Things to Do in Orkney: My Top Experiences

I did not know what to expect when the ferry left the Scottish mainland for the islands. Orkney looked flat on the map, a scatter of green lumps between the North Sea and the Atlantic. Then the boat slid past the Old Man of Hoy and I understood. This place has a scale problem, in the best way. Great big archaeology, great big cliffs, great big skies. Here is what I would do again, and what I would skip.

Walk the Heart of Neolithic Orkney

Skara Brae is the headline, and it earns it. A stone village buried in sand for centuries, unearthed by a storm in 1850, and still sitting there with its stone dressers and box beds intact. Walking through those low stone rooms feels less like a museum and more like stepping into someones house while they are out. Book your slot in advance. The visitor numbers are capped and it sells out through summer.

From there it is a short drive to the Ring of Brodgar and the Standing Stones of Stenness. I recommend seeing both at the edges of the day. Dawn at the Ring of Brodgar, when the light is low and the wind has not woken up, is one of the quietest hours I have spent anywhere. The stones are spread across a causeway with the lochs on either side, and you read the horizon in every direction.

Climb to the Broch of Gurness and the Cairns

Less famous, just as good, is the Broch of Gurness on the mainland’s north coast. This is an Iron Age tower and settlement you can actually climb inside, looking out over the water toward Rousay. The stone spiral stair still works, which amuses me more than it should. Pair it with Maeshowe, the great chambered tomb. If you book the winter solstice lottery and get lucky, you watch the setting sun line up perfectly with the entrance passage. Do not bank on it. Just go on a normal day and stand inside a corridor of stone that people built under five thousand years ago.

See the Sea From Yesnaby Cliffs

For drama, head to Yesnaby on the west coast. The Old Man of Hoy is a 137 metre sea stack, a needle of red sandstone that draws climbers from across the world. You can get a good view of it here at Yesnaby without the hike. The cliffs themselves are the attraction. In the right wind the geos and blowholes turn the sea into a kind of theatre, water booming up through gaps in the rock. Stand well back. These cliffs are not fenced in and the edges are real.

Tour the Italian Chapel

On the island of Lamb Holm sits the Italian Chapel, built by Italian prisoners of war during the Second World War from two Nissen huts. It is the most moving little building in Scotland. What starts as corrugated iron becomes, inside, a painted church with a fake stone facade, a trompe l’oeil sanctuary, and a ceiling that will make you forget where you are. The men built it with scrap and faith. I found myself staying much longer than planned.

Drive Scapa Flow and the Churchill Barriers

Among the four Churchill Barriers that link the smaller southern islands, the story is Scapa Flow, the naval anchorage where the German fleet was scuttled after the First World War and where the battleship Royal Oak was sunk in 1939. The area is dive heaven for wrecks, but on land the history is everywhere. Keep an eye out for the scattered remnants and the blockships resting in the shallows.

Sample Food and Whisky at Scapa Distillery

Orkney is small, roughly 22 miles long, and good food travels fast. Try the beef from the aptly named Beef Islands, the seafood, and the famous Orkney fudge. For a drink, the Scapa distillery sits by the water on the mainland and makes a smooth, honeyed single malt that could not taste more different from an Islay. Book ahead for the tour.

My Practical Advice

You can cover the mainland in a couple of days, but the outer islands deserve time. Take a car, because the bus network, while friendly, is slow. Pack layers no matter the month, and bring a windproof jacket you trust. And allow yourself to wander. Some of my best hours were spent simply staring at empty beaches and bird cliffs with no plan at all.