Orkney

In my opinion, no. There are public buses but from my point of view they are for the locals to come and go and are not necessarily convenient for tourists. I know there is one person on the forum who will disagree with me. I stayed in Kirkwall as well as out on Burray. The bus from Burry came in to Kirkwall hourly so for a short visit that does not seem frequent enough. Do you have the ability to rent a car? The main roads are straight and wide for UK although there are single track roads off of it to some of the main sites.

I've visited Orkney twice, for 8 nights in August 2023 and for 12 nights in June/July 2025. For both visits I was doing a Seymour Travels tour. The 2nd time I did 4 nights in Kirkwall ahead of the tour on my own plus another night in the tour hotel on Burray before the tour started..

I booked an all day birding tour with Raymond Besant who is an award winning cinematographer. We had a terrible weather day so didn't see as many birds as he wanted us to but I had a great time with him. Have you seen the Saoirse Ronan film The Outrun which was filmed on Orkney? Raymond did the underwater cinematography for that film.

https://www.facebook.com/raymondbesant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outrun_(film)

If I were going to visit on my own I would probably try to book at least one all day tour with Orkney Uncovered to see the main Neolithic sites.

I also recommend you start following some of the Orkney related FB sites. BTW, the Orkney Library FB page is hilarious.

Here is a link to my last Trip Report if there is anything in there that might help you plan. I particular love the Neolithic sites but I know that is not everyone's cup of tea.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-seymour-travels-orkney-and-shetland-plus-edinburgh

Orkney is one of the most amazing places I've ever been. It truly has been one of my favorite places on the planet to visit!

Thank you so much for the information. Yes, I’m so excited to see the Neolithic sites.

I've used the bus system on Orkney on several visits, including one trip in mid winter. Based on the island of Hoy also Kirkwall and Stromness.

On the mainland there are three routes which are really tourist routes, first and foremost (with a secondary locals function).
On the out isles the routes run as fixed routes in the summer when tourists are around, but demand responsive in the winter when no tourists are there.

I've been to every airstrip and every inter island port in the Orkney archipelago on public transport, and not had problems.

Thanks Pam, all good to know.

“due to safety hazards from too many well informed tourists using the route.”

I, and the group I was with, were actually watching a couple of tourists who were waiting for a bus near the Stones of Stenness. They were having to stand on the paved road, NO verge, no pull out area at the bus stop. It was a cruise ship day so there were a number of cruise ship buses lumbering by. The road at that point is narrow. The tourists having to stand in the road was causing a safety hazard.

It is correct I did not use the buses. A person from the tour group did get to the tour hotel early and use the bus to get into Kirkwall. She waited 20 minutes at the bus stop on Burray (which is under a cover inbound to town). It took almost an hour to get to the bus interchange station in Kirkwall which was less than 20 minutes by car. Looking at Google maps today it shows a 28 minute bus ride but that was not her experience in either direction in July.

I do have an American car-centric view of transit options. I’ve never lived where there is actual public transit. I certainly have used the Metro daily over my recent 3 weeks in Paris. It’s convenient, rarely waiting more than 5 minutes for a train and gets me where I want to go efficiently. On Orkney, my vacation time is more valuable than trying to make a transit system work. I also have the budget for tours or car rental in this unbelievably awesome place.

We're headed to Orkney for five nights in May, and try as I did, I could not arrange the trip by public transit without sacrificing things on my bucket list. For Example, the bus to Deerness/Mull Head runs only occasionally, so visiting takes the entire day, and eliminates getting to Stromness before everything is closed. I ended up renting a car for the last two nights so we could see Mull, the Fossil Museum, Stromness Museum, and get to Kirkwall for the Strathspey & Reel Society's weekly shindig. The second day can explore most of Hoy, again via car, which is possilbe, but difficult, by bus. For the car-less days in the North Isles, we're doing van tours to avoid long hikes, which is the first time we've ever done something besides a roll-your-own tour by car.

On an earlier trip, we flew in, and the the taxi stand was empty, no pages would answer, and we had to wait an hour for the next bus since it was after closing for the car hire. My view is that standing still while on vacation is tantamount to tearing up $20 bills. The next morning, we rented a car and visited Maeshow, Stennis, Brodgar before lunch back in Kirkwall then Marwick Head, Scara Brae, Birsay, and Earl's Palace before dinner in Kirkwall. You could never accomplish that in one day via bus while it was easy by car. If you don't rent a car, join a tour. Birsay access is tidal, so a tour may not sync, while you can with a car. The western mainland is very compact, so you can juggle the order of visits with little time penalty. A tour is also subject to what the other passengers want to see.

You can easily get to Rousay and see the three Neolithic sites (Traversoe Tuick, Blackhammer, and the Knowe of Yarso) on foot in just a half-day. That doesn't require a car, although we drove to Tingwall which saved some time.

Our travel style is not for everyone.

@Jjgurley - I got to the Fossil Museum this last visit. It was pretty good, also has some WWII/Churchill Barrier displays as well as some local history upstairs so slightly more eclectic than fossils only, loll. IF it works for you, try to have lunch at their cafe as it was very good! I see they are staying open this winter while the Museum is closed so they must have attracted a local following.

The other food option on Burray is the Sands Hotel which is excellent.

I walked from the Sands over to the Fossil Museum.

The Tomb of the Eagles was to reopen in September but I didn’t follow to see if it did or not. It’s down on the end of South Ronaldsay. There are also some WWII fortifications down on the west side of that island which are interesting.

For arrival at the airport this last trip I pre-booked a taxi which worked well. The first time I went I found an empty taxi stand and a long bus wait. A pre-booked taxi came to get another party and he called his dispatch to send a cab for me. He told me it would be 10 minutes and it was that exactly.

Editing to add: I used Craigies Taxi to pre-book. I emailed a few weeks out and had excellent service. I actually booked 2 rides - one from the airport into Kirkwall and then a few days later from Kirkwall out to Burray.

https://www.craigiestaxis.co.uk/

Pam and jjgurley, thank you both for your first had experiences. We are toying with another Scotland trip in the spring to visit family and some areas like Orkney that we've never been to, so this is helpful.

I'm a big proponent of public transportation and use it wherever and whenever it works with my plans. But, I agree with you both. With limited time to explore and enjoy the area, we don't often have the luxury of waiting for a delayed bus, especially if the weather is not cooperating. And I certainly don't like the idea of standing on the roadside with tour buses and cars driven by those unfamiliar with the roads whizzing by.

Pam, thanks for the recommendation of Orkney Uncovered.

And I totally agree with you. The value of this forum is the wealth and diversity of knowledge the posters bring. There is never a reason to disparage the information another poster provides.

How much time do you have on your trip? And how many places do you want to try and reach?

I'm also in the camp of those who feel a destination like Orkney (and many other places) are best done in your own (hired/rented) car. Crucify me if you like.

Of course, some sort of public transportation is almost always available even in many far-flung, thinly-populated places. So it's usually true that one can get around (to some degree) via public transport - if you are dedicated and patient. But in most of those places, a lot comes down to the simple issue of time efficiency: if you have lots of time, you can often get to a lot of places, even remote places, by whatever public transit the locals use. But it often (usually) requires a LOT more time to do so. And there are some remote spots that just are impossible to reach (without heroic effort) without a car.

Driving offers many benefits that are usually pretty obvious. You come and go when you please. You are not dependent on any transportation schedule. You can change your plans, improvise, stop any time you please if you see something you didn't know about (often leading to some of the best experiences) or skip things that look disappointing. If the weather is challenging, you are out of the weather when you're in the car. Lots of things are easier: grocery shopping, ad hoc snacks or picnics, dealing with cameras/technology or gear. Carrying stuff to cover contingencies. Etc, etc.

Yep, driving has its downsides. It's expensive, environmentally harmful, parking can be a headache. Not everyone can drive, and plenty of people just hate driving. You can make a long list.

As a veteran world traveler, I mix it up, depending on the destination and other particulars. There are plenty of places where I won't set foot in a car, because it's needless, even detrimental to my enjoyment of the place. Hopping around cities on the European mainland? Forget the car. There are also lots of places where I wouldn't dream of going without having a car to use, at least some of the time. Orkney? I loved the place, too. For me, a car is (was) a requirement. For a long list of reasons, but the overriding reason is that with limited time, I needed (OK, wanted) to be able to get around quickly and efficiently. Without a car, I would have had to cut down on my plans, or stay much, much longer (or both).

Public transport is fine and often works beautifully. In other places one can make it work with some effort, but you have to accept compromises, sometimes hard limitations. Like it or not, in thinly-populated, far-flung places, a car just lets you squeeze a lot more into a short visit. Orkney is exactly the kind of place where a car is extremely helpful, at least to me, and especially so on a short trip. "Three days" in Orkney? Do you even have three full days on the ground, not counting arrival/departure days? Even if you have three days, that's a short time on this fascinating and sprawling archipelago. If you live not far away, if you can manage to visit regularly (if you decide you like it), then maybe public transport is a good choice for you. But if you can't easily get to Orkney and/or don't expect to be back much, then it seems to me that it makes sense to try and maximize the benefit of your very short time there.

For me, that means hiring a car. Others will make different choices and that's fine.

FWIW, I am heading to Orkenys late April, and though I am like you and prefer public transit (in fact I no longer own a car at home), this may be the one time I rent a car for part of the stay. Some of the historical sites are not as accessible by public transit, and as a birder, I may want to hit a few more locations than can be seen by bus.
As I have little experience driving on the opposite side, I figure easier to get the hang of it in Orkneys than a busier mainland city. Just watch YouTube on how to use pull over lanes for one track roads,