A major tourism boom in the north has led to waiting lists for places on ferries and the full house sign being put up at B&Bs across the region.
Guesthouses in Inverness have reported receiving more than 40 pleas for accommodation in one day as visitors battle to spend a night in the Highlands.
Ferries to the Western Isles are jam-packed thanks to a hot summer, cheaper fares courtesy of the Road Equivalent Tariff and more people opting for stay-at-home breaks.
Holidaymakers have reported being unable to book their cars on sailings from Uig to Lochmaddy, Oban to Castlebay and Lochboisdale and Ullapool to Stornoway.
They have been told that at any given time there are up to 15 vehicles on standby to take any spaces which become available.
Representatives of the islands’ tourism industry said the issue was causing significant problems for anyone hoping to take a last minute break in the more remote islands.
Ian Fordham, chairman of Outer Hebrides Tourism Industry Association, said: “It is causing real problems. From my perspective, we know the ferries are fully booked far too much in advance.
“We want the Scottish Government and CalMac to put on additional sailings whenever possible to alleviate these issues.”
Rooms are hard to find in Inverness and Fort William.
Angus Noble, chairman of Inverness and District B&B Association, said his guesthouse, Glendoune in Perceval Road, was booked until August 24.
He said: “Yesterday we counted 45 inquiries from e-mail and telephone for accommodation for this week and through to next week.
“They started from 9am and went on to 12.45am the next day.
“It is mid-August but it has been crazy. It is the busiest it has been for years.
“Even hotels have been phoning us looking for rooms.”
Mr Noble said that he had noticed a lot of Americans and French tourists, as well as visitors from Germany and the Netherlands.
Stewart Nicol, chief executive of Inverness Chamber of Commerce, said: “The warm weather has helped but with the Year of Homecoming and the Commonwealth Games, there are a lot of positive things in Scotland.
“I think people have come to Glasgow for the games but turned it into an extended holiday.
“I have seen a lot of hire cars and a lot of cars with overseas plates.”
Andy Keen, of Torlinnhe Guest House in Achintore Road at Fort William, said the Lochaber town’s accommodation providers were having a very good summer.
Mr Keen, chairman of the Fort William Accommodation Marketing Group and a director of Lochaber Chamber of Commerce, added: “We have a group website with online booking and there have been very few vacancies for most of the summer.
“Out of 25 B&Bs in the group, there is no accommodation available for Wednesday and Thursday of this week and just one room left for Friday.
“It’s been at that kind of level every day for most of July and August and is looking healthy into September and October.”
He added that he believed online booking had made a big difference to the way guest houses were operating.
Mr Keen said: “The online group booking system has been operating for about two years now and we pretty much doubled our online bookings this year over last year.
“More and more people are now booking online, which means we are often full well in advance.
“This year is a major improvement on last year and the year before.”