Orkney

Time travel in the heart of Orkney

In spring 2016, a mysterious brochure appeared in Orkney – the archipelago off Scotland's northern tip – listing reasons to visit the isle of Mama Westray. Must-see sights included fish-eating pigs, the Tropical Gardens of Nether Biggs and the Tomb of the Haddock. The brochure named actress Cate Blanchett as a regular visitor, and claimed she kept a pedal-powered car in the island’s airport.

The brochure was a spoof (it remains unclaimed). There is no Mama Westray, although it does bear comparison with its partial namesake, the isle of Papa Westray, and borrows inspiration from other places in Orkney. Why someone felt the need to invent another Orcadian island remains obscure, for the reality is far more compelling than any fiction. Anchored just a few miles off John O’Groats, these islands abound with history – from the evocative evidence of Stone Age society to the legacy of Viking settlement and then the wreckage of two world wars, Orkney's story has been 5,000 years in the making.

James Kay

Lonely Planet Writer

A nature lover's guide to Orkney

Orkney is a treasure trove of human history, and its riches range from standing stones that predate the Pyramids to battleships sunk or scuttled during two world wars.

But while the cultural heritage of this archipelago off the northeastern tip of Scotland is compelling, Orkney is home to something equally fascinating: a natural history measured in aeons rather than mere millennia.

James Kay

Lonely Planet Writer

Wild isles: seven great wildlife experiences off Britain's coast

Brilliant blue seas teeming with marine life. Cliff faces bearing vast, precarious colonies of sea birds. Moorland roamed by hulking deer. The UK’s islands are beautiful and most are largely untouched, making them wonderful places to see the very best in British wildlife.

Basking sharks are frequent visitors to Britain’s waters. Image by Cultura RM / George Karbus Photography / Getty