UKC

As the title says really...I'm planning a trip around Scotland in June and intending to use a few CalMac ferries. However, I'm planning to be fairly flexible in terms of exactly when and where to move on to. So, my question is: How many days in advance would I have to book a ferry to be in with a reasonable chance of actually getting on it?

For example, (remembering the trip is in June) if I was to phone Calmac now and book onto the soonest reasonable ferry, when would you guess it would be? What are my chances of getting on a boat in the next 24 hours? how about 48 Hours?

Obviously I've tried to ask CalMac themselves about this, but they just keep coming back with their stock response of "book as soon as possible to avoid disappointment."

As you can guess, this CalMac answer is not all that helpful (though I can understand why they say that), so what information can the wonderful UKC give to me?

Any help much appreciated!
Thanks
Dan

In reply to Dan Lane:

It depends on the crossing. Some like the Saturday sailing from Oban to Castlebay are likely to be full so you'll need to book a while in advance. Others like Tobermory to Kilchoan seem to be first come first served.

What's your intended itenarary?

In reply to Bob:

We were hoping to do Uig to Uist (the northern of the two ports, i forget the name) to Lewis/Harris to Ullapool. As i say though, im flexible on travelling times and dont have to sail at weekends.

In reply to Dan Lane:

Lochmaddy, north uist.

In reply to Dan Lane:

Are you taking a car? If you're travelling as a foot passenger or with a bike you shouldn't have any problem with just turning up whenever.

In reply to Choss:

Yes, that's the one! And Tarbert on Harris.

So our planned itinery would be Uig to Lochmaddy, lochmaddy to Tarbert and Stornoway to Ullapool. We also might pop over to Barra, but im not too sure about that yet.

In reply to Dan Lane:
If you are planning to travel Friday - Sunday on any of those routes in June to and from the mainland then a booking is advisable. The inter island ferries should be fine but check 24 hrs before because sometimes local events or tidal conditions can affect the service.

In reply to aln:

Sorry, yes, will have a car.

So we should be fine with 24 hours on the inter islands boats, but boats to/from mainland will need booking a while in advance. Any guesses on what the to/from mainlane sailings will be like in the week?

In reply to Dan Lane:


That's an expensive thing on those ferries.

In reply to aln:

Not as expensive as it used to be!!!

In reply to Dan Lane:

I'd book the Stornoway to Ullapool crossing - we had a bit of a worry one year. We tried booking the Saturday evening crossing nearly a week in advance but it was full of people evacuating the island to leave the Wee Frees to their "rituals". We managed to get on as I think the local haulage companies have a block booking and if they don't use any of their spaces then us tourists are given a space.

The only one of the ferries that I've used that has tidal restrictions is the one between Harris and Berneray - sailings get cancelled at low tide as the route weaves its way in and out of rocks.

If you have an idea of your itinerary then you can get an island hopper ticket which works out a little cheaper than buying the tickets individually. Something like http://www.calmac.co.uk/tickets/island-hopping/hopscotch-11-skye-uists-harr... is close to what your indicated journey. There are restrictions such as booking the first crossing and you have to go in one direction so you can't double back on yourself. Just looking at the prices they do seem to have gone up a bit in the last few years, we did the Oban-Barra ... Stornoway-Ullapool version about five years ago and it was about £140 for car and two people.

In reply to Dan Lane:

I've done similar trips a few times and never booked. Not missed out so far though we did nearly get stuck in Lochmaddy once when half the military base on Benbecula rolled up. You sometimes have to sit and wait for a place but they always seem to be able to squeeze a couple more on. Adds a bit of excitement to the trip...

In reply to Bob:


We couldn't get from Eriskay to Barra on a sunny summer day coz the seas were too big. Compensated with a barby on Charlies beach. With VERY cold swimming and even a bit of bouldering on the wee roofs.

In reply to Slugain Howff:


How so?

In reply to Dan Lane:

Booked our trip to Islay in June over a month ago.

In reply to Dan Lane:

Dan, phone them up and they'll tell you the cheapest way to do it. Island hopper is a good idea as it does save pounds. The ferries have become a lot cheaper since they introduced a scheme that took into account some road tax equivalent for the ferry journeys. When they introduced this the tourism to the islands increased greatly. We go every year to Harris and Lewis and unless you're going at a busy time,June is busy but it's not Christmas and New Year; chopping and changing your ferry journey is very easy. It is the Western Isles you're going to and the people, including CalMac are pretty relaxed! You're going somewhere very special, so get ready to enjoy yourselves.

Tom

In reply to the abmmc:

Road Equivalent Tariff has been applied to some routes but not others.

Charge for a car from Oban to Mull (45minutes) is £32 single.

Oban to Coll (3 hours 10 minutes) is £52 single.

In reply to Dan Lane:

Thanks to everyone who's replied, It sounds as though, as long as we're flexible on times/days, a few days notice should be enough...

In reply to Dan Lane:

We are out to harris and Lewis at least once a year and normally only book a few days before(travelling on Saturdays). The only time we've had any problem was when we trying to travel the weekend the Mod finished. The Hebfest weekend in July might be a problem also. Thats travelling with a camper as well, foot passenger only is normally easier. In otherwords, book as early as you can, but don't be too stressed about booking weeks in advance.

Not sure about the Uist routes though, only times we've been down there was with bikes so just turned up and got places on the ferry normally.

Barra is well worth a visit - a great fun place, and the pub in Castlebay is good and lively.

Try the Indian there if it's still open, it was excellent when we were there last - and scallop pakora needs to be tried!