Things to do in Orkney Islands
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Taversoe Tuick
Taversoe Tuick is an intriguing burial cairn constructed on two levels, with separate entrances – perhaps a joint tomb for different families, a semi-detached solution to a shortage of afterlife housing. You can squeeze into the cairn and descend a steel ladder to explore both levels, but there’s not much space.
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Tomb of the Eagles
Set in a spectacular clifftop position, this 5000-year-old chambered tomb was discovered by local farmers who now run it privately as a visitor attraction. It’s as interesting for their entertaining and informative guided tour and for the unusual access (lying prone on a trolley, you wheel yourself into the low entrance tunnel) as for the tomb itself.
Before taking the mile's airy walk out to the site, an excellent personal explanation is given to you at the visitor centre; you meet a few spooky skulls and get to handle some of the artefacts found in the tomb, including some sea-eagle talons.
On the way you visit a circular Bronze Age stone building with a firepit, indoo…
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St Magnus Cathedral
Founded in 1137 and built out of local red sandstone and yellow Eday stone, fabulous St Magnus Cathedral is Kirkwall’s centrepiece. The powerful atmosphere of an ancient faith pervades the impressive interior. During summer, 40-minute tours of the cathedral’s upper levels start at 11am and 2pm on Tuesday and Thursday and cost £6 per person.
Earl Rognvald Brusason commissioned the cathedral in the name of his martyred uncle, Magnus Erlendsson, who was killed by Earl Hakon Paulsson on Egilsay in 1117. Work began in 1137, but the building is actually the result of 300 years of construction and alteration. The bones of St Magnus and St Rognvald are interred in the rectan…
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Ring of Brodgar
Situated about a mile north of Stenness, along the road towards Skara Brae, is this wide circle of standing stones, some over 5m tall. Last of the three Stenness monuments to be built (2500–2000 BC), it remains a most atmospheric location. Twenty-one of the original 60 stones still stand among the heather. These mysterious giants, their curious shapes mutilated by years of climatic onslaught, fire the imagination – what were they for? On a grey day with dark clouds thudding low across the sky, the stones look secretive and seem to be almost sneering at the jostling summer crowds. Free guided tours leave from the carpark at 1pm from June to August.
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Maes Howe
Egypt has the pyramids, Scotland has Maes Howe. Constructed about 5000 years ago, it’s the a Stone Age tomb built from enormous sandstone blocks, some of which weighed many tons and were brought from several miles away. Though nothing is known about who was interred here, the scope of the project suggests it was a structure of great significance.
Creeping down the long stone passageway to the central chamber, over 6.7m high and 3.5m wide, you begin to sense the indescribable gulf of years that separate us from the architects of this mysterious place.
No remains were found when the tomb was excavated in the 19th century, so it’s not known how many people were originally …
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Highland Park Distillery
Among Scotland’s more respected whiskymakers, this distillery, where they malt their own barley, is great to visit. You can see the barley and the peat kiln used to dry it on the excellent, well-informed hour-long tour (hourly when open, and weekdays at 2pm in winter).
The standard 12-year-old is a soft, balanced malt, great for whisky novices and aficionados alike; the 18-year-old is among the world’s finest drams. These and others can be tasted on more specialised tours (£15), which you can prearrange.
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Orkney Marine Life Aquarium
This aquarium showcases the fascinating collection of marine animals found in Scapa Flow and Orcadian coastal waters. Giant shellfish such as lobsters are a feature, and there’s a rock pool that allows up-close-and-personal inspections of local creatures – great for everyone, especially kids. Injured seals that have been nursed back to health can be viewed in open-air pools.
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Tankerness House & Orkney Museum
This fine restored merchant’s house gives an intriguing glimpse into Orkney’s archaeological treasure chest, starting from the first settlers, who arrived over 5000 years ago. Exhibits include Pictish stones, ‘bone’ pins and Iron Age jewellery. The highlight is the photo archive downstairs, which offers snapshots of a technologically distant past. Keep an eye out for the temporary exhibitions.
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Kirkwall Hotel
This grand old hotel on the waterfront is one of Kirkwall’s best places to dine. The elegant bar and eating area packs out; it’s one of Kirkwall’s favourite spots for an evening out with the clan. There’s a fairly standard pub-food list that’s complemented by a seasonal menu featuring local seafood and meat – the lamb is delicious.
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Italian Chapel
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 spare time, using two Nissen huts, scrap metal and their considerable artistic skills. One of the artists returned in 1960 to restore the paintwork. It’s quite extraordinary inside and definitely worth seeing.
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Reel
Part music shop and part cafe, Kirkwall’s best coffee-stop sits alongside St Magnus Cathedral, and bravely puts tables outside at the slightest threat of sunshine. It’s a relaxed spot that’s good for morning-after debriefing, as well as lunchtime panini and musically named sandwiches (along with their cheese one: Skara Brie). It’s a centre for local folk musicians, with regular evening sessions.
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Hamnavoe Restaurant
Tucked away off the main street, this Stromness favourite specialises in excellent local seafood backed up by professional service. There’s always something good off the boats, and the chef prides himself on his lobster. Booking is a must. From November to March, it’s only open Saturday and Sunday for dinner; in summer it also opens for lobster lunches on Saturday.
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Helgi’s
There’s a traditional cosiness about this place, but the decor has moved beyond the time-honoured beer-soaked carpet to a comfortable contemporary slate floor and quotes from the Orkneyinga Saga plastering the walls. It’s more find-a-table than jostle-at-the-bar and serves cheerful comfort food. Take your pint upstairs for quiet harbour contemplation.
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Orkney Museum
Opposite St Magnus Cathedral, in a former merchant’s house, is this labyrinthine display. It has an overview of Orcadian history and prehistory, including Pictish carvings and a display on the Ba’. Most engaging are the last rooms, covering 19th- and 20th-century social history; the earlier sections could do with a bit of a facelift (but then again, it’s free).
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Scapa Flow Visitor Centre
Lyness, on the eastern side of Hoy, was an important naval base during both world wars, when the British Grand Fleet was based in Scapa Flow. It isn’t a pretty place, but this fascinating museum and photographic display, located in an old pumphouse that once fed fuel to the ships, is a must-see for anyone interested in Orkney's military history.
Take your time to browse the exhibits about WWI and WWII, and have a look at the folders of supplementary information: the letters home from a seaman lost when the HMS Royal Oak was torpedoed are particularly moving. You'll find the story of the first-ever landing of an aircraft on a moving ship in 1917, and the construction of …
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Earl's Palace
Across the road from the Bishop's Palace is the ruin of the Earl’s Palace, built by the tyrant Earl Patrick Stewart in 1600 (though the earl ran out of money and the palace was never completed). It's said to be the finest example of French-Renaissance architecture in Scotland.
Both palaces were repossessed by Bishop James Law in 1615 and the earl and his son were publicly executed. Remarkably, the despotic Patrick was found to be so ignorant that he was unable to recite even the Lord’s Prayer; his execution had to be delayed by a day while priests taught him the words.
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Balfour Castle
Completed in 1848 in the turreted Scottish Baronial style, Balfour Castle dominates the southern end of the island. Guided tours (2.15pm Sunday from May to September) must be booked in advance; the price includes the ferry, admission to the castle and afternoon tea. It's also available as a private hotel that can be hired for shooting parties.
The castle was built by the Balfours, who made their fortune in the British Raj in India, and was owned by the Polish Zawadski family from 1961 till 2009. Examples of the Balfours’ civic projects include the neat line of cottages in the main village, the ornate Gatehouse (which now serves as the village pub), a sea-flushed publ…
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Mine Howe
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 unknown; archaeologists from the TV series Time Team carried out a dig here and concluded that it may have had some ritual significance, perhaps as an oracle or shrine.
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Stromness Museum
Crammed with fascinating artefacts from maritime and natural-history collections covering whaling, the Hudson’s Bay Company and the sunken German fleet in Scapa Flow, this is a superb museum where you can easily lose a couple of hours nosing around the display cases.
Among the more unusual exhibits are South Sea Islander artefacts left here by the survivors of Captain Cook’s final expedition to the Pacific in 1776–79, and the tiny inflatable boat used by Dr John Rae in his Arctic explorations.
Across the street from the museum is the house where local poet and novelist George Mackay Brown lived from 1968 until his death in 1996. Further south on the main street is Lo…
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Pierowall Hotel
The heart of this island community, the local pub is famous throughout Orkney for its popular fish and chips – the fish is caught fresh by the hotel’s boats and whatever has turned up in the day’s catch is displayed on the blackboard. There are also some curries available, but the sea is the way to go here.
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Dil Se
Upbeat and inventive, this main-street subcontinental choice tries to steer Orcadians away from the clichéd curry classics in favour of baltis – the spinach one is fabulous – and other creations. The late opening means you can enjoy those long summer evenings outdoors and not go hungry at the end of them.
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Midhowe Broch
Next to the Midhowe Tomb is Midhowe Broch, the sturdy stone lines of which echo the stratifications of the rocky shoreline. The best example of a broch in Orkney, it's a muscular, Iron Age fortified compound with a central partition fashioned out of stone slabs, with two hearths, water tanks, quern stones and lots of Skara Brae–style stonebuilt storage shelves.
Dating from around 100 BC, it has a cluster of well-preserved outbuldings, including dwelling houses (you can see the holes for the hinge pins of wooden doors) and a forge for smelting iron.
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Julia’s Café & Bistro
This cafe with a conservatory, opposite the port, keeps all-comers happy, with massive fry-ups offset on the cardiac karma scale by the wraps, salads and tempting vegetarian dishes such as nut roast or couscous. In summer it opens for dinner with elaborate fare (£10 to £13) on offer.
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Shore
This popular harbourside eatery brings the gastropub concept to Kirkwall, offering bar meals combined with more adventurous fare in the restaurant section. It’s a little hit-and-miss, but the local chefs are assured when it comes to the sea – monkfish is always a good bet.
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Pier Restaurant
Just above the ferry, this simple place does burgers and standard bar meals, and is good for a coffee or a whisky while waiting for the boat or a chat and a game of pool after a long day’s walking. There’s also internet access and a list of local residents who offer B&B.
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