Self-Launched Scottish Isles: Hebrides, Orkney & Shetland Overland

Arrive in Glasgow and take the scenic West Highland Line train (ScotRail, ~3h15, £15–25 advance) to Oban — a far more rewarding start than a boarding queue in Troon. Settle into an Oban hostel, stock up on waterproofs and binoculars if you haven't, and take an evening walk up McCaig's Tower for views over Kerrera and the Sound of Mull. Book your CalMac Oban–Craignure (Mull) foot passenger ticket for tomorrow and check weather forecasts — island hops are easily rearranged but not cancellable at short notice.

🚌ScotRail Glasgow Queen St → Oban, ~3h15, £15–25 if booked in advance

🛏Oban hostel (dorm, ~£25–30/night)

• →West Highland Line train journey
• →McCaig's Tower sunset walk
• →Book CalMac Mull ferry foot passenger ticket

Morning CalMac ferry Oban–Craignure (~45 min, ~£8 return foot passenger). Take the island bus to Tobermory or Craignure and join a self-bookable wildlife boat trip (Turus Mara or Staffa Tours depart from Ulva Ferry; ~£60–80 for a 3–4 hour trip) landing on Lunga in the Treshnish Isles — the puffin colony the expedition ship visits by Zodiac. You'll get closer on foot than any Zodiac cruise allows. Afternoon: return ferry to Oban or overnight on Mull.

🚌CalMac Oban–Craignure foot passenger ~£8 return; island bus ~£5; wildlife boat ~£70

🛏Oban hostel or Tobermory bunkhouse (~£28–35)

• →Lunga puffin colony landing boat trip
• →Staffa / Fingal's Cave cruise (if sea conditions allow)
• →Tobermory harbour wander

Ferry or bus to Fionnphort, then the short CalMac crossing to Iona (foot passenger ~£5 return). Visit Iona Abbey (Historic Environment Scotland, ~£9.50 entry) — self-guided with the excellent on-site interpretation, or join one of the daily talk slots. Walk the white sands to the north end and to the Bay at the Back of the Ocean. Overnight on Mull or back in Oban; the Argyll Hotel and Iona Hostel fill early in summer so book ahead.

🚌Bus to Fionnphort ~£2 plus CalMac Iona crossing ~£5 return

🛏Iona Hostel or Mull guesthouse/dorm (~£30–40)

• →Iona Abbey self-guided visit
• →North-end white sands walk
• →Bay at the Back of the Ocean

The cruise's headline stop is Hirta, St Kilda — the abandoned village evacuated in 1930 and a UNESCO double World Heritage Site. Day trips run from Leverburgh on Harris and from Uig on Skye with operators such as Sea Harris and Kilda Cruises (~£230–270, weather-dependent, book weeks ahead). Realistically these are frequently cancelled, so treat this as a bonus day: if it goes, you get Hirta's village street, cleits and the gannet stack of Stac Lee. If not, ferry to the Outer Hebrides (Uig–Tarbert, ~£20 foot passenger) and instead walk Harris's Luskentyre beach and the Callanish Stones on Lewis.

🚌CalMac Uig–Tarbert foot passenger ~£20; St Kilda day boat ~£250 if running

🛏Tarbert or Stornoway hostel (~£28–35)

• →St Kilda day trip (if weather allows)
• →Luskentyre Beach walk
• →Callanish Standing Stones

Travel day: ferry Stornoway–Ullapool (~£20 foot passenger, 2h45) and then the Citylink/Stagecoach bus or train up the west coast to Thurso (~£25–35, 5–6 hrs). If coming via Skye instead, the Kyle–Inverness rail line is one of Britain's great scenic journeys. Once in Thurso — mainland Britain's northernmost town — walk the cliffs at Dunnet Head for fulmars, guillemots and puffins, and pick either the Wolfburn Distillery tour (~£12) or Caithness Horizons museum (free/£5). Duncansby Stacks are a short bus or bike ride away.

🚌Stornoway–Ullapool ferry ~£20; bus/train Ullapool–Thurso ~£30

🛏Thurso hostel or B&B (~£30–40)

• →Dunnet Head cliff walk
• →Duncansby Stacks
• →Wolfburn Distillery tour

Take the NorthLink ferry Scrabster–Stromness (~£18 foot passenger, 1h30) and base up in Kirkwall. In the afternoon fly the Loganair Westray–Papa Westray hop — officially the world's shortest scheduled flight at under two minutes, ~£20–30 — and walk Papa Westray to the Knap of Howar, the oldest standing house in northern Europe, with puffins and seals along the cliffs. Return to Kirkwall by air. Evening: pint at the Kirkwall Hotel or the Bothy, and prep for tomorrow's Neolithic day.

🚌NorthLink Scrabster–Stromness ~£18; Loganair Westray/Papa Westray hops ~£50 return

🛏Kirkwall hostel or guesthouse (~£30–40)

• →NorthLink ferry crossing
• →World's shortest flight to Papa Westray
• →Knap of Howar neolithic house walk

Hire a bike in Kirkwall (~£20/day) or take the local bus to cover the UNESCO Heart of Neolithic Orkney: Skara Brae (£10 with Historic Environment Scotland), Maeshowe chambered tomb (guided, ~£10 — book ahead), the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness (free). Add a stop at the Italian Chapel and, if time allows, a tour of Highland Park or Scapa distillery (~£15–25). Overnight Kirkwall again.

🚌Bike hire ~£20 or Orkney bus day ticket ~£8

🛏Kirkwall hostel or guesthouse (~£30–40)

• →Skara Brae
• →Maeshowe
• →Ring of Brodgar and Stones of Stenness
• →Highland Park distillery tour

Overnight NorthLink ferry Kirkwall–Lerwick (~£30–40 foot passenger in a shared cabin, 5–6 hrs). Arrive Lerwick mid-morning and check into a hostel or guesthouse by the harbour. Explore the old lanes of Lerwick, the Shetland Museum (free), Fort Charlotte, and the lodberries along the waterfront. Afternoon: coastal walk to the Broch of Clickimin or the Sands of Sound. Book a wildlife/coastal boat trip and a local bus pass for the next two days.

🚌NorthLink Kirkwall–Lerwick overnight ferry ~£35

🛏Lerwick hostel or guesthouse (~£32–42)

• →Shetland Museum
• →Lerwick old town lanes
• →Clickimin Broch walk

Two short ferries to Unst via Yell (~£10 total foot passenger) bring you to Hermaness National Nature Reserve — cliffs packed with gannets, puffins and bonxies, plus views to the Muckle Flugga lighthouse at the northern tip of Britain. On the way back stop at the Viking longhouse reconstruction at Haroldswick and, if timing works, the Jarlshof-style Norse sites around Shetland's north. Alternatively take a self-bookable boat trip from Lerwick to Noss or the Isle of Mousa for storm petrels and seals (~£40–60).

🚌Local buses and two inter-island ferries ~£15 total

🛏Lerwick hostel or guesthouse (~£32–42)

• →Hermaness NNR cliff walk
• →Haroldswick Viking longhouse
• →Muckle Flugga viewpoint
• →Optional Mousa or Noss boat trip

Morning at your own pace: bus south to Jarlshof prehistoric and Norse settlement at Sumburgh (£9, one of Europe's most complete multi-period sites) or a final cliff walk at Sumburgh Head for puffins. Fly Loganair Shetland–Edinburgh (~£90–140 booked early, 1h20) or, for a slower finish, take the overnight NorthLink ferry to Aberdeen (~£55) and train down. Arrive Leith/Edinburgh exactly where the expedition disembarks — but with a proper sense of how the islands connect.

🚌Bus to Sumburgh ~£5; Loganair Shetland–Edinburgh ~£110

🛏Own arrangements / Leith hostel (~£30 if staying on)

• →Jarlshof Norse settlement
• →Sumburgh Head puffin cliffs
• →Flight or ferry south