Travel from South Wales to Stornoway

advent1122

I have looked into the cost of travelling up to the ends of the Earth and am in a dilemma.

I have done some research and the cost to drive up and back is £140 (650 miles). This will involve an overnight stay enroute and back (£80) and the return ferry to the Island costs £133,
Total Driving = £353.

I can fly from Bristol to Inverness = £125 return + £30 to get to Bristol and back. Then from Inverness to Storonoway = £125. Then I will need car hire which will be £170 for the week.
Total Flying + Car Hire = £450.

Does anyone know a "cheap" way to get there that I may have overlooked?
Thanks.

young

I would say take a flight to Glasgow, then another direct to Stornoway airport on small plane. Maybe not be cheapest, by roads up there are gonna be slow slow slow so you may spend half your holiday getting to and fro by road.

teapot2

Can't answer all of your question but have used BMIbaby to fly from Edinburgh to Cardiff and they can be very cheap ie £1.99 one way IF you are flexible about dates, book online and quite far in advance. you could probably fly North from Edinburgh but no idea of cost.

If you can get to Ullapool in Wester Ross I THINK Caledonian McBrayne have a ferry to Stornoway from there but no idea of cost. If you are not flying direct you might need to factor in an overnight stay as its a looooooong journey.

teapot2

Just re-read your OP and noticed the bit about car hire. Also the Ullapool ferry takes cars if you can get there [bus from Edinburgh after BMIbaby flight????? no railway station] Or train from Edinburgh to Inverness [again book early online for cheaper fares and look at singles]. Hire car from Inverness + 2.5 hour drive to Ullapool where I can recommend the Ceilidh Place to get refereshed or while away a few hours...

advent1122

Thanks for your replies.
I have checked the price of bmi baby and it was no cheaper than Easyjet (£125 return) .
Also the idea of renting a car in Inverness is a non starter because I will still
have the exspense of getting the car over by ferry and it would be just as cheap to fly from Inverness to Stornoway and hire a car in Stornoway.

I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and drive up on the Friday then take the Uig -Tarbert ferry the next day.

teapot2

Shame BMIbaby was no cheaper, my friend just booked a return Cardiff to Edinburgh for less than £15 but she booked about 6 weeks in advance so I guess you must be going sooner? Have a good trip

stumbelina_2

I can't advise you on the first part of your journey, but the Inverness to Stornoway part I am an unfortunate expert on...

Inverness to Ullapool bus then ferry is quite simple, not taking much longer than driving, and they put your luggage onto the ferry for you.

I have had a look at all the airports that connect to Stornoway (Inverness, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh) and I am not seening any cheap flight options. If you really need car hire then .... arg, expensive.

Oh well, at least the drive though Loch Lomond, Glen Coe, Skye and Harris is an interesting one!

minime_2

young wrote:

I would say take a flight to Glasgow, then another direct to Stornoway airport on small plane. Maybe not be cheapest, by roads up there are gonna be slow slow slow so you may spend half your holiday getting to and fro by road.

Ullapool is a main ferry port and the roads north are definitely NOT slow! Glasgow/Inverness will take 3 hours(roughly 180 miles-and there ARE speed cams,fixed and mobile) Then it will take about 1.5hrs to Ullapool(only mobile speed cams on that stretch, and a fast drive) For speed a flight is the best but certainly not the cheapest option. If you're going on holiday, have you thought of CalMac's Island Hopscotch tickets? Unfortunately none of Scotland's islands are cheap to access due to the monopoly of various transport providers-they can literally charge as they like without any opposition.