Things to Do in Orkney
Prices, opening hours, best times to visit and the stuff nobody tells you, everything you need for a first trip to Orkney, Scotland, plus one pigeon's opinions on all of it.
People were building stone villages on Orkney before the Egyptians built the pyramids, and an entire German naval fleet chose to sink itself in one of its harbours rather than hand the ships over. This is the proper guide to things to do in Orkney, what things actually cost, when to go, and which bits are worth the ferry. Four main stops below, plus a quiz at the bottom to see if you were paying attention.
Skara Brae
I asked in the quiz which famous monuments Skara Brae predates, and this remarkably preserved Neolithic settlement is genuinely older than the Great Pyramid of Giza, by roughly six centuries, uncovered by a storm in 1850 after lying buried in sand for millennia exactly as the quiz hint described. It's the most important Stone Age village in northern Europe, stone-built homes complete with hearths, dressers and box beds still visible almost exactly as they were left, a genuinely rare, intact glimpse into daily Neolithic life.
It's part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney UNESCO World Heritage Site, alongside the Ring of Brodgar, the Stones of Stenness and Maeshowe, and booking online in advance is worth doing, especially in summer when walk-up entry isn't guaranteed.
Hours Open year-round, limited hours in winter
Official site historicenvironment.scot/skara-brae
Scapa Flow
The answer to the second quiz question: Scapa Flow, Orkney's sheltered natural harbour and a major British naval base through both World Wars, is best known as the site where the interned German High Seas Fleet scuttled itself in 1919, German sailors deliberately sinking their own warships rather than hand them over exactly as the quiz hint described. On 21 June 1919, 52 of the 74 interned ships sank within hours, the greatest single-day loss of shipping tonnage in history, and several wrecks remain on the seabed today, making Scapa Flow one of the world's premier wreck-diving destinations.
You don't need to dive to appreciate the history, the Scapa Flow Museum at Lyness, on the island of Hoy, tells the full story through salvaged artefacts and exhibits, and the Churchill Barriers, built by Italian prisoners of war after a German U-boat penetrated the harbour's defences in 1939, are a striking, freely accessible reminder of just how strategically important this stretch of water once was.
Getting there Lyness, on Hoy, reachable by ferry from Houton
The Ring of Brodgar
I asked in the quiz what this Neolithic stone circle on Orkney's mainland is called, and it's the Ring of Brodgar, part of the same UNESCO World Heritage Site as Skara Brae, predating Stonehenge and originally holding around 60 standing stones exactly as the quiz hint described. Built between 2500 and 2000 BC, 27 of the original stones survive today, some standing up to 4.7 metres tall, arranged in a genuinely enormous ceremonial circle and henge that remains one of the most spectacular prehistoric monuments in the British Isles.
It's free to visit and open year-round, with the nearby Stones of Stenness, an older and taller circle, and Maeshowe, a chambered tomb whose entrance famously aligns with the setting sun at the winter solstice, both worth combining into the same day if prehistoric Orkney is the draw.
Hours Open year-round; some inner path sections may close periodically for grass regeneration
St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall
Founded in 1137 and known locally as the Light of the North, St Magnus Cathedral dominates Orkney's capital, Kirkwall, built from local red and yellow sandstone that gives it a genuinely distinctive colour compared to most British cathedrals. It's free to enter, and the town around it, with the Earl's Palace and Bishop's Palace both nearby, makes a good, walkable base for exploring the rest of the mainland's Neolithic sites and Scapa Flow's wartime history.
Address Broad Street, Kirkwall KW15 1DH
Best time to visit Orkney
May to September gives the most reliable weather for the Neolithic sites and the Churchill Barriers, and it's when Skara Brae and Maeshowe keep their fullest hours. Orkney's weather can turn quickly regardless of season, so proper layers are worth packing whatever month you visit, and winter's shorter daylight hours genuinely limit how much you can fit into a single day.
Getting around Orkney
A car is by far the easiest way to see Orkney's mainland properly, Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar and Kirkwall are all a reasonable drive apart rather than walking distance from each other. Ferries connect the mainland to outer islands including Hoy, for Scapa Flow's wartime sites, and Orkney is reachable from the Scottish mainland by ferry from Scrabster or Aberdeen, or by air into Kirkwall.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Orkney worth visiting?
- Yes, particularly for the concentration of world-class prehistoric sites, Skara Brae genuinely predates the pyramids, and the dramatic 20th-century naval history at Scapa Flow, both in one relatively compact set of islands.
- How many days do you need in Orkney?
- Two to three days covers Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar and Kirkwall comfortably. Add a day for Scapa Flow and Hoy if wartime history is part of the draw.
- Is Orkney expensive?
- Moderate. Skara Brae is the main paid site; the Ring of Brodgar, the Churchill Barriers and St Magnus Cathedral are all free, keeping the core of a visit genuinely affordable.
- What is Orkney famous for?
- Skara Brae, a Neolithic village older than the Great Pyramid of Giza; Scapa Flow, where the German High Seas Fleet scuttled itself in 1919; and the Ring of Brodgar, a Neolithic stone circle predating Stonehenge.
That's everything I've got.
A note before you plan around this: prices, opening hours, booking requirements and admission details in this guide were correct at the time of writing, but venues change these often and sometimes without notice. Always check directly with the attraction or its official website before you travel or build a schedule around a specific time or price.
Before travelling to any destination featured on this site, please also check your government's latest travel advice, as safety situations, entry requirements and travel warnings can change.
