2 Days in the Orkney Islands
When we decided to go back to Scotland, I knew I wanted to revisit the highlands but I also wanted to add in some of the islands. Originally I wanted to go to the Shetlands, because hello ponies, but with only about a week in the country and a 12+ hr ferry ride, it didn't seem like the best use of our time.
So, I looked a little closer to the mainland and decided on the Orkney Islands. Approximately 1 ½ hours on the ferry from Gill's Bay to St. Margaret's Hope, the Orkney Islands are easily accessible from mainland Scotland. Orkney is composed of nearly 70 islands (20 inhabited) but with only a few days on the island, we decided to split our time between the two main cities: Kirkwall and Stromness.
Day 1:
We spent the previous night in Inverness and booked a 1:30 PM departure time from Gill's Bay ferry terminal to Orkney. The drive is a little under 3 hours and I don't think we did anything in particular other than realize we left the B&B with their key and frantically search for a post office to send it back.
Approaching the Orkney Islands from the car ferry.
Shortly after arriving in St. Margaret's Hope you will reach your first stop which is the Italian chapel.
The Italian Chapel is a Catholic chapel on Lamb Holm that was built during WWII by Italian POWs while they were ALSO building the Churchill Barriers - causeways designed to block access to Scapa Flow, a sheltered body of water commonly used by ships. These causeways were later developed into roadway systems connecting Lamb Holm, Glimps Holm, Burray and South Ronaldsay to mainland Orkney.
So, in their spare time, after they were building (by hand) some giant ass causeways, they decided to build a chapel for funsies.
How lazy do you feel right now?
Of the 550 Italian POWs that were brought to Orkney, about 200 were stationed at Camp 60 on Lamb Holm where the chapel was constructed. They used limited materials and most of the interior decorations were done by a single prisoner who remained on the island after his fellow prisoners were released in order to finish decorating the chapel.
After stopping at the Italian Chapel, we went straight to our hotel in Kirkwall. From what I remember there weren't a ton of B&B's on Orkney Island, so we ended up staying at the St. Ola Hotel. It was perfectly located (although how could it not be? Kirkwall is pretty small) and the day we checked in they were smack dab in the middle of some sort of heavy metal festival. The door to check in was literally rattling from the bass and when I peeked into the bar I was both intimidated and intrigued at the amount of leather, body piercings and angry music that was pouring out. Jorge is secretly a metal head so in retrospect I should have acted like this was some well thought out surprise for him but I missed the boat on that.
Kirkwall is the largest town and capital of Orkney and its name comes from the Norse word for Church Bay (Kirkjuvagr). The name is appropriate as two major buildings in Kirkwall are both churches. There is St. Magnus Cathedral at the heart of the town and St Olaf's Episcopal Church which is the modern iteration of the "kirk" that Kirkwall was originally named after.
St. Magnus Cathedral
Standing Stones of Stenness. This site was nearly deserted when we went EXCEPT for this one sheep who was laying in the middle of everything.
He didn't give a fuhhhhhhhck.
Next, we stopped at Skara Brae which is a remarkably well preserved stone built Neolithic settlement which has been compared to Pompeii because of its well maintained structures. Older than both Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids, it is composed of eight dwellings with largely intact interior structures that gives you a great idea for how people between roughly 3180 to 2500 BC lived on the island.
The entrance to a replica stone house on Skara Brae.
Straight in the center is a damn stone bookcase/shelving unit. It is AMAZING to me that these people built furniture, beds, fire pits, cookware and who knows what else with literally just their hands and completely raw materials.
I know this looks like a mini golf putting course, but this is the walkway around the excavations of the neolithic dwellings. Some of the portions are exposed, allowing you to see into the actual homes.
After Skara Brae we drove out to the Yesnaby Cliffs which is an area renowned for its Old Red Sandstone coastal cliff scenery. There is a small car park at the head, with a coastal trail that you can follow.
One of the largest sea stacks is called Yesnaby Castle and many enterprising rock climbers take it upon themselves to climb this, as well as six other sea stacks over the course of 7 days. I am adventurous, but that sounds like a good way to ensure if not my death, then certainly a good amount of misery. If you are so enterprising, then my hat is off to you.
The winds even at this relatively low elevation were incredible. I cannot imagine trying to rock climb in these conditions. In case you can't tell I was literally bracing my body against the wind, leaning into it and trying not to get blown away.
After spending some time hiking along the coastal trail at Yesnaby, we made our way to the Stromness Hotel for the night.
Stromness is a long established sea port and the second most populous town in Orkney.
Look how populous it is:
We found the town to be very quiet but perfect for our purposes, which was an ideal location for our 6 AM ferry to Scrabster the following morning.
Personally, my impression of Orkney was that it's slower paced and smaller than I was expecting. I think two days is the bare minimum that you should do for a first time visit. We stayed in the two largest cities on the island and they almost felt intimate, especially after Inverness and some of the other large cities in Scotland. While the neolithic sites are incredible and I feel very fortunate to have experienced them, I think the true draw to Orkney (for me) was getting to experience some of the coast and just wander about on our own. When we go back I am looking forward to exploring some of the smaller islands and finding more deserted coastal trails to trek...hopefully with the wind at our backs.
So, I looked a little closer to the mainland and decided on the Orkney Islands. Approximately 1 ½ hours on the ferry from Gill's Bay to St. Margaret's Hope, the Orkney Islands are easily accessible from mainland Scotland. Orkney is composed of nearly 70 islands (20 inhabited) but with only a few days on the island, we decided to split our time between the two main cities: Kirkwall and Stromness.
Day 1:
We spent the previous night in Inverness and booked a 1:30 PM departure time from Gill's Bay ferry terminal to Orkney. The drive is a little under 3 hours and I don't think we did anything in particular other than realize we left the B&B with their key and frantically search for a post office to send it back.
Shortly after arriving in St. Margaret's Hope you will reach your first stop which is the Italian chapel.
The Italian Chapel is a Catholic chapel on Lamb Holm that was built during WWII by Italian POWs while they were ALSO building the Churchill Barriers - causeways designed to block access to Scapa Flow, a sheltered body of water commonly used by ships. These causeways were later developed into roadway systems connecting Lamb Holm, Glimps Holm, Burray and South Ronaldsay to mainland Orkney.
So, in their spare time, after they were building (by hand) some giant ass causeways, they decided to build a chapel for funsies.
How lazy do you feel right now?
Of the 550 Italian POWs that were brought to Orkney, about 200 were stationed at Camp 60 on Lamb Holm where the chapel was constructed. They used limited materials and most of the interior decorations were done by a single prisoner who remained on the island after his fellow prisoners were released in order to finish decorating the chapel.
After stopping at the Italian Chapel, we went straight to our hotel in Kirkwall. From what I remember there weren't a ton of B&B's on Orkney Island, so we ended up staying at the St. Ola Hotel. It was perfectly located (although how could it not be? Kirkwall is pretty small) and the day we checked in they were smack dab in the middle of some sort of heavy metal festival. The door to check in was literally rattling from the bass and when I peeked into the bar I was both intimidated and intrigued at the amount of leather, body piercings and angry music that was pouring out. Jorge is secretly a metal head so in retrospect I should have acted like this was some well thought out surprise for him but I missed the boat on that.
Kirkwall is the largest town and capital of Orkney and its name comes from the Norse word for Church Bay (Kirkjuvagr). The name is appropriate as two major buildings in Kirkwall are both churches. There is St. Magnus Cathedral at the heart of the town and St Olaf's Episcopal Church which is the modern iteration of the "kirk" that Kirkwall was originally named after.
Kirkwall Town Hall
Part of me wishes that I could tell you we went bar hopping and head banging but the other part of me that takes delight in being old, coupled up and content has no problem with the fact that we spent the evening walking around Mull Head nature preserve, taking in the sunset and getting to meet a couple locals and their doggies. Being boring has some advantages.
Day 2
Day 2 was the bulk of our "sightseeing" as we planned on stopping at most of the tourist sites on our way to our hotel in Stromness.
Orkney is known for neolithic monuments and it's almost surreal how many really well preserved stone circles and neolithic sites there are. Called the Heart of Neolithic Orkney, there are four sites that have been declared UNESCO world heritage sites: Maes Howe (chambered tomb), the Stones of Stenness, the Ring of Brodgar and a neolithic settlement, Skara Brae. Don't throw anything at me, but we actually only ended up stopping at two of these four sites: the Stones of Stenness and Skara Brae. Earlier in the trip we stopped at both Newgrange and Knowth and truthfully when we passed the visitor center for the Ring of Brodgar it was pouring rain and jam packed, so we just did a drive by. In retrospect I don't regret it, but for me trips are less about checking things off on a list and more about really getting to experience each moment...in that moment. At least that is what I am telling myself to help me sleep at night.
Next, we stopped at Skara Brae which is a remarkably well preserved stone built Neolithic settlement which has been compared to Pompeii because of its well maintained structures. Older than both Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids, it is composed of eight dwellings with largely intact interior structures that gives you a great idea for how people between roughly 3180 to 2500 BC lived on the island.
After Skara Brae we drove out to the Yesnaby Cliffs which is an area renowned for its Old Red Sandstone coastal cliff scenery. There is a small car park at the head, with a coastal trail that you can follow.
One of the largest sea stacks is called Yesnaby Castle and many enterprising rock climbers take it upon themselves to climb this, as well as six other sea stacks over the course of 7 days. I am adventurous, but that sounds like a good way to ensure if not my death, then certainly a good amount of misery. If you are so enterprising, then my hat is off to you.
After spending some time hiking along the coastal trail at Yesnaby, we made our way to the Stromness Hotel for the night.
Stromness is a long established sea port and the second most populous town in Orkney.
Look how populous it is:
We found the town to be very quiet but perfect for our purposes, which was an ideal location for our 6 AM ferry to Scrabster the following morning.
We spent the rest of the evening, cozy in our hotel room, drinking beer by the window as we seem to do more often than not.
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