ferry travel to (and in) Scotland
Scotland is not particularly well-served with ferry links to Europe, although ferries are an important part of island life in Scotland, often providing the only links with the mainland.
Scotland’s only direct ferry service to mainland Europe is run by Superfast Ferries from Rosyth (near Edinburgh) to Zeebrugge in Belgium.
There are also ferry services run from Ireland to the west coast of Scotland by P&O Irish Sea Ferries (serving the ports of Cairnryan and Troon), Stena Line (serving Stranraer) and SeaCat (serving Troon).
P&O Ferries also operate services from Belgium, France, Holland and Spain to English ports, from where you can travel on to Scotland by air, road or train.
In the west of Scotland, most of the inter-island ferries are operated by Caledonian MacBrayne from the mainland to 22 islands and 4 remote peninsulas, although Western Ferries run a service from Gourock to Dunoon.
In the north of Scotland, NorthLink Ferries operate services from Aberdeen and Scrabster to Orkney and Shetland. The John O’ Groats Ferry runs from John O’ Groats to Orkney, while Pentland Ferries run from Gills Bay (close to John O’ Groats) to Orkney.
Orkney Ferries operate services from Orkney mainland to 13 of the smaller islands. Shetland Island Council run a ferry service from Shetland mainland to 9 of the smaller islands.
More details on ferry services to Scotland can be found in the stravaiging.com ferry shop
