Where to Stay in Orkney Islands & Speyside?

Julie -

I've only been to Orkney once, so I don't have perhaps the breadth of knowledge that Pamela does, but when I stayed there (May of '09) I stayed with Magnus and Maureen Dennison in Miller's House (http://www.millershouseorkney.com/). If you peruse the site, please note that I was in Miller's House proper when I stayed and not the Harbourside Guesthouse.

Accomodations were comfortable, the breakfast good and the Dennisons are hospitable folks. The guesthouse is easy to get to (especially if you arrive via the Scrabster-Stromness ferry). Parking can be tougher, but I chose to use the pay and display lot straight out from the guesthouse and that wasn't too expensive or difficult.

A couple I met during the trip stayed in the Stromness Hotel and found it to be pretty nice as well (I can only vouch for the curry their kitchen serves up - recommended to me by the bartender).

Also, I can recommend the Highland Park tour. I was almost by myself when I went and it was great - our guide was knowledgable and friendly. (Plus nothing beats the aroma of a peat fire)

Hope that helps a bit.

Happy travels!

Eric

Julie, when I've been to Orkney I've stayed in Stromess and Kirkwall. I liked them them as we had more variety for places to eat than St. Margaret's Hope. (Although St. Margaret's Hope is very nice. None of the towns/villages in Orkney are very big. One advantage to staying it town is that you can probably hear some music. We walked down to St. Magnus one evening to find the local pipe band playing. And most of the spectators were locals. It's all walkable which is nice too. We stayed at a B&B in Kirkwall and I'm sorry I can't recall the name. In Stromess we were with relatives. We were up the hill which is what I would recommend.

Pam

Julie, I have only been to the mainland of Orkney, so I can't compare it to any of the other islands. However, based on my research, I would say that for a first trip to the Orkneys you should definitely stay on the mainland -- there are so many spectacular sites there. Also, if you want to go to any of the other islands, it is going to take additional ferry rides, which take time away from sightseeing. We spent four nights on the mainland staying two nights at Millers House in Stromness and two nights at Avalon House in Kirkwall. They are both small towns, especially Stromness, which we liked because you can walk to restaurants and shops.

Stromness was my favorite. It's a really old picturesque small town with extremely narrow streets. It's where the ferry comes in, so if your ferry arrives in the evening like ours did, it's very convenient. Miller's House is great -- nothing fancy, but a lot of space and excellent breakfasts. We loved it.

Kirkwall is not as picturesque as Stromness and it's a bit larger, but there are more restaurants and more to do there. Avalon House is a fantastic place to stay. It's about a 20 minute walk from town, so it's better if you have a car (easy free parking). We walked it, except when it was raining. It's a newly built house, which I didn't think I'd like, but the owners are just the greatest and they built it to be a B&B so everything is perfect. It was kind of nice to have a king size bed and modern bathroom for a change.

I didn't really want to stay two different places, but we had trouble getting a reservation for one place for all four nights. We ended up being happy with both choices and enjoyed getting to stay in both towns.

Aviemore makes a good base for Speyside distilleries. We like to stay at the Caringorm Hotel. It is a small hotel that looks like a miniture castle on the outside and a Scottish hunting lodge inside. The resturant there is wonderful. The Tourist Info office in Aviemore can help you with directions to the many wonderful distilleries. Many can be reached easily by bus or train and there are "whisky taxis" that will take you on a tour of several so you don't have to worry about driving after sampling. (the UK laws on that are VERY strict) I, too, am partial to the Speyside whiskys. Dalwhinnie and Bevlinnie are my favorties.

Thanks for everyone's recommendations! We can't wait to see Orkney. We decided on Kirkwall after reading through the comments; the Avalon House was booked, so we are going to try the Lynnfield Hotel. I'll post a review when we get back. We also are going to swing through the Speyside and will follow up on those recommendations. I appreciate the advice... now on to booking tours. :)