I was so excited to visit the Orkney islands a few weeks ago. Orkney has long been on my "to-visit" list and I was really excited to visit a Scottish Island group that wasn't on the West Coast. So here's it is: the list of everything we did on Orkney. From visiting historic sites to discovering new villages, we manage to squeeze a lot into our trip to Orkney, so if you are looking for some inspiration for your next adventure to Orkney, check it all out below!
A Drive through Burray and a Wander around St Margaret's Hope
As you'll know, I am very keen to visit 30 Scottish islands by the time I turn 30. Orkney was the perfect destination to tick some islands off the list, as there are a number of islands you can get to by road. After we visited the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm, we made our way further south to the islands of Burray and South Ronaldsay. We didn't really know what we'd discover during our journey, but we were surprised to discover an amazing Middle-Eastern lunch spot on Burray, where we stopped to have some cake (more on that next week).
After visiting Burray, we kept driving south over the Churchill Barriers to get to South Ronaldsay. We stopped in St Margaret's Hope, one of the villages there, and had a wee wander with our dog, Bru. I was so surprised how similar to the East Neuk of Fife this little village was. I spent a lot of time growing up visiting the villages along the East Neuk with my family so it almost felt like going back to those places to visit St Margaret's Hope.
Browsing the Shops in Kirkwall
I've spoken on this blog a few times before about how much I love browsing shops in and around wee towns in the Scottish Highlands (such as here in Fort William and here in Oban) but Kirkwall may have taken the spot as the best High Street in a Scottish town. We spent a good few hours on the Saturday we visited browsing in the shops along the High Street. I was amazed that Kirkwall had so many great independent shops, including a toy shop, a record shop, a bookshop featuring loads of books about Orkney, some great gift shops featuring knitwear and other crafts from local makers, and some fantastic delis selling food and drink from all over Scotland.
Visiting Skara Brae (twice)
I was really keen to visit some of Okney's famous historic sites whilst we were on the islands. The one that really stood out to me as a must-visit was Skara Brae. Skara Brae is the best preserved Neolithic villlage in Western Europe and it was truly a sight to behold. We arrived on the Saturday intending on making a vist, only to find out the site was closed due to high winds. That didn't matter though, as it gave us a chance to explore the exhibition in the visitor centre and really learn all we could about Skara Brae before visiting the next day.
Visiting this site in real life was really incredible. Looking over the village, you could really get a sense for how life would have been for those living at Skara Brae. Despite the thousands of years between then and now, life at Skara Brae doesn't feel like it would be that different from life now. It really surprised me how many things I could recognise from Skara Brae in my own little Highland cottage.
A Surprise Adventure in Birsay
After our almost visit to Skara Brae, we decided to take a drive around Orkney mainland to see what else we could see and just get a better feel for the island. We ended up stumbling upon Birsay and Earl's Palace. This ruin was once the home of Robert Stewart, the half-brother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and, despite its ruinous state, you could really tell just how grand this palace would have been during its heyday. We even manage to take Bru around with us, making this Bru's first time inside a palace.
We loved our adventure on Orkney and just how varied on time was there. We got to explore historic ruins and sites, and beautiful wee villages. We explored the shops in Kirkwall and four new islands over our long weekend. I'm sure there are many more things we could have visited, but we had a really wonderful time and we loved everything we did on Orkney.
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