Orkney
Orkney (also known as the Orkney Islands, Isles of Orkney or the Orkney's) is an island group in northern Scotland, situated 10 miles north of the coast of Caithness.
Orkney
Stromness Harbour in Orkney
Orkney
Orkney comprises over 70 islands; around 20 are inhabited. The largest island, known as the Mainland, has an area of 202 square miles, making it the sixth-largest Scottish island. The main town is Kirkwall.
There is several ways to travel to Orkney and on the Scrabster to Stromness ferry there is a distinct sense of excitement when the ferry approaches the Island of Hoy and the Old Man of Hoy is visible. It must be one of the most photographed icons of Orkney and it certainly does not disappoint.
Orkney has many historical sites to visit and we enjoyed visiting several of them on a recent holiday. Skara Brae is a Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site in the care of Historic Scotland. It was unearthed after a wild storm in 1850 and explored by the Laird of Skaill, William Watt. When you visit Skara Brae you can see pictures of the original excavation carried out by William Watt and later work on the site. There is also a reconstruction of the original central building (shown right) where you can get a sense of the atmosphere the original people would have when living in the village in the past.
Orkney is well known for the brochs and stone circles that can be found on the Orkney Mainland and on the Orkney islands. One of the most popular stone circles is the Ring of Brogar overlooking the Loch of Harray. It is a scenic area and from the Ring of Brogar stone circle you can see the Stones of Stenness. The Orkney islands are full of wildlife and I was astounded to come across a duck on it's nest while walking around the stone circle at the Ring of Brogar, so it is advisable to keep your dog on a lead as also to keep to the mown grass paths for visitors to see the stone circle or you may accidentally walk too close to nesting birds.
Stones of Stenness with the Watch Stone in front.
Brochs
Scotland has around 500 known brochs, usually single buildings of around 2000 years old. In Orkney the Brochs are unique in that they were often surrounded by villages and farms. During our short visit to Orkney we went to the Broch of Gurness, there is six known brochs along the mainland coast along the Eynhallow Sound and opposite the island of Rousay which has 5 known brochs including Midhowe. We really enjoyed our visit to Gurness for a number of reasons; well you are able to fully explore all of the broch, it has an interesting visitor centre and the scenery is fantastic.
We also stopped to allow the dogs for a walk along the beautiful sandy beach at the Sands of Evie and while I was walking the dogs and enjoying the beach (covered in lovely sea shells) my wife was privileged to watch 5 hares playing and boxing in the field and coming down to where the car was parked. When I got back I saw 2 of the hares chasing each other, however my camera's auto focus was not quick enough to capture the hares - I did get one picture of a hare, however I think it was playing with me!
Orkney Ferries
A number of ferries operate on Orkney and we went over on the Scrabster to Stromness ferry. Other ferries go to Kirkwall from Aberdeen, and there is the Gills Bay to St Margaret's Hope ferry. A passenger ferry operates from John O'Groats in Caithness to South Ronaldsay during the summer months.
Orkney Beaches and coastline
Orkney has a number of beautiful sandy beaches as well as stoney / rocky coastline that is fascinating to explore as well. Some of the beaches, especially at the Churchill Barriers slope very steeply into deep water so care should be taken if you, or your children go wading or swimming on these beaches.
Sandy Beaches at the Churchill Barriers slope steeply into deep water so be careful on these beaches. They do however have lots of cockles (shellfish) which are delicious to cook and eat.
Books & more on Orkney
Orkney Amazon UK Store
Amazon.com Store
Amazon.ca - Canada books
Orkney Islands Property
Island home and business opportunity. ‘Castles’ is a registered farm set in 2.13 Ha. of land on the Orkney Island of Eday with a further 2.27 Ha. available if required.
‘Castles’ consists of a one bedroom fully modernised cottage with traditional stone built byres and workshops, a new 80ft x 40ft portal frame shed, a newly constructed stone built dwelling house designed to incorporate 3 en-suite letting rooms and a beautiful, secluded beach.
For more details and price please visit the website - www.castleseday.co.uk
Orkney Tourism
Personal Guided Tours of Orkney by Orkney Aspects
Orkney Holidays
External sites you may find useful, also check out the Orkney Google Map for more accommodation listings
www.orkneycrofts.com - 3 crofts / cottages, what we like is that they except well behaved dogs (and children) in two of them. Very high Scottish Tourist board ratings 4 and 5 stars.
Birsay Self Catering - 1 bedroom cottage
Orkney
Places to Visit
Orkney Islands
Explore Orkney
Skara Brae, Orkney's 5000 year old neolithic village.
Visit Birsay and the tidal island - Brough of Birsay for historic settlements from Viking and Pictish times and bird watching.
Earl Robert's Palace in Kirkwall
Kirkwall harbour and town
Places to Visit in Orkney
Italian Chapel
The Italian Chapel in Orkney was built in 1943 by Italian prisoners of war while they were constructing the four Churchill Barriers the Orkney Mainland and South Ronaldsay to stop German u boats getting into Scapa Flow. The Chapel has been preserved as a reminder that beautiful things can arise from the worst of times.
Orkney Museum
The Orkney Museum in Kirkwall is run by the Orkney Islands Council. It is free to visit and has excellent exibits and information on Orkney's ancient and recent past.
You can easily spend a couple of hours exploring the Orkney Museum, children should find it fascinating.
Fossil Museum
The Fossil Museum on the connected island of Burray is well worth visiting. It has an excellent exhibit of fossils and also covers other aspects of Orkney's recent past and crofting life. The restaurant / cafe is excellent and we were made very welcome. They also sell the cheapest tubs of Orkney ice cream on the island - well at £1 a tub (sitting in) we think so at least. The next time we visit Orkney the Fossil Museum restaurant will be one of the places we plan to have lunch.
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