Houton to Lyness is thirty-five minutes. Houton to Flotta is thirty-five minutes too — or an hour and five, if the boat happens to be calling at Hoy first. On this Orkney crossing the clock matters less than the order of the piers.
Winter timetable effective from 28 September 2026 to 1 May 2027, read on orkneyferries.co.uk on 24 September 2026 and checked against the operator's timetable search for 5 to 11 October. Orkney Ferries — Hoy (Lyness) and Flotta winter timetable (PDF) · 2026-09-24
Houton to Lyness takes thirty-five minutes; Houton to Flotta also takes thirty-five minutes, or an hour and five if the boat calls at Hoy first. That difference is the whole logic of this crossing. One vehicle ferry, the MV Hoy Head, works a single loop around the western side of Scapa Flow, picking up at Longhope on South Walls before seven in the morning, shuttling between Houton, Lyness and Flotta through the day, and going back to Longhope in the evening. There is no separate Flotta timetable; Flotta is simply the stop the ship makes before or after Lyness, and the sheet changes that order by day of the week.
In winter, which starts here on 28 September, a weekday gives five or six departures from Houton, Saturday three and Sunday two. What you cannot read from the PDF at a glance is where each departure goes first, so the notes under each day in the table spell it out.
The fares are set by Orkney Ferries for the whole South Isles group: £3.45 for an adult and £11.00 for a car no longer than 5.5 metres, both doubled for a return.
From Houton, £17.90 takes a car and two adults across, and a return always costs double. A hop between the islands costs roughly half the Houton fare: Lyness to Flotta costs an adult £1.75 and a car £5.50.
Anyone under 22 with a Young Scot or National Entitlement Card travels free, and children under five always do. Foot passengers without a booking can pay on board by cash or card.
| Adult | £ 3.45 |
| Junior | £ 1.75 |
| Senior citizen, 65 and over | £ 2.60 |
| Registered disabled or blind | £ 2.60 |
| Under 5 | Free |
| Adult inter-island (e.g. Lyness–Flotta) | £ 1.75 |
| Car or van up to 5.5 m | £ 11 |
| Registered disabled vehicle up to 5.5 m | £ 8.25 |
| Motorcycle | £ 5.80 |
| Mobile home up to 5.5 m | £ 11 |
| Mobile home 5.51–8 m | £ 27.25 |
| Mobile home 8.01–10 m | £ 36.35 |
| Mobile home 10–15 m | £ 54.50 |
| Vehicle inter-island | £ 5.50 |
| Bicycle | Free |
South Isles fares from 1 April 2026; resident 50-journey books valid 1 April 2026 to 30 March 2027. Orkney Ferries — South Isles, Shapinsay & Rousay fares from 1 April 2026 (PDF) · 2026-09-24
Measured between the terminal coordinates in the national transport stop database, Lyness lies 9.4 km almost due south of Houton and Flotta about the same distance to the south-south-east, with Longhope further south again on South Walls. All of it is inside Scapa Flow, the sheltered anchorage ringed by Mainland, Hoy, Flotta and the South Isles, which is why a small ship can keep a winter timetable of up to six return trips on a weekday. Many of Scotland's island routes cross open sea; this loop never leaves the shelter of the Flow.
Houton sits on the south coast of the Orkney Mainland in Orphir parish, looking out over Scapa Flow. Orkney Ferries gives it its own phone line, 01856 811397, printed at the top of the timetable, but publishes no list of facilities for the terminal, so this page does not describe any.
What is published is the connection: the timetable is built to meet the Service 2 bus, and Orkney Museums notes that the Stagecoach number 2 from Kirkwall Travel Centre meets the boat at Houton in both directions. The same source warns that the ground between the car park and the ferry is uneven — worth knowing if you use a stick or a chair.
Lyness was the shore base of the fleet anchorage in both world wars, and the ferry lands you almost beside what remains of it. The Scapa Flow Museum occupies the 1937 pumphouse that fed fuel oil from sixteen storage tanks to the ships; it reopened in July 2022 after a long rebuild and was on the shortlist for the Art Fund's Museum of the Year in 2023.
The walk from pier to museum crosses rough ground, and Orkney Museums suggests visitors with limited mobility bring their car across. The museum café keeps weekday hours only.
With one ship working the whole loop, a car that does not fit waits for her next call. Book on the website, or by phone while the office is open, and do it before the one-hour cut-off; the operator will not guarantee space to anyone who turns up unbooked.
The timetable warns that drivers on this route can be asked to back their vehicles onto the deck. Follow the crew's directions at the ramp.
The crew want vehicles at the ramp 20 minutes ahead and walkers 10 minutes ahead — but nobody at the terminal more than an hour before sailing.
The last Flotta–Longhope leg of each day runs on request only. Book it by half past four on the day, or the boat finishes at Flotta.
The sheet is written to connect with bus Service 2 to and from Kirkwall, so a day on Hoy without a car is possible.
Orkney Ferries pushes cancellations and delays to a Telegram channel as well as its service-update page, which showed the Houton route running normally on 24 September.
The Hoy Head is a 1994 ship from the Appledore yard in Devon: 53.3 metres long, 482 gross tons and 11 knots, registered in Kirkwall. Orkney Ferries lists her as its South Isles vessel; the timetable itself does not name a ship, so on refit days another may appear.
North Hoy has its own Orkney Ferries link from Stromness to Moaness, on a separate timetable that this page does not cover. The Houton boat is the South Isles vehicle and passenger service, and the one that lands you at Lyness and the Scapa Flow Museum. Its fares come from the South Isles table, cheaper than the North Isles sheet that prices the Westray boat from Kirkwall.
Yes. In the winter timetable every Houton departure calls at Lyness; some go to Flotta first. On a Monday, for example, the 15:15 reaches Flotta at 15:50 and Lyness at 16:30, while the 17:30 is at Lyness at 18:05 and Flotta at 18:25.
On the same boat. On a winter Tuesday or Thursday the 08:00 goes straight to Flotta in 35 minutes; on Monday and Friday it calls at Lyness first and reaches Flotta at 09:05. The daily notes in the timetable list each Flotta connection.
Yes, at the ends of the day. The boat leaves Longhope at 06:25 on weekdays and returns there at 18:50, but the evening leg from Flotta runs only on request, booked by 16:30 the same day.
£17.90 one way and £35.80 return: £11.00 for a car under the 5.5-metre limit plus £3.45 per adult. Larger mobile homes are priced by length, from £27.25 for 5.51 to 8 metres.
Two round trips: 10:00 and 16:40 from Houton, 09:15 and 15:55 from Lyness. The boat spends the middle of Sunday at Longhope.
Yes. The Service 2 bus from Kirkwall meets the ferry at Houton, and the museum is a short walk from the Lyness pier, though over uneven ground. On a winter Monday, for instance, you could take the 10:15 over and the 14:00 or 16:40 back.
Not if they are under 22 and carry a Young Scot or National Entitlement Card. Juniors without one pay £1.75 single from Houton.