Orkney Highlights

Orkney compresses eight millennia of human story into a landscape of sea, sky, and stone. On this private highlights tour you’ll cross Mainland Orkney in comfort, linking the places that define the islands’ character — prehistory in the round, Norse heritage in red sandstone, and the wartime imprint of Scapa Flow.

At the UNESCO Heart of Neolithic Orkney, the great circles of the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar rise from moorland between two lochs. Nearby, Skara Brae reveals everyday life more than 5,000 years ago, its stone beds and hearths preserved by sand until a winter storm brought them back to light. A short walk away, the Barnhouse settlement adds quiet detail to the wider ceremonial landscape. Together these places sketch a world both sophisticated and mysterious.

The story moves forward in Kirkwall’s St Magnus Cathedral, founded by Norse earls in the 12th century, where red sandstone pillars hold centuries of island memory. On the southern edge of Mainland, the causeways of the Churchill Barriers stride across the entrances to Scapa Flow, reminders of Orkney’s pivotal role in two world wars. Not far away, the Italian Chapel — transformed from a Nissen hut by Italian POWs — offers a gentler counterpoint in paint and devotion. (These are the typical stops for this route.)

Because the tour is private, the pace is yours: time to linger among the stones, pause for photographs, or follow a question a little further. The itinerary typically runs around five hours and can be shaped to meet ferry or cruise timings, keeping logistics simple for day-trippers and longer-stay visitors alike.

This is Orkney in one sweep — archaeology, architecture, coastline, and the threads that bind them — guided by someone who knows how to read the islands.