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Skara BraePredating 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 & Shetland
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MaeshoweConstructed 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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Hermaness National Nature ReserveAt marvellous Hermaness headland, a 4.5-mile round walk takes you to cliffs where gannets, fulmars and guillemots nest, and numerous puffins frolic. You…
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Shetland MuseumThis museum houses an impressive collection of 5000 years’ worth of culture, people and their interaction with this ancient landscape. Comprehensive but…
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Isle of NossLittle Noss, 1.5 miles wide, lies just east of Bressay. High seacliffs harbour over 100,000 pairs of breeding seabirds, while inland heath supports…
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Unst Bus ShelterAt the turn-off to Littlehamar, just past Baltasound, is Britain's most impressive bus stop. Enterprising locals, tired of waiting in discomfort, decided…
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St Magnus CathedralConstructed 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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Highland Park DistilleryThis 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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Stromness MuseumThis superb museum, run with great passion, is full of knick-knacks from maritime and natural-history exhibitions covering whaling, the Hudson's Bay…
- Old Man of Hoy
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…
- BBroch of Gurness
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…
- BBrough of Birsay
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,…
- EEarl's Palace
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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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…
- RRing of Brodgar
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…
- SScapa Flow Visitor Centre & Museum
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…
- GGraemsay
This tiny, low-lying agricultural island between Hoy and Stromness once supported a healthy population of crofting families (more than 200 people in 1841)…
- SSkaill House
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…
- NNess of Brodgar
The spectacular finds from ongoing excavations at this archaeological site between the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar have…
- SStanding Stones of Stenness
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…