, watched puffins, spotted seals, chatted to people on the ferries and also had some time to explore mainland Orkney. The main town, Kirkwall is a good sized town full of local and arty shops and has made an ideal base. I also met up with an old colleague yesterday evening – the first person I’ve seen that I knew in over 2 months, not that it feels like that at all.

 I’m booked on a ferry back to mainland Scotland tomorrow but I could easily spend another couple of weeks here. I can’t think of anywhere in the UK where 2 weeks could be filled so easily, be so beautiful and leave you with a permanent smile. (Flights direct from Edinburgh or Glasgow to Kirkwall, just in case anyone was wondering :-) )