Orkney
Predating Stonehenge and the pyramids of Giza, extraordinary Skara Brae is one of the world's most evocative prehistoric sites, and northern Europe’s best…
Must-see attractions in Orkney
Orkney
Constructed about 5000 years ago, Maeshowe is an extraordinary place, a Stone Age tomb built from enormous sandstone blocks, some of which weighed many…
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Orkney
Two significant archaeological sites were found here by a farmer on his land. The first is a Bronze Age stone building with a firepit, indoor well and…
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Kirkwall
Constructed from local red sandstone, Kirkwall's centrepiece, dating from the early 12th century, is among Scotland's most interesting cathedrals. The…
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Orkney
A half-mile west of Pierowall stands this sturdy ruined tower house, built in the 16th century by Gilbert Balfour, aide to Mary, Queen of Scots. The…
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Orkney
Six miles from the ferry on Rousay, mighty Midhowe Cairn has been dubbed the 'Great Ship of Death'. Built around 3500 BC and enormous, it's divided into…
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Orkney
By the seashore, this sturdy stone-built farmhouse and storeroom are solidly built testimony to crofting life on Papa Westray island…5500 years ago. An…
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Kirkwall
This distillery, South of Kirkwall's centre, is great to visit. Despite a dodgy Viking rebrand, it's a serious distillery that malts its own barley; see…
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Orkney
This superb museum, run with great passion, is full of knick-knacks from maritime and natural-history exhibitions covering whaling, the Hudson's Bay…
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Orkney
This eclectic museum is a great visit, combining some excellent 360-million-year-old Devonian fish fossils found locally with a well-designed exhibition…
Orkney
Hoy’s best-known sight is this 137m-high rock stack jutting from the ocean off the tip of an eroded headland. It's a tough ascent and for experienced…
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Orkney
The most distinctive feature of this small, flat island – in fact, the name comes from the Norse for 'flat island' – is the 68m-tall flare stack rising…
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Scapa Flow Visitor Centre & Museum
Orkney
Lyness was an important naval base during both World Wars, when the British Grand Fleet was based in Scapa Flow. This fascinating museum and photographic…
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Orkney
This tiny, low-lying agricultural island between Hoy and Stromness once supported a healthy population of crofting families (more than 200 people in 1841)…
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Orkney
Egilsay is the larger of the two islands off Rousay, and is accessed from the same ferry. The RSPB have a base here; listen for the corncrakes at the…
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Orkney
Next to Skara Brae, and entered on a joint ticket, Skaill House is an imposing step-gabled Orcadian mansion built for the bishop in 1620. It may feel a…
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Orkney
Wyre is just off Rousay, and accessed from the same ferry. It was the domain of the Viking Baron Kolbein Hruga (known as ‘Cubbie Roo’). The substantial…
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Orkney
Here is a fine example of the drystone fortified towers that were both a status symbol for powerful farmers and useful protection from raiders some 2200…
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Orkney
At low tide – check tide times at any Historic Environment Scotland site – you can walk out to this windswept island, the site of extensive Norse ruins,…
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Orkney
At the northern end of the island, this lighthouse is over 100ft high and one of many built across Scotland by the Stevenson family. A visitor centre and…
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Orkney
Rousay's major archaeological sites are clearly labelled from the road ringing the island. Heading west from the ferry, you soon come to Taversoe Tuick,…
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Orkney
Discovered while digging was under way for a car park, this 5000-year-old chambered tomb has yielded a vast quantity of human bones, well preserved thanks…
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Kirkwall
The intriguing Earl’s Palace was once known as the finest example of French Renaissance architecture in Scotland. One room features an interesting history…
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Orkney
The spectacular finds from ongoing excavations at this archaeological site between the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar have…
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Orkney
Part of this Mainland area's concentration of neolithic monuments, four mighty stones remain of what was once a circle of 12. Recent research suggests…
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Orkney
Earl's Bu, in Orphir, has the foundations of a 12th-century manor house belonging to the Norse earls of Orkney. There are also the remains of St Nicholas’…
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Hackness Martello Tower & Battery
Orkney
Built during the Napoleonic Wars, when French ships passed through the Pentland Firth to prey on North Sea merchant vessels, this battery, accompanied by…
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Orkney
The Italian Chapel is all that remains of a POW camp that housed the Italian soldiers who worked on the Churchill Barriers. They built the chapel in their…
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Kirkwall
Two miles south of Kirkwall's centre, on the shores of Scapa Flow, this is one of two Orcadian whisky distilleries and, though less famous than Highland…
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Orkney
On a historic farm in the centre of Papa Westray, this tiny museum is packed full of objects from the everyday life of the island's past. Agricultural…
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Orkney
On a farm at Tankerness, the mysterious Iron Age site of Mine Howe is an eerie underground chamber, about 1.5m in diameter and 4m high. Its function is…
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Orkney
A narrow spit joins this peninsula to the eastern edge of Mainland. You reach the end of the road at Mull Head. A short walk from the car park brings you…
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Orkney
The folk here have been producing their brilliant Orcadian beers – Dark Island is a standout, while Skullsplitter lives up to its name – for years now,…
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Orkney
Alongside the Standing Stones of Stenness are the excavated remains of a village thought to have been inhabited by the builders of Maeshowe. Don’t skip…
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Orkney
A mile northwest of Stenness is this wide circle of standing stones, some over 5m tall. The last of the three Stenness monuments to be built (2500–2000 BC…
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Kirkwall
Opened in 2018, this distillery and visitor centre on the waterfront is a new showcase for this tasty Orkney spirit. Tours run for an hour and include an…
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Orkney
This uninhabited island just off the eastern shore of Papa Westray is notable for its three chambered cairns, the largest of which (South Cairn) is most…
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Kirkwall
This labyrinthine display in a former merchant’s house gives an overview of Orcadian history and prehistory, including Pictish carvings and a display on…
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Orkney
This atmospheric neolithic tomb, on a smaller scale than nearby Maeshowe, is a site that you may well get to yourself. It's a very tight squeeze down the…
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Orkney
At the southern end of Hoy, Longhope’s former lifeboat launching station holds a small lifeboat museum, centred around one of the old boats itself, the…
