The Orkneys in winter sunshine

Holiday Ratings
Recommended days	3
Budget	£
Difficulty	Easy

The Orkney Islands in February may not be everybody’s idea of a sensible trip but we were amazingly lucky with the weather. The Orkneys in winter sunshine turned out to be one of our most memorable trips. The light is just gorgeous and makes for some spectacular sunsets and probably sunrises too if you’re up in time!

We flew to Inverness and hired a car from Europcar to drive up to the islands. I’d booked a Corsa but asked about upgrades and we managed to get a mini convertible for an extra £20. Other than the ridiculous luggage space this was great fun in the very cold sunshine!

We drove up the A9 coast road and spent a night in Thurso before getting the ferry across to Scrabster. It was a gorgeous evening drive as the sky changed to a deep purple colour.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Broch of Gurness

After a very pleasant crossing we drove to Finnstown. This is a gorgeous place and I have never seen the water here anything other than mirror smooth. We then continued on to our first stop, the Broch at Gurness. Like the brochs of the Hebrides, this is an iron age structure and would have dominated the area at the time. It now has a decent car park and is in a spectacular setting.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Skara Brae

Our final stop of the day was at one of the most famous tourist sites on the islands, Skara Brae. This is a neolithic settlement, possibly pre-dating the pyramids, that is slowly being eroded by the sea. We (or at least I do) think of that period in the UK as being one of savages in wooden huts but these buildings display a remarkable amount of comfort.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We spent the night in Kirkwall which is a lovely (if small) town to walk around and there are plenty of remnants of the Norse heritage of the island. The town also has some very welcome restaurants as the islands are not exactly over developed for tourism in February so we were pretty hungry!

Kirkwall

The next morning we visited St Magnus Cathedral which has some lovely stone carvings but sadly a lot of it is very eroded by the winds. The two tone sandstone used in the construction makes for a striking appearance. A couple of minutes walk from the cathedral are the remains of the Earls Palace. These are quite extensive but as we were there early in the morning we couldn’t actually get in to the site.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Ring of Brodgar

The Ring of Brodgar and Stenness standing stones are very close to each other and a short drive from Kirkwall. Both are neolithic creations whose purpose is unknown but may be connected with nearby Maes Howe. They are located on the edge of a loch so it is an impressive site and they had just started excavating a huge complex or ceremonial buildings at Stenness when we were there.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The drive back to the ferry was nice enough and it was lovely watching the scenery from the upper deck. It was a great drive down to Inverness and the wind farm we passed looked spectacular after sunset. The Orkneys are one of my favourite places to visit and there is a lot to see there if you’re into ancient history and don’t like trees and the winter sunshine made this trip memorable!

• 

• 

• 

2013