Shetland & Orkney, Jersey & Guernesy, or Ireland?

[NakedNoodle]

My mum turns 60 in 2 years. I want to take her on a special holiday to celebrate (need to start saving now)

Thoughts are either one week on Shetland and one on Orkney, one week Jersey and one Guernsey, or two weeks travelling around Ireland.

Never been to S&O or Ireland, went to Jersey when I was 10, never been to Guernsey.

We like visiting little villages, seeing the seaside (not a fan of sitting on beaches for hours), visiting little gift shops. Not too much walking as mum has some mobility issues (Can walk, just not for hours).

Where should we go? I want to do all 3 but never going be able afford it all!

What time of year are you planning on going? Jersey is absolutely beautiful in summer but not so great in winter.

Time of year would depend on where we went. Birthday is end of October but would go any time of year.

What’s your budget? Where are you travelling from? Orkney is good for limited mobility if one of you is driving. You can drive across to different islands via the Churchill barriers. Lots of nice gifts shops and cafes in Kirkwall and all mainly on one street. Lots of historical sites and stone circles which are also accessible. Summer is nice. The rest it’s cold, very windy and wet. It’s relatively expensive to fly to. It’s a long drive from England. The ferry takes about an hour.

The weather in Jersey can still be very good in October and the accommodation will be much cheaper then than in summer holidays.
You would ideally need a car. You can get the ferry from Poole or Portsmouth to Jersey or Guernsey, then a ferry between the two if you want to bring your own car.

Shetland and Orkney are quite far apart and I wouldn’t really consider them as a twin centre holiday.

What about island hopping down the outer Hebrides? You can drive and get the ferries. Great variety of islands, the best beaches in the U.K. and stunning views.

Guernsey is absolutely beautiful.

There are cruises that visit those places in one trip, google British isles cruises. An example - Oriana 15 June 2019.

I live in jersey. Jersey is fab whichever time of year. Christmas is lovely with fete de noue

Orkney and Shetland are both interesting and (perhaps surprisingly) different from each other.

As said above, they are separate destinations really.

The Isle Of Skye is fabulous.

Jersey is lovely. I'd spend 2 weeks there (and do so regularly). You can get lovely weather as late as end October.

Guernsey doesn't have a lot to do in my opinion if you don't want to do beaches and walking (though it is some time since we went there so there may be more than I remember).

Shetland is lovely but it is v quiet in October and lots of things close down.

We went to Orkney last summer for a fortnight and there was enough to do every day, driving to an historic site, walk on a beach, ferry to an island etc. We loved it, but we did totally luck out with the weather.

I would not consider the Scottish islands beyond mid-September because of early darkness. Flights will cost less to Jersey or Guernsey than the Scottish islands.