DAY 1
D included
Meeting at Kirkwall airport at 18.40, we have a 15-minute transfer to the city and our comfortable central 3-star hotel converted from a 17th century town house. As a welcome drink, we may sample one of nearly 500 whiskies offered by the hotel’s bar, including Orkney single malts.
DAY 2
B, L, D included
After a rich Scottish breakfast served in the hotel’s garden view restaurant, we head south by road. Our first stop is at the Churchill Barriers and the remarkable Italian Chapel built by Italian prisoners of war working on the barriers’ construction. Near St. Margaret’s Hope, we walk around Hoxa Head Coast Battery, including the remains of two WWII gun batteries (5 km/3 miles). In the afternoon, we visit the Tomb of the Eagles, the 5,000 years old chambered cairn at the southern tip of South Ronaldsay, uncovered by a local farmer while working on his land.
DAY 3
B, L, D included
We walk through the current hotspot of British Neolithic archaeology, starting from the Standing Stones of Stenness, past the Ness of Brodgar excavations, to the Ring of Brodgar. Our morning ends with a tour of the Chambered Cairn of Maeshowe. After lunch, we settle into our 3-star harbour-front hotel in Stromness with a popular restaurant, featuring dishes such as scallops in citrus butter or Orkney steak and Orkney ale pie.
DAY 4
B, L, D included
The small island of Rousay is home to 200 people and over 160 archaeological sites. Having crossed from the Mainland by ferry (15 mins), our day visit starts with a short walk on the banks of Eynhallow Sound, packed with important remains including the Neolithic Midhowe Cairn; an Iron Age Midhowe Broch; a mediaeval ceremonial hall and farm and a church abandoned in the 19th century, when it started sliding into the sea. On the opposite side of the island, we walk a 4 km/2.5 mile circular path over a heath-covered headland with views (weather permitting) of Westray island to the north and Egilsay to the east.
DAY 5
B, L, D included
In Houton, we board the ferry to Lyness on Hoy. We follow part of the Scapa Flow wartime trail, centred around the former fuel pumping station converted into an excellent museum. Later, in the dramatic scenery of Northern Hoy, we walk to the Dwarfie Stane, then drive to Rackwick Bay, where we picnic and enjoy a short walk. On our return to Mainland, we stop at the Orkneyinga Saga Centre in Orphir. This narrative of Orkney Islands’ history, from their capture by the Norwegian king in the 9th century until about 1200, was written by an unknown Icelandic author at the beginning of the 13th century. Our accommodation for the next 3 nights is a charming old-fashioned country-house style hotel near Kirkwall.
DAY 6
B, L, D included
Our walk (7 km/4.5 miles) takes us to the Deerness Peninsula in the east of Mainland. The spectacular cliff scenery includes the Gloup, a collapsed deep sea cave separated from the sea by a broad arch, and the Brough of Deerness, a sea stack with remains of an ancient settlement. In Kirkwall, we explore the 12th century St. Magnus Cathedral built from the same local sandstone used by the Neolithic inhabitants of the islands and the nearby contemporary Bishop’s Palace, the town’s oldest surviving domestic building. We dine in a renowned restaurant specialising in dishes made from seasonal Orkney produce, including the freshest seafood, from the islands’ pristine waters, and beef and lamb from local farms.
DAY 7
B, L, D included
Our day begins with spectacular coastal scenery as we walk to Yesnaby Castle, a stunning 35 m/115 ft sandstone sea stack. Later we walk around Marwick Head, to the clifftop memorial commemorating Earl Kitchener and the HMS Hampshire crew lost in 1916, looking out for seabirds nesting on the cliffs below us. In the afternoon, we visit Skara Brae, the best-preserved Neolithic village in Western Europe, uncovered in 1850, when violent storms erased the sands that had covered this Orcadian Pompeii for thousands of years.
DAY 8
B included
Our journey concludes with a morning transfer to the airport.
