Lerwick ferry

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
pq
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by pq »

Glad you enjoyed it..
One link to your website is enough. G
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andrew_s
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by andrew_s »

gloomyandy wrote:Personally I'd love to be able to get a ferry to Norway and would really like to be able to get one to the Faroe Islands, but it seems that now I have the time to do so (and the interest) there is no ferry to use! I love travelling by ferry (most of my trips involve one or more!), it just seems so much part of the adventure. They also often seem simpler to use (you push your bike on, not wrap it up in a box and wave it goodbye!).

I believe there's still a Denmark - Faeroes - Iceland ferry from Hirtshals, up at the northern tip of Jutland (plus separately to Kristiansand). If you are retired and have the time you could always get a Belgium or Netherlands ferry and ride there.
pq
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by pq »

I think you're right. It's the trimmed back version of the service I used in 2008.
One link to your website is enough. G
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by Cyril Haearn »

jerry wrote:Tell you what, we could charter a fishing boat - like the WWII Shetland Bus in reverse? Leave from the North East of the UK, and chug over to Norway dropping a bunch of cyclists off for a ride up the coast towards Trondheim ... what's the point of the North Sea Cycle Route if several of the major links are broken, I ask myself :-).


Two relevant books by Ian Mitchell: Isles of the North, Isles of the West

One imagines private skippers sail or motor to Norge, likely there is a forum where you might find someone going your way
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Tigerbiten
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by Tigerbiten »

andrew_s wrote:
gloomyandy wrote:Personally I'd love to be able to get a ferry to Norway and would really like to be able to get one to the Faroe Islands, but it seems that now I have the time to do so (and the interest) there is no ferry to use! I love travelling by ferry (most of my trips involve one or more!), it just seems so much part of the adventure. They also often seem simpler to use (you push your bike on, not wrap it up in a box and wave it goodbye!).

I believe there's still a Denmark - Faeroes - Iceland ferry from Hirtshals, up at the northern tip of Jutland (plus separately to Kristiansand). If you are retired and have the time you could always get a Belgium or Netherlands ferry and ride there.

I did that there and back in 2013.
It's only ~1,000 flat miles between the two ferries, but it's a very good training program if you're on the way to Iceland. You climb ~2,000 feet in ~8 miles straight off the ferry then lose it all in a similar distance as you drop down to the ring road.
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MrsHJ
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by MrsHJ »

I'm not really planning on doing this at the moment but what is the best way to get to Lerwick etc with your bike? Flight/ ferry?

Is Logan air even able to take bikes?- looks like it depends on plane size and they say to call. https://www.loganair.co.uk/travel-help/luggage/
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andrew_s
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by andrew_s »

Train to Aberdeen, then overnight ferry to Lerwick.
Last time I did it, some years back, it was £25 each way on the ferry, and £25 each way on the train (from Cheltenham), courtesy of a mate who worked in Ledbury station, and knew all the cheap fares.

The ferry calls at Kirkwall on the way past, but it's at about 10 pm, either direction.
I have heard of people using the Kirkwall-Aberdeen leg as a route back home after LEJOG.
Jdsk
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by Jdsk »

MrsHJ wrote: 7 Jun 2022, 1:28pm I'm not really planning on doing this at the moment but what is the best way to get to Lerwick etc with your bike? Flight/ ferry?

Is Logan air even able to take bikes?- looks like it depends on plane size and they say to call. https://www.loganair.co.uk/travel-help/luggage/
This looks as if it's the official tourism site:
https://www.shetland.org/visit/do/outdoors/cycle

Jonathan
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matt2matt2002
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by matt2matt2002 »

I caught the Aberdeen - Kirkwall ferry last week.
Gets in around 2330.
As a senior citizen I paid £32.60 ( peak seaso now )
Up to Lerwick was a few ££ more.
I stayed at the Youth hostel. They leave a key/ code for access.
It's a 15 min ride from the ferry.
I stayed there 4 days and caught the ferry at 2345 to get me back in for 0700.
You can sleep on the floor for free, or reclining seats if available.
( Youth hostel was £23/ night.
I shared for 2 of the 4 nights.)
There is an excellent breakfast served on the ship from 0630 for £10.

I live in Inverurie so it was 18 miles from home to ferry and then 4 to the Orkney hostel.
So I was 22 miles riding, door to door.
Amazing.

I hope to re do my 2015 Scottish end 2 end later in the month. So will ferry up to Lerwick and head to Muckle Flugga before starting the trip South to Mull of Galloway.

It's a no rush tour so will take in the Western isles and maybe Eigg.

Nice being retired!😉
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pal
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by pal »

A note to say that I'm just back from a trip to Shetland, and took the Northlink ferry in both directions. It's a very cyclist-friendly experience: straight onto the boat; a helpful crew member took charge of roping the bike into place (saving me from my usual anxiety about my sub-standard reef-knots, in nautical contexts!); at Lerwick the bikes were the last ones off the main deck (so perhaps about 10 minutes after docking), in Aberdeen we were first off. (I noticed too that they'd provided a place for an ebiker to charge up her battery pack during the trip.)

(The ferry back was jam-packed, because all the flights that day had been cancelled because of fog. Perhaps another argument in favour of boat travel!)

As far as I could tell, bikes (and bike riders) travel free on the inter-island ferries in Shetland. (Which is to say: I didn't see any official notice saying this, but at no point did anyone try to sell me a ticket...)
David F
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by David F »

I went to Shetland in early June. I, too, found Northlink Ferries very bike-friendly, and the few bikes travelling were among the first on and off at both Aberdeen and Lerwick. I used the inter-island ferries between Mainland and Yell, Yell and Unst, and Unst and Fetlar. I was charged £6.20.return for my bike and myself on two of these. On the third, the fare collector just waved me aboard. Tickets are issued in one direction only, and heading back from Fetlar to Unst, Unst toYell, and Yell to Mainland no tickets are issued or money taken, it's presumed you've paid on the outward leg.
I paid for a sleeping pod on the Northlink sailings, but I found it impossibly uncomfortable. A fellow cyclist said he never used them, he simply paid for a reclining seat, moved into the lounge when it went quiet and then stretched out on one of the upholstered bench seats in there. I would do similarly if I were to use this ferry again.
I really enjoyed my trip, but the weather is often poor, and shops and cafes can be few and far between in a way that's difficult to appreciate until you've experienced it.
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pal
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by pal »

Interesting about the inter-island ferries: I did wonder if the free trips were just a unilateral decision by the (very friendly) crew -- your experience suggests that was probably the case!

Agree about the absence of shops/cafes too -- though honesty cake-boxes are an excellent feature of cycling up there...
wee eck
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by wee eck »

try SEA CARGO in ABERDEEN...Freighter runs once a week from ABERDEEN TO NORWAY ...
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matt2matt2002
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by matt2matt2002 »

As I write this I'm in my tent on Unst having cycled the 53+ miles from Lerwick today.

Yes, inter island ferries were free. No-one asked for a fare.

The ferry from Aberdeen: slept on the floor, on my sleeping Matt, in the small cinema room. Quite dark, unlike the other areas where folks slept on the lounge seats.

Not worth settling down before Kirkwall, since there's a lot of noise with folks getting off and on. Around 2300.
Breakfast for £9.95 was excellent and served from 0630.

Bikes last off the main deck but then the cars from the lower deck disembark, so best be on your toes or there's an extra wait.

Very bike friendly staff.

Off to Muckle Flugga tomorrow.

Camping at the Gardiesfauld site. 5miles from the Belmont ferry terminal. Showers/toilets and a good pitch. No WiFi or power sockets for tent campers. Nearby camper vans have power etc. Actual Gardiesfauld building closed.
Haven't checked the cost but it's an honesty box payment. No on site warden.

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matt2matt2002
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Re: Lerwick ferry

Post by matt2matt2002 »

wee eck wrote: 4 Jul 2022, 1:51pm try SEA CARGO in ABERDEEN...Freighter runs once a week from ABERDEEN TO NORWAY ...
I'll be giving them a call tomorrow::
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