Field note · United Kingdom · Orkney Islands, Scotland

Kirkwall and the Orkney Islands

Orkney is about seventy islands off the north tip of Scotland, twenty of them lived on, and three sea routes and one air route carry almost everyone in. The cheapest and fastest crossing is Pentland Ferries from Gills Bay in Caithness to St Margaret's Hope, 1 hour 10 minutes, three round trips a day all year, £23 an adult and £55 a car in 2026 – Orkney-owned, and the one most locals book. NorthLink runs the other two: the 90-minute Scrabster to Stromness ferry two or three times a day, and the Aberdeen overnight boat that calls at Kirkwall's Hatston terminal at 23:00 on its way to Shetland, where a cabin is worth the money southbound and a £3.50 reclining seat is enough northbound. Loganair flies into Kirkwall from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Sumburgh. Once you are here, Orkney Ferries runs thirteen island routes on two flat fare bands – £3.45 single to the South and Inner Isles, £6.75 to the North Isles, with cars at £11 and £16 – and Loganair flies eight-seat Islanders from Kirkwall to six North Isles, including the Westray to Papa Westray hop that takes two minutes and is the shortest scheduled flight in the world. On the Mainland, Stagecoach's X1 runs Stromness to Kirkwall to St Margaret's Hope, and the Churchill Barriers put the South Isles on the road network – except when a gale drives the sea over them and the council closes them. The small isles are covered by community minibuses and dial-a-bus rather than a timetable.

Researched: 22 September 2026
Reviewed: not yet
Ways of moving: 9, 33 sources
Not confirmed: 7
Fares seen: 2025–2026

How transport works here

9 ways of moving, each with its rule

We confirmed eight ways of moving to, from or around Kirkwall: three by water, two by air, two by road and one under your own steam, from 33 sources. One entry is not a service at all but a rule that decides whether travel happens: a permit, a closure, a border, a season or an authority's say-so. Two of them run only on demand or when the seats are full, so there is no timetable to show; the rule is written where the timetable would be. Seven need a phone call or a message before you turn up.

The fares were seen in 2025 to 2026; a fare from an older year is a floor, not a price. We rate 7 of the 9 high confidence, our own judgement of the sources. The entry was checked on 22 September 2026, and ends with seven things we could not confirm.

3 ways

By water

ferry

Pentland Ferries, Gills Bay to St Margaret's Hope

Gills Bay, Caithness (KW1 4YB) to St Margaret's Hope, South Ronaldsay

Gills Bay is on the A836 four miles west of John o'Groats and about two and a half hours' drive north of Inverness; the last turn is signposted off the A836 and there is a booking office at the pier. On the Orkney side, St Margaret's Hope is a 30-minute drive from Kirkwall and the Stagecoach X1 calls at the terminal roughly hourly. Two ships work the route, MV Alfred (98 cars, 430 passengers, lift from the car deck, dog-friendly sundeck lounge) and MV Pentalina (70 cars, 237 passengers). Book online at pentlandferries.co.uk or ring the Gills Bay or St Margaret's Hope office, Monday to Friday 09:00–17:00. Cash is no longer accepted – card only, at the time of booking. Turn up at least 30 minutes before departure or your space may be given away. Without a booking you can pay at the shoreside office an hour before sailing. This is the route most Orcadians use because it is the cheapest for a car by a wide margin and the shortest crossing, and because there is an Orkney resident tariff at roughly half the visitor passenger fare. The catch is the Pentland Firth: on 20 September 2026 all six sailings of the day were cancelled for weather.

When: Three round trips a day, every day of the year. Departs St Margaret's Hope 07:45, 11:30 and 17:00; departs Gills Bay 09:30, 13:30 and 18:45
Takes: 1 hour 10 minutes
Fare 2026: Single fares from 1 April 2026: adult £23, child 5–15 £11, under 5 free, car not including driver £55, motorcycle £25, motorhome up to 5 m £55, 5–6 m £77, 6–8 m £114, bike rack £6, bicycles and dogs free. Return is double. Orkney resident tariff: adult £14, child £7, car £44 (2026)

SeasonYear-round, same three sailings every day of the week. Bookingpentlandferries.co.uk, or the booking offices at Gills Bay and St Margaret's Hope. No amendment fee for direct bookings; full refund if you cancel 18 hours before travel. Vehicles over 7 m and freight must be quoted by phone. Run byPentland Ferries.

ferry

NorthLink ferries: Scrabster to Stromness and Aberdeen to Kirkwall

Scrabster, near Thurso, to Stromness on MV Hamnavoe; and Aberdeen to Kirkwall Hatston Terminal on the overnight Shetland boat

Scrabster is two miles from Thurso, which is the most northerly railway station in Britain, so this is the route to take if you are coming by train. Stromness is a 20-minute drive or a half-hourly X1 bus from Kirkwall, and the bus stops at the terminal building. Check-in opens 90 minutes before departure at Stromness and Scrabster and closes 30 minutes before – miss that and you will not be allowed on. Drivers are advised to check in an hour ahead. The crossing passes the Old Man of Hoy, which is why it is the one people choose for the view. There are Hamnavoe B&B cabins on board even for a 90-minute daytime run, and a paid priority boarding option that only exists on the Stromness to Scrabster direction. MV Hamnavoe goes to dry dock for maintenance each January, and in 2026 that was 5–17 January, with extra Aberdeen sailings laid on instead. The other NorthLink route is the Aberdeen overnight boat to Shetland, which calls at Kirkwall's Hatston Terminal, two miles north of town on the Stromness road – look for the very tall wind turbine. Vehicle check-in is at the start of the pier and foot passenger check-in at the end. The late-night X10 bus runs from Kirkwall right to the end of the pier and then back through Kirkwall to Stromness, and it does not run if the ferry is not sailing; the last X1 passes the terminal junction a couple of hours before the ship. Two things catch people out at Hatston: make sure you are in the vehicle lane for Kirkwall and not the one for Shetland, or you will be boxed in, and get off promptly, because the ship sails on within 45 minutes. Northbound arrivals are at 23:00, so a £3.50 reclining seat is enough and you do not need a cabin – but have your Orkney bed booked, because midnight is a poor time to start looking. Southbound you sleep on board and can stay in the cabin until the morning, so there the cabin earns its money.

When: Two or three round trips a day depending on the date. Peak days: Stromness 06:30, 11:00, 16:45 and Scrabster 08:45, 13:15, 19:00. Weekend pattern: Stromness 09:00 and 16:45, Scrabster 12:00 and 19:00. Off-peak: Stromness 06:30 and 16:45, Scrabster 08:45 and 19:00. Aberdeen–Kirkwall, 1 April to 31 October 2026: northbound Tue, Thu, Sat and Sun, depart Aberdeen 17:00, arrive Kirkwall 23:00, depart 23:45 for Lerwick at 07:30; southbound Mon, Wed and Fri, depart Lerwick 17:30, arrive Kirkwall 23:00, depart 23:45, arrive Aberdeen 07:00. From 1 November the Kirkwall calls drop to Thu, Sat and Sun northbound and Wed and Fri southbound
Takes: Scrabster to Stromness 1 hour 30 minutes. Aberdeen to Kirkwall 6 hours; Kirkwall to Aberdeen 7 hours 15 minutes
Fare 2026: 2026 single fares by season, low / mid / peak: adult £22.10 / £23.95 / £26.00, child 5–15 £11.20 / £12.00 / £12.95, car under 6 m £72 / £74 / £79, motorcycle £21.20 / £23.95 / £27.00, bicycle free. Hamnavoe B&B cabins: inner 2 berth £53–59, outer 2 or 4 berth £69–82, premium outer 2 berth £91. Priority boarding £19.65. Seniors 60+, students and disabled passengers get 10% off. Peak is 15 June to 31 August. Aberdeen–Kirkwall 2026 single, low / mid / peak: adult £27.50 / £35.00 / £42.00, child £13.75 / £17.15 / £20.85, car under 6 m £108 / £141 / £149, motorcycle £23.95 / £29.00 / £34.50, bicycle free; cabins inner 2 berth £78–115, inner 4 berth £96–149, outer 2 or 3 berth £99–153, premium outer and executive £136–190; reclining seat £3.50, sleeping pod £18, lie-flat £30, Magnus Lounge £20. Registered Orkney and Shetland residents pay a flat all-year Islander fare, Aberdeen–Kirkwall adult £18.20 and car £72

SeasonBoth routes year-round. Scrabster–Stromness has no sailings on 25 and 26 December or 1 and 2 January and a reduced service during MV Hamnavoe's January dry dock; the Aberdeen boat does not run on 24, 25 and 31 December 2026 or 1 January 2027, and makes fewer Kirkwall calls from November. Bookingnorthlinkferries.co.uk, the NorthLink app, by phone or at any NorthLink port office. A return is double the single and cabin prices are per room, not per person. Islander fares need an Islander ID applied for through the NorthLink site. Run byNorthLink Ferries (Serco NorthLink), ships MV Hamnavoe, MV Hrossey and MV Hjaltland.

ferry

Orkney Ferries inter-island network and its two fare bands

Kirkwall to Shapinsay, Stronsay, Eday, Sanday, Westray, Papa Westray and North Ronaldsay; Houton to Lyness (Hoy), Flotta and Longhope; Stromness to Graemsay and Moaness on Hoy, foot passengers only; Tingwall to Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre

Four different piers, and which one you want depends on the island. The North Isles boats leave from the piers in Kirkwall town centre, not from Hatston. Houton, for Hoy and Flotta, is south-east of Stromness and is served by Stagecoach buses 2 and 5. Tingwall, for Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre, is off the Kirkwall to Birsay road and is served by bus 6 – the bus timetables for Houton and Tingwall are written to match the boats. Stromness has the small foot-passenger boat to Graemsay and Moaness in north Hoy, which is the one to take for the walk to the Old Man of Hoy. Fares come in two flat bands regardless of distance: South and Inner Isles (Shapinsay, Rousay, Egilsay, Wyre, Hoy, Flotta, Graemsay) and North Isles (Eday, Sanday, Stronsay, Westray, Papa Westray, North Ronaldsay). Book vehicles at least one hour before departure, online or by phone – unbooked cars are not guaranteed passage. Vehicles must be at the pier 20 minutes before departure and passengers 10 minutes before, and drivers may be asked to reverse aboard. Vehicles for Papa Westray are lifted on by crane. There are also direct inter-island sailings that save going back to the Mainland, at a cheaper inter-island fare.

When: Kirkwall to Westray three round trips most weekdays; Kirkwall to Eday, Sanday and Stronsay two or three a day; Houton to Lyness and Flotta roughly seven or eight a day on weekdays. Summer timetable 3 May to 27 September 2026, winter 28 September 2026 to 1 May 2027, with a thinner North Isles timetable during the vessel refit period from 3 January to 6 March
Takes: Kirkwall to Westray 1 hour 25 minutes; Kirkwall to Sanday about 1 hour 25 minutes; Kirkwall to Stronsay about 1 hour 40 minutes; Houton to Lyness 35–45 minutes
Fare 2026: From 1 April 2026. North Isles: adult £6.75 single, £13.50 return; junior £3.40; senior 65+ £5.10; under 5 free; car up to 5.5 m £16.00 single, £32.00 return; motorcycle £9.20; bicycle free; inter-island adult £3.40. South and Inner Isles: adult £3.45 single, £6.90 return; junior £1.75; senior £2.60; car up to 5.5 m £11.00 single, £22.00 return; motorcycle £5.80; inter-island adult £1.75. Books of 50 tickets are sold only to island residents

SeasonYear-round on separate summer and winter timetables. North Ronaldsay Saturday sailings are only confirmed on the Friday before. Bookingbook.orkneyferries.co.uk or 01856 872044. Cancellations must be made at least one hour before sailing or a no-show charge applies. Run byOrkney Ferries Ltd, owned by Orkney Islands Council.

2 ways

By air

scheduled flight

Loganair flights to Kirkwall

Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Sumburgh (Shetland) to Kirkwall (KOI), with a seasonal Dundee service

Kirkwall Airport is five miles south-east of town at Grimsetter. Loganair is the only scheduled operator and sells direct at loganair.co.uk. The aircraft are twin-turboprops – Saab 340s and ATR 42/72s – and in summer there are several flights a day, so a day trip from Inverness or Aberdeen works. The terminal has separate check-in areas for Scottish mainland and for inter-island flights, a cafe and a car hire desk; book the hire car ahead, because the fleets are small and the car often has to be fetched from town. Stagecoach bus 4 runs between the airport and Kirkwall bus station every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and hourly on Sunday, taking 10–15 minutes, and there are usually taxis waiting. Highlands and Islands residents can claim 50% off the core fare through the Air Discount Scheme. One warning from the Wikivoyage editors: do not book a flight to ORK, which is Cork in Ireland.

When: Several flights a day from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness in summer; fewer in winter. Sumburgh year-round, Dundee seasonal
Takes: About 35–45 minutes from Inverness and Aberdeen, about 1 hour 20 minutes from Edinburgh or Glasgow
Fare 2026: Not published as a table; sold as dynamic fares at loganair.co.uk. 21 kg total checked baggage is included as standard

SeasonYear-round; Dundee is a seasonal route and frequencies thin out from November. Bookingloganair.co.uk. Air Discount Scheme cardholders and Island Residents Fare cardholders enter their ID and PIN at booking; ADS applications go through airdiscountscheme.com. Run byLoganair.

scheduled flight

Loganair inter-island Islanders, and the two-minute Westray to Papa Westray hop

Kirkwall to Westray, Papa Westray, Eday, Sanday, Stronsay and North Ronaldsay, plus island-to-island legs

These are lifeline flights run by Loganair under a Public Service Obligation contract to Orkney Islands Council, on eight-seat Britten-Norman Islanders with seven passenger seats. Check in at the separate Inter-Isles desk at Kirkwall Airport; check-in closes 20 minutes before departure at Kirkwall and 15 minutes before on the isles. Baggage is 15 kg in total and almost everything goes in the hold, because there is next to no cabin space. Timetables are set twice a year at the Air and Ferry Consultative Forums with each island's community council, and they are built so an islander can do a day return to town, a hospital appointment or school – which means a visitor can day-trip in either direction too. Residents get priority, so you can be bumped. The Westray to Papa Westray leg is the shortest scheduled flight in the world: in the summer 2026 timetable the Monday morning aircraft leaves Westray at 09:02 and lands at Papa Westray at 09:04. Ask at the desk for the certificate. Some fares are telephone-only: the Sightseer round trip, which stays on the same aircraft with no stopover and can only be bought on the day, and the North Ronaldsay and Papa Westray concessionary fares.

When: Summer 2026 timetable runs 16 February to 24 October. Seven Kirkwall departures on a typical Monday, three on Sunday. Westray, Sanday, Stronsay and North Ronaldsay have flights most days; Eday is much thinner, and the Monday morning Eday drop runs in school term only. Extra Saturday flights are laid on while the Orkney Ferries North Isles vessels are on winter refit
Takes: Kirkwall to North Ronaldsay 17 minutes, Kirkwall to Westray 15 minutes, Kirkwall to Stronsay 14 minutes, Westray to Papa Westray 2 minutes
Fare 2026: Fare types are Economy, Economy Return (same-day return from Kirkwall), Excursion (overnight return from Kirkwall) and Island Saver (return starting from a North Isle); prices are only shown at the point of booking. Children 2–15 pay 50% of the adult fare and infants are free. Passengers 65+ get 50% off Economy to Eday, Stronsay, Sanday and Westray, but not to North Ronaldsay or Papa Westray, which already get extra fare support. Fares rise every 1 April

SeasonYear-round on separate summer and winter timetables. BookingOnline at loganair.co.uk, or the Kirkwall inter-isles team on 01856 872494 for concessionary, Sightseer and open return fares. Full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours ahead; changes up to 45 minutes before departure. Run byLoganair, under contract to Orkney Islands Council.

2 ways

By road

bus

Stagecoach on the Orkney Mainland, the X1 and the X10 ferry link

X1 Stromness – Stenness – Finstown – Kirkwall – Italian Chapel – Burray – St Margaret's Hope, with a summer extension past the Ring of Brodgar to Skara Brae; plus local routes 2 to 9 and X10

Everything meets at Kirkwall Travel Centre, where the tourist information desk also is; the X1 leaves from Stance 2. Outside the centres of Kirkwall and Stromness it is a hail-and-ride network – stand somewhere safe on the road and wave the driver down, and ring the bell when you want off. Ask for a Day Return if you are coming back the same day. Every Mainland route is council-contracted except the X1, which Stagecoach runs commercially. Useful specifics: bus 4 does Kirkwall to the airport every 30 minutes; bus 2 goes to Houton for the Hoy and Flotta ferry; bus 6 goes to Tingwall for the Rousay ferry, and both are timed to the boats; bus 7 runs to Birsay and Dounby; the X10 is the late link to Hatston ferry terminal, reaching Stromness around 23:40 and, on Fridays, running from St Margaret's Hope at 00:53. Bicycles are not carried. There are long mid-afternoon gaps because the same buses and drivers do the school runs.

When: X1 roughly every 30 minutes Kirkwall to Stromness on weekdays, hourly Kirkwall to St Margaret's Hope, with the first bus around 05:05 and the last arrival into Kirkwall about 22:39. Summer timetable with the Brodgar and Skara Brae extension runs 6 April to 30 October 2026
Takes: Kirkwall to Stromness about 30 minutes; St Margaret's Hope to Kirkwall about 32 minutes; Kirkwall to the airport 10–15 minutes
Fare 2025: Fares vary with distance and are paid to the driver; an adult day ticket was £7.30 when Wikivoyage last checked. Free travel on all Orkney services for Scottish residents under 22, over 60 or disabled who hold a National Entitlement Card

SeasonYear-round; the summer X1 extension to the historic sites runs April to October. BookingNone – pay the driver or use the Stagecoach app. Timetables at orkney.gov.uk/bus; Stagecoach Orkney 01856 870555. Run byStagecoach (Highland), under contract to Orkney Islands Council except the X1.

minibus

Community Connect, dial-a-bus and the island minibuses

Door-to-door across the Orkney Mainland, plus scheduled and on-demand island buses on Sanday, Westray, Hoy, Rousay, Stronsay, Shapinsay and North Ronaldsay

This is how you cover the places the Stagecoach timetable misses, and the outer islands, which have no taxis at all. On the Mainland, Orkney Community Connect – run by Orkney Disability Forum and known locally as Dial-a-Bus – is a door-to-door on-demand service open to residents and visitors alike, wheelchair accessible, free to National Entitlement and Young Scot cardholders and a small charge for everyone else; ring, text or WhatsApp 01856 871515 or the driver on 07438 268883, or use the Moove Flexi app, ideally the day before. On the isles: the Sanday Bus meets every ferry at Loth Pier from the first Sunday in May to the last Monday in September and runs on demand in winter, booked by 18:00 the evening before on 07513 084777; the Westray Bus meets every ferry at Rapness, scheduled in summer and pre-booked with four hours' notice the rest of the year, on 07789 034289 or westraybusservice.co.uk; the Hoy and Walls Community Bus meets most Houton ferries at Lyness and runs to Longhope, with a Sunday service extending to Moaness, on 01856 701356. Rousay has a Dial-a-Ride with monthly onward trips to Kirkwall, and Stronsay, Shapinsay and North Ronaldsay each have their own door-to-door service. A separate South Ronaldsay Community Connect bus, Service 988, runs Fridays 07:40–18:30 and Saturdays 09:40–15:10 as a council trial.

When: On demand, with island buses tied to ferry arrivals. South Ronaldsay Community Connect runs Fridays and Saturdays only
Takes: Depends entirely on where you are going; the island runs are a few minutes from pier to village
Fare 2026: Free to National Entitlement Card and Young Scot cardholders – that is under 22s, over 60s and disabled passengers. A small charge for everyone else; Scottish National Concession cards are valid on all the island services

SeasonYear-round. The Sanday and Westray buses switch from a scheduled summer timetable to pre-booked only from late September to early May. BookingEssential. Give a time and a pick-up point, at least a day ahead where you can. Orkney Community Connect 01856 871515 or 07438 268883. Run byOrkney Disability Forum, and the island development trusts, grant-funded by Orkney Islands Council.

One way

Rules, permits and closures

service status

The Churchill Barriers, and when a gale shuts them

A961 from East Mainland across Lamb Holm, Glimps Holm and Burray to South Ronaldsay

Four causeways built during the Second World War to block the eastern approaches to Scapa Flow now carry the only road to Burray and South Ronaldsay, and so to the Italian Chapel, St Margaret's Hope and the Pentland Ferries terminal. In a gale with the sea running from the right quarter, waves break clean over the barriers and Orkney Islands Council closes the road, sometimes for hours at a time, sometimes overnight. The council has a published closure procedure with set monitoring intervals and review times, and it announces closures and reopenings on its Telegram channel t.me/OIC_Roads, on X at x.com/oic_roads, on Facebook and on orkney.gov.uk. Check that channel before setting out for a ferry at St Margaret's Hope in bad weather, because the barriers are the only way there by road. Crossing when the barriers are not closed is at your own risk – the council's own FAQ makes clear that vehicle damage is the driver's responsibility, and salt water and flung stones do real damage. Barrier closures are separate from the bus rules: a Met Office yellow warning puts all public bus services under review, and an amber warning automatically suspends Orkney Mainland buses for the duration.

When: Winter, most often November to March, and at any time of year in a severe gale. The council monitors conditions and reviews at set intervals during an event
Takes: Closures typically last a few hours around high water, but can run overnight
Fare 2026: Free – it is a public road

SeasonWinter storms are the main risk; the wider winter weather can shut far more than the barriers. Between 2 and 9 January 2026 council gritters treated 7,969 miles, more than ten times the length of Orkney's road network, and transport and schools were disrupted for days. BookingNone. Follow t.me/OIC_Roads or x.com/oic_roads for live closure notices. Run byOrkney Islands Council Roads Service.

One way

On foot, by bike, or otherwise

bicycle hire

Bicycles, hire cars and taxis

Stromness and Kirkwall, and onward to the isles

Bicycles travel free on every ferry into and around Orkney – NorthLink, Pentland Ferries and Orkney Ferries all carry them for nothing – which makes a bike the cheapest way to island-hop. Orkney Cycle Hire on Whitehouse Lane in Stromness (07594 763608) rents touring hybrids with rear racks and bungees, a few electric bikes, child seats, a tag-along and a buggy, with free helmets and free route maps; it is well placed for the 15-mile circuit taking in Yesnaby, Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar, the Standing Stones and Maeshowe. Ring for current rates, as they are not published. Car hire desks are at Kirkwall Airport and in town, but the fleets are small: book ahead, because the firm may have to bring the car out to the airport for you, and most are reluctant to rent for a single day. For a day's sightseeing off the bus routes it is often cheaper to negotiate with a taxi for a few hours – Orkney Cabs (01856 875000), Craigie's Taxis (01856 878787) and Harbour Taxis (07596 106642) are the Kirkwall firms. Call well ahead for a pick-up outside town, because the car has to come from Kirkwall, and note that there are no taxis at all on the outer islands. Parking around Kirkwall harbour is free and mostly untimed.

When: On demand
Takes: n/a
Fare 2026: Bicycle hire rates are not published – ring Orkney Cycle Hire; group, family and week-plus rates are negotiable. Bicycles free on all three mainland ferry operators and free on Orkney Ferries. Kirkwall town car parks in summer cost 40p for 1 hour, 80p for 2 and £1 for 3; in winter the first hour is free

SeasonCycle hire is mainly a summer trade; taxis and car hire are year-round. BookingOrkney Cycle Hire info@orkneycyclehire.co.uk or 07594 763608. Car hire must be booked ahead, especially at the airport. Run byOrkney Cycle Hire, Stromness; Orkney Cabs, Craigie's Taxis and Harbour Taxis, Kirkwall.

Not confirmed

What we could not find out

7 things the researcher looked for and did not find, in their own words, with where to ask instead. None of this goes into the planner; it stays here until someone confirms it.

01
Correction to the brief: the John o'Groats to Burwick passenger ferry no longer exists. John O'Groats Ferries stopped sailing after the 2023 season, jogferry.co.uk now refuses connections outright, and Wikivoyage's John o'Groats article states plainly that the service folded in 2023 with no replacement operator. Wikivoyage's own Kirkwall article still describes it as running two or three times a day May to September, which is out of date; the Orkney Islands article has been corrected. The seasonal Inverness bus that used to connect to it has gone with it.
02
Correction to the brief: there is no RET subsidy on any Orkney route. Transport Scotland's Road Equivalent Tariff was rolled out across the Clyde and Hebrides network in stages between 2008 and 2015 and has never been applied to the Northern Isles or to Orkney's inter-island ferries. What Orkney has instead is three separate things: NorthLink's seasonal low/mid/peak bands plus a flat-rate Islander fare for registered Orkney and Shetland residents, Pentland Ferries' own Orkney resident tariff, and Orkney Ferries' two flat distance-blind fare bands set by the council. See transport.gov.scot/public-transport/ferries/road-equivalent-tariff/.
03
Correction to the brief and to Wikivoyage: the Orkney Ferries fares quoted on Wikivoyage as valid 'until April 2026' have been superseded. The 2026/27 sheets give South and Inner Isles adult return £6.90 and car return £22.00, and North Isles adult return £13.50 and car return £32.00. In June 2026 the council decided not to add the 10% fuel surcharge it had threatened for 1 July, so the April figures stand for the year – see beta.orkney.gov.uk/latest-news/council-confirms-no-ferry-fare-increase-as-fuel-prices-fall.
04
Loganair does not publish a fare table for the Orkney inter-island flights. loganair.co.uk/fares/orkney-inter-island redirects to a generic Island Residents Fare page, and the council's own Inter Island Air Guide says only that fares rise on 1 April. To quote a real number you have to run a booking search or ring 01856 872494. The fare types themselves are documented.
05
Stagecoach's own website returns 403 to every automated request, so the £7.30 Orkney adult day ticket is carried forward from Wikivoyage and the year is uncertain. The Orkney Islands Council bus guide confirms the network, the routes and the concessionary rules but prints no cash fares. Confirm at Kirkwall Travel Centre or on 01856 870555.
06
Bicycle hire prices in Orkney are not published anywhere – Orkney Cycle Hire explicitly says to ring for current costs, and orkney.com is behind Cloudflare and refused every request from this network, so its wider operator directory could not be read. Car hire day rates are likewise unquoted.
07
Exact Orkney Ferries crossing times for Shapinsay, North Ronaldsay, Graemsay and the Tingwall routes were not read off the timetables; only Westray, Eday, Sanday, Stronsay and the Houton routes were checked in the published summer 2026 PDFs.

In the planner

What the planner can route today

The options above live on the place page, not in the departure board: a boat that comes when you phone has no time to show. What the board can do for Kirkwall is this.

N: Scheduled flightsnearest airport ABZ is 203 km away
Y: Trains and coachesTransitous carries 3 timetable feeds for this country, 2 with real-time
Y: FerriesKirkwall, 0 km, Orkney Ferries; sailings estimated
Y: Driving and taxiOpenStreetMap roads; cab fare from the country band
N: Bike and scooter shareno share feed known
N: Cruisesno open itinerary source anywhere

Y routable now · F found, not yet implemented · N no source known. Nearest place with more: Aberdeen, 211 km.