With holiday time approaching it seems time to flag up even more remote parts of the UK. The Northern Isles made up of Orkney and Shetland are off the northern tip of Scotland and often appear in a small box in the top corner of road atlases. Off the usual tourist beat and a bit more difficult to get to, they are magical places. Orkney is stuffed full of prehistoric remains and the traditional way of life and values is still strong. In summer you get long light evenings and in far north Shetland it hardly gets dark in June. May is the time for wild flowers - everywhere.

There are pictures and information about our holidays here.

For lots of pictures of Orkney go here and here for Shetland.

Eleanor

I agree about Shetland and Orkney!

Love them BOTH. The thing with Shetland I felt is that I needed more time - definitely for slow travellers