Breakfast beside a 5,000-year-old stone village, lunch under the shadow of a Norse cathedral, spend the afternoon walking across wartime causeways, and finish the day with whisky that once hid under a kirk pulpit. This is what Orkney feels like, a living storybook best cracked open with Orkney day tours.
If you’re wondering what to do on Orkney Islands, the answer is: a bit of everything.
In this guide we’ll uncover the best Orkney Island tourist attractions, from Neolithic marvels like Skara Brae and the Ring of Brodgar, to the Norse heart of Kirkwall, to WWII secrets at Scapa Flow, and the islands’ unrivalled wildlife spectacles. Along the way, we’ll also touch on where to eat, what to drink, and how long you’ll want to stay (spoiler: longer than you think).
Orkney Island Tourist Attractions – Ancient Wonders
If you think Scotland’s history begins with tartan and ends with whisky, Orkney is here to prove you gloriously wrong. These islands were buzzing with human life thousands of years before anyone thought of bagpipes, and the evidence is still standing tall (literally). Here, among windswept fields and lochs, you can step into a time older than the pyramids.
Skara Brae: Neolithic Village Life, Complete with Stone Cupboards
Imagine stumbling upon a Stone Age suburb – complete with living rooms, storage shelves, and even the remains of beds. That’s Skara Brae, a Neolithic village so well preserved it looks like its inhabitants just popped out for groceries 5,000 years ago and never came back. Built long before Stonehenge, it offers a startlingly vivid glimpse into daily prehistoric life: you can still see where families cooked, slept, and argued over who got the warmest seat by the hearth.
Best part? You don’t just read about it on plaques – you wander through the site itself, gazing into houses that predate written history. If time travel existed, this would be the stop the dial keeps getting stuck on.
Explore Skara Brae on our Heritage Tour featuring the Ring of Brodgar & Skara Brae.
Ring of Brodgar & Standing Stones of Stenness: Orkney’s Stone Circle Double Act
Now, let’s talk about rocks. Not just any rocks – towering monoliths arranged in circles by people who clearly had a flair for drama.
- The Ring of Brodgar: A vast ceremonial circle of stones set in a dramatic natural amphitheatre of lochs and hills. Even today, standing inside the ring feels like being let in on a cosmic secret. Archaeologists suspect rituals and ceremonies took place here, but honestly, it could just as well have been the world’s first open-air concert venue.
- The Standing Stones of Stenness: Just down the road, these mighty slabs may be the earliest henge monument in Britain, dating back over 5,000 years. Picture families gathering with ancestral bones, feasts by firelight, and sacred oaths sworn beneath the stars. One nearby stone – the fabled Odin Stone, now lost – even served as Orkney’s version of a wedding registry, where couples pledged their love by clasping hands through its circular hole.
Together, Brodgar and Stenness aren’t just stone circles – they’re the ultimate Neolithic double feature, unique in Northern Europe and practically vibrating with ancient energy.
Maeshowe: Where Neolithic Builders Meet Viking Graffiti Artists
Then there’s Maeshowe, a great grassy mound that hides a Neolithic chambered tomb, built with such precision that the setting sun of the winter solstice still beams directly down its passageway each year. Five millennia later, it’s still showing off.
However, Maeshowe also comes with a twist: in the 12th century, Vikings broke in and, true to form, carved graffiti into the walls. These runic inscriptions are some of the finest outside Scandinavia, recording everything from boasts of treasure-hunting to notes along the lines of “Thorvald was here.” It’s like stepping into a solemn prehistoric temple, only to discover it later moonlighted as a Norse noticeboard.
Why go anywhere else in Scotland when you can walk through 5,000 years in an afternoon? Orkney’s ancient wonders aren’t just ruins. They’re stories in stone, still standing tall enough to whisper across the millennia.
Orkney Island Attractions – Towns & Heritage
Of course, Orkney isn’t all about prehistoric monuments and Vikings who couldn’t resist carving “I was here” into sacred tombs. The islands are also home to thriving towns where history isn’t just in the museums – it’s in the very stones of the buildings and the games people still play in the streets.
Kirkwall: The Cathedral Town That Thinks Big
If Orkney has a capital, it’s Kirkwall, a bustling little town with an outsized sense of history. At its heart looms St. Magnus Cathedral, a 12th-century Norse masterpiece built in honor of a martyred earl. It’s not just impressive by island standards; it’s genuinely jaw-dropping, a great red-sandstone giant that somehow makes you forget you’re standing on an island six miles off the tip of Scotland.
Around it, you’ll find the Bishop’s Palace and Earl’s Palace, both atmospheric ruins that still manage to look like they’re waiting for a Viking earl to come storming back from sea. Kirkwall also offers more modern delights: the Orkney Museum in Tankerness House, where prehistoric artefacts rub shoulders with Viking treasures and Pictish carvings; a famously well-stocked library (the most northerly Carnegie library in the world, if you like collecting trivia); and, naturally, a whisky distillery, because what’s a Scottish town without one?
Wander the narrow streets lined with independent shops and you’ll quickly realise Kirkwall isn’t just a historic showpiece – it’s a living, breathing town where past and present happily share a pint
Stromness: A Harbour Full of Charm
On the west coast lies Stromness, the other main town of Orkney and a complete contrast to Kirkwall’s cathedral-centred bustle. Stromness is all about its waterfront: a picturesque harbour where fishing boats, ferries, and the occasional cruise ship sidle up alongside one another.
The streets here are famously narrow and winding, often feeling more like extended footpaths than modern roads. Along them, you’ll find art galleries, quirky shops, and buildings that look like they’ve grown out of the bedrock itself. Stromness is less about grand monuments and more about soaking in the atmosphere – preferably with a stroll that ends at the harbour watching the tide roll in.
Walking Tours: Finding the Stories Between the Stones
The beauty of Orkney’s towns is that they reward wandering. A casual stroll can lead you past 17th-century townhouses, mysterious carvings, or, if you’re in Kirkwall at Christmas or New Year, straight into the middle of the legendary Ba’ Game. This chaotic, town-wide football match makes rugby look like polite croquet.
For those who prefer a slightly more structured adventure, Walking Tours in Orkney reveal the hidden stories you might otherwise miss: the myths tucked behind narrow lanes, the buildings that witnessed pirate trials, and the little details that turn a pleasant stroll into a time-travelling expedition.
In short: Orkney’s towns may be small, but they pack more character into their cobbled streets and waterfronts than some cities manage in entire districts. Come for the cathedrals and museums; stay for the charm, the whisky, and perhaps even a game of medieval-meets-mayhem street football.
What to Do on Orkney Islands – Nature & Wildlife Experiences
If you’ve ever wanted to feel like you’ve stepped into a David Attenborough documentary but with fewer camera crews and more wind, Orkney is your stage. The islands may lack foxes, badgers, and weasels (don’t worry, you won’t miss them), but this absence has let an extraordinary cast of wildlife flourish – from puffins with comedy routines to seals who sunbathe like they’ve invented the concept.
Birds That Think They Own the Place
- Hen Harriers: One of the UK’s rarest raptors, yet in Orkney they’re practically neighbours, often seen floating elegantly above the moorlands.
- Short-Eared Owls: Known to casually hunt by the roadside, as if auditioning for tourists’ camera rolls.
- Curlews, Lapwings, Oystercatchers & Redshanks: Their calls and displays are the soundtrack of spring, a chorus that’s both beautiful and, occasionally, suspiciously alien-sounding.
- Merlins: Tiny falcons with the ego of an eagle.
- Snipe: Masters of camouflage whose tail-feather “drumming” sounds less like a bird and more like a UFO trying to land.
- Fulmars & Gannets: Seabirds that show off on the cliffs – fulmars effortlessly surfing the wind, gannets dive-bombing the waves at 60mph like feathered torpedoes.
Puffins: The Circus Returns to Town
Locally known as tammie norries, puffins are the clowns of the cliff-tops. With their oversized technicolour beaks and serious expressions, they look like they’ve been drawn by a cartoonist. Each spring, they return from months at sea to nest in burrows around Orkney’s coast, raising a single chick before vanishing again in late summer.
Where to spot them?
- Castle of Burrian, Westray – arguably puffin central, where they crowd the sea stack like it’s a seaside B&B.
- Island of Hoy – puffins plus the drama of Britain’s tallest sea cliffs and maybe even a sea eagle cameo.
- Brough of Birsay – a tidal island with puffins, Viking ruins, and the added thrill of not getting stranded when the tide comes back in.
- Marwick Head – a seabird city where puffins mingle with guillemots, kittiwakes, and fulmars.
Pro tip: No one has ever regretted spending too much time watching puffins.
Seals: The Sunbathers of the North
Orkney is home to tens of thousands of harbour seals and grey seals, and you’re almost guaranteed a sighting – often of a whiskered head popping up offshore to watch you watching them.
Best places for a seal stakeout:
- Noup Head (Westray) – grey seals lounging below seabird cliffs.
- Burwick & Windwick (South Ronaldsay) – dramatic pupping season views, complete with roaring bulls and newborns.
- St. Mary’s (East Mainland) – easy-to-spot harbour seals doing their signature “banana pose” on rocks.
- Stenness Loch – a peaceful scene of seals snoozing across from the Standing Stones. Yes, even the wildlife here has a taste for archaeology.
Other Natural Celebrities
- Otters sneak along the coasts, sometimes obliging with a sighting if you’re patient.
- White-Tailed Eagles soar over Hoy, looking smug with their eight-foot wingspans.
- Orcas & Dolphins occasionally patrol the waters, giving whale-watchers bragging rights for life.
- The Orkney Vole – a species found nowhere else in the world, and quite possibly the archipelago’s most exclusive resident.
- Scottish Primrose – a tiny purple flower found only in northern Scotland. Spot it at Yesnaby or on Papay Westray in spring, if you want true botanical bragging rights.
Why watch wildlife here? Because Orkney isn’t just a scattering of islands – it’s a grandstand overlooking nature’s oldest and weirdest spectacles. From aerial duels between hen harriers to puffins waddling like tipsy waiters, this is where the wild things truly are.
Best enjoyed on foot with our Walking Tours in Orkney, where guides know not just where to find the wildlife, but how to spot the stories hidden in every wingbeat and whisker.
Orkney Island Attractions – War History & Modern Landmarks
Orkney isn’t just about ancient stones and puffins – it also played a starring role in some of the 20th century’s most dramatic naval stories. And the evidence is still all around you, from causeways built in wartime urgency to sea stacks sculpted by nature into improbable shapes.
Scapa Flow: Where Fleets Came to Rest
Imagine a natural harbour so vast it could shelter the entire Royal Navy – that’s Scapa Flow, a huge stretch of sheltered water ringed by islands. During both World Wars, it was Britain’s key naval base. And when peace broke out (or sometimes when it didn’t), entire fleets were scuttled here, leaving behind a seabed dotted with shipwrecks.
Today, divers come from around the world to explore the sunken German fleet of World War I, or the hulks from World War II – making Scapa Flow one of the most extraordinary dive sites on the planet. For non-divers, the stories are just as gripping above water: standing on the shore, you can almost hear the echoes of engines, orders, and history being written.
To explore the human drama behind the waves, join our Orkney War History Tours.
Hoy & the Old Man of Hoy: Rock Star of the Sea
If Scapa Flow tells Orkney’s wartime tale, Hoy is its stage for natural drama. The island is a wild mix of moorland and soaring cliffs, culminating in the Old Man of Hoy, a 137-metre sandstone sea stack that rises straight out of the Atlantic like a giant’s forgotten chess piece.
Climbers tackle it, artists sketch it, and photographers adore it – but even if you just stand on the clifftop, it’s impossible not to be awed. Pair the scenery with Hoy’s wartime relics and seabird colonies, and you’ve got an island that delivers both goosebumps and gannets.
Churchill Barriers: When Defence Became Infrastructure
Linking several of Orkney’s southern islands are the Churchill Barriers, causeways built during World War II to block German U-boats from sneaking into Scapa Flow. Constructed by Italian prisoners of war, they’ve since transformed into handy road links that make it possible to drive between islands once separated by treacherous tides.
Today, they’re part of daily life for locals – a living reminder that even the most urgent wartime improvisations can end up shaping the future.
Why visit these sites? Because nowhere else can you stroll from prehistoric tombs in the morning to wartime defences in the afternoon, with a detour past a sea stack that looks like it should be on the cover of a progressive rock album. Orkney doesn’t just tell one story – it tells all of them.
What to Do on Orkney Islands – Food & Drink
Orkney is not just about what you see – it’s about what you taste. These islands serve up flavours as distinctive as their landscapes: bold whiskies aged in sea winds, seafood that could not be fresher unless you caught it yourself, and cafes and restaurants that turn “local produce” into something worth writing home about (or at least Instagramming before you eat it).
Whisky: History in a Glass
- Highland Park: Founded in 1798 by Magnus Euson, who ran what we might diplomatically call an “unlicensed operation,” hiding casks of contraband beneath a kirk pulpit with the help of a conveniently cooperative church elder. By the 1880s, it was respectable enough to be praised by both the King of Denmark and the Emperor of Russia. Today, its smoky-sweet single malts are still the stuff of legend, and it proudly claims the title of world’s most northerly distillery.
- Scapa Distillery: Just down the road, Scapa produces whiskies that are a gentle counterpoint to Highland Park’s fire. Honeyed, tropical, and made from unpeated barley, Scapa’s malts are like a ray of sunshine in a glass – which in Orkney, is not always guaranteed outdoors.
Together, they are the yin and yang of Orkney whisky: bold and smoky, smooth and golden. Both are best enjoyed after a day of wind-whipped sightseeing.
Dining on the Isles: From Harbour Pubs to Award Winners
If whisky is the liquid soul of Orkney, its food is the body and heart. Everywhere you go, you’ll find restaurants and cafes making the most of island produce – beef and lamb from small local farms, scallops and crab from surrounding waters, and a talent for turning simplicity into excellence.
- The Foveran Restaurant: A five-time winner of Orkney Food and Drink awards, The Foveran pairs fresh seafood and prime local meats with views across Scapa Flow. Think lobster, lamb, and a wine list that makes lingering inevitable.
- Judith Glue & The Real Food Café: Opposite St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, this café-shop hybrid is a local institution. Homemade Orkney produce, a relaxed atmosphere, and the chance to shop for crafts between bites.
- The Storehouse Restaurant: Also in Kirkwall, this B-listed old store turned modern restaurant serves up Orkney ingredients with style, alongside a bar stocked with local gin, whisky, and ales. Luxurious rooms upstairs mean you won’t have far to stagger if you overdo the cocktails.
- Helgi’s: A cosy, over-18s pub overlooking Kirkwall harbour. Home-cooked pub food meets Orcadian ales, cocktails, and a whisky selection chosen with care. Imagine it as your snug harbour hideout after a day braving the wind.
- The Murray Arms Gun Deck Restaurant: In St. Margaret’s Hope, this spot is seafood heaven, with menus changing daily depending on what the boats bring in.
- Saintear (Westray): A small, family-run restaurant where the views are as fresh as the food – lochside dining that feels delightfully off the beaten path.
Why eat and drink in Orkney? Because here, “local produce” isn’t a marketing phrase – it’s a way of life. Every meal is a story: whisky once hidden under pulpits, scallops landed that morning, beef from fields you can actually see. It’s Scotland, yes – but distilled, perfected, and served with island warmth.
Practical Travel Questions About Orkney
What to see on Orkney Islands?
Start with the big names: Neolithic marvels like Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar, and Maeshowe. Add in Norse treasures such as St. Magnus Cathedral, the Churchill Barriers and Scapa Flow from WWII, plus puffins, seals, and windswept cliffs. It’s a time-travel itinerary with wildlife cameos.
Are the Orkney Islands worth visiting?
Absolutely. Where else can you wander a 5,000-year-old village in the morning, sip award-winning whisky in the afternoon, and watch puffins tumble about the cliffs before dinner? Orkney’s unique mix of prehistory, culture, and nature sets it apart from anywhere else in Scotland.
How many days do I need in Orkney?
Two to three days will cover the highlights. Stay four or five – or longer – and you’ll uncover hidden isles, secret tombs, and enough stories to last a lifetime.
Do you need a passport for a ferry to Orkney?
No. Orkney is part of Scotland and the UK, so no passport is required if you’re travelling from the mainland. Just bring your sense of adventure (and maybe a scarf – the wind has no off-switch).
Conclusion: Orkney in a Nutshell (Or Rather, a Seashell)
One moment you’re peering into a 5,000-year-old hearth, the next you’re watching seals nap by Viking ruins or sipping whisky while the North Sea crashes in the background. Few corners of Scotland – or anywhere, really – can pack so much wonder into such a small scatter of islands.
But here’s the trick: Orkney rewards those who linger, and even more so those who explore with someone who knows its secrets. Our Orkney Heritage Sites Tour or Orkney Day Tours will take you beyond the obvious and into the unforgettable.
If you’re wondering what to do on Orkney Islands, the truth is you’ll run out of time before you run out of stories.