Scotland's Far North, Shetland & Orkney

DAY 1

Journey from your home station to Stirling and, on arrival, we will make our way to the Golden Lion Hotel, our base for this evening. We enjoy free time to explore our new surroundings before meeting for our first evening meal together.

DAY 2

After breakfast this morning, we travel on the wonderfully picturesque Highland Line that takes us to Inverness where we continue our journey to Scotland's Far North by rail. On arrival in Thurso, we transfer to the Castletown Hotel, our base for the next two nights, and enjoy our evening meal together.

DAY 3

Today, we board our private coach and visit the Castle & Gardens of Mey, the former royal residence of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother where we gain an insight into Her Majesty's life in Caithness and spend time enjoying the peaceful gardens and grounds. Afterwards, we head to the most northerly point of the mainland, John O' Groats, a famous point for cyclists and walkers making the great journey to or from Land's End. We can explore the village, walk the coast, and admire the beautiful scenery and wildlife before returning to our hotel in time for our evening meal.

DAY 4

After a leisurely breakfast, we journey to Scrabster by private coach and board the ferry to Orkney sailing past the impressive red stone sea-stack of the Old Man of Hoy. On arrival, we meet our local guide who will be with us throughout our tour of the island including a visit to the mystical ancient settlement of Skara Brae, uncovered by a storm in 1850 and older than Stonehenge. We then visit Skaill House, the finest mansion on the island, before heading to the Italian Chapel which was built by Italian prisoners during WWII. We finish in Kirkwall where we enjoy our evening meal at a local restaurant, before boarding our overnight ferry to the Shetland Islands.

DAY 5

After breakfast on board, we arrive in Lerwick and meet our guide for the day visiting a local jewellery workshop and seeing beautiful Shetland Ponies before our visit to the Shetland Museum & Archives with over 3,000 artefacts to explore. After enjoying our lunch at leisure, we head to the unusual Shetland settlement of Fladdabister and the Mousa Broch, the best preserved 2,000-year-old Iron Age tower in existence. We finish our tour at one of the most complex archeolgical sites, Jarlshof, travelling through 4,000 years of history from the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Viking periods. Later this afternoon, we join our Northlink ship and enjoy our final evening meal on board before our overnight journey to Aberdeen.

DAY 6

After breakfast, we bid farewell to Aberdeen and make our way to the station for our homeward journeys.

B=Breakfast, D=Dinner