Expert: Willie Wallace - 5/29/2004

Question
Hi Willie.  We're travelling from Australia and will be in Scotland between late August to early December.  We will have a car (my family live in Kirkcaldy) and want to see the highlands.  One area I really want to see is the Orkneys.  There will be three of us - my husband, myself and our 2 year old daughter.  I've read lots of books and sites on the net, but I know local knowledge is always more truthful.  Can you tell me the best area to stay there (I'm assuming mainland), and if you have any personal faves with accommodation could you tell me those too?  We're also planning to spend some time on the Isle of Skye so again if you have any favorites there could you please let me know?  Thanks so much for your time.  
Lisa

Answer
Hi Lisa,

It's a long way to the Orkneys from Kirkaldy (okay, not as long as Perth to Adelaide, but in Scottish terms, a long way).  It is worth the trip, especially from a prehistory point of view.  The remains and artefacts on Orkney are exceptional and worth the visit alone.  Neolithic Orkney is one of only five world heritage sites in Scotland. St. Kilda, New Lanark, and Edinburgh's Old and New towns are the others.

Orkney has one thing missing, trees.  It is a fairly low lying and when the weather is wet or misty, quite a bleak place, but when the sun shines it is beautiful and the sun shines quite a lot.

The best thing to do for your visit, for the three of you, is to take a cottage or apartment.  I have only stayed in hotels, but that has been because I was working. I would recommend the Auld Smokehoose in Kirkwall, as I have had clients stay there who have loved it.  Check out this website for a list of other websites with accommodation on offer.  The site also has a fair amount about every place featured and would be the best place to find accomodation on Skye as well.

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/areaorkn/self.html

Skye has more accommodation per head of population than anywhere else in Scotland, probably, so I am not going to recommend any one place, although Mary's thatched cottages at beautiful Elgol are quite special with their underfloor heating.  Some places are available at weekends in the off season, so if you don't want to spend a week, ask!

http://www.maryscottages.co.uk/index.htm

If you're on Skye, you're only a short ferry trip from the Western Isles.  Like with Orkney, most Scots don't get out to the Western Isles, so you can do what we do when we come to Australia and visit all the beautiful places that the locals say, "we'll do it one day, after all, it's just down the road."  It's remote. some islands more than others and far bettrer beaches than Oz, although the water is a mite chillier.

You'll have a briliant time I'm sure, but please excuse me shopping (yuk!) calls.

Cheers,

Willie
http://www.rental-cars-scotland.com