Orkney Island advice

Hi Dan,

I've been to Orkney a couple of times. (Orkney is a a group of islands. There isn't an "Orkney Island. If you're going to Orkney, you're going to likely land on the Mainland in Stromness by ferry or near Kirkwall by plane. Alternatively you could take a ferry to South Ronaldsay.). I have family there but we've not focused on the WWII sites other than the Italian Chapel and driving over the Churchill Barriers several times. Have you seen this page on Orkney? You should explore it. There is a section on This site is about older history than WWII. It's very interesting site to explore nevertheless.

Another thought would be to look into tours. I know that you'll have a car which is great for Mainland and getting to South Ronaldsay, but you would have to do ferries to other sites. That may be totally reasonable, but maybe not. I found this review on TripAdvisor which you might want to look at. Here's an interesting article from the Orkney Times. The Scapa Flow Museum BTW is on Hoy. Depending what else you want to see on Hoy might determine if you went over with your car or not on the Ferry. You might, for example, want to also visit the Lifeboat Museum at Longhope. It's a short hop in a car, but a bit of a hike. Also on Hoy you can visit the Hackness Martello tower and battery. It's from Napoleonic times though and not WW II. You can look into tour companies on the first Orkney Page, but check out this! :)

In terms of where to stay, I don't have any strong recommendations. We just stayed in a B&B in Kirkwall most recently, and stayed with family in Stromness when I first went. I would stay in Kirkwall or Stromness as I like to walk out to dinner and enjoy a whisky or pint and don't like risking driving home afterwards and as a solo traveler I don't have a designated driver! BTW if you do like whisky there are two local single malts that you should try Scapa and Highland Park. The latter is widely available in the US and a family favorite. I liked Scapa too though! We were sorry we missed out on a tour of Highland Park due to a time crunch. The islands are also known for their crafts so if you have presents to buy check them out.

The VisitScotland page includes and accommodations search. You could use that as a starting point and then come back to this site for comments. They also do a good job of explaining the different options.

Pam

There is a wonderful Facebook group Orkney Past &Present (note the oddball spacing). Unless I'm mistaken, anyone can join if they fill out the page to ask to join, express interest in Orkney, and agree to the group rules. If that doesn't work and you wish to join, send me a PM here and I'll "invite" you to the group.

There is another group called Orkney from the Roadside which hasn't been as active lately, but has beautiful pictures of Orkney. And if you like dogs as well as Orkney there is this wonderful group, Rosie, Glen and Shredder of Orkney.

Ah! Rosie, Glen, and Shredder are on the Orkney Past &Present Facebook page as well! Their owner, Michael Baikie, seems to spend his days driving around Orkney finding lovely locations in which to pose this handsome trio!

He does, doesn't he? And his name is so very Orcadian. We have Baikie,s in our Family Tree along with Taits and Sutherlands. While there are Sutherlands in many places outside of Orkney you mostly find Baikis and Taits in places of Scottish immigration. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and key places in the US--North Carolina, upstate NY.

Thanks, Pam & epltd!

Late to the party as always. Orkney packs in a lot of history into a small area. Mainland Orkney, including the barrier islands is less than an hour across at its longest from Skara Brae to South Ronaldsay. Beyond the WWII sites you will want to look at the neolithic sites like the Tomb of the Eagles, Ring of Brodgar, and Skara Brae, and medieval sites like Kirkwall.

I can't recommend accomodation as the excellent place I last stayed has since been sold.

I'd work on accommodations sooner rather than later. I knew I wouldn't have time to go all the way to Orkney during my 2019 trip to Scotland, so I didn't research that area, but I had a lot of difficulty finding reasonably-priced lodgings on the west coast and on Mull and Skye. You'll have more flexibility with a car, but I'd still want to nail something down ASAP.

After I set my dates of travel, I immediately secured reservations for accommodations in Kirkwall. Good advice!