Orkney Islands 6-day tour: wildlife, Vikings and ancient wonders

Highlights:

Staying all 5 nights in Kirkwall, so easy to explore on your own in between group excursions,

Max 10 in group

Short daytime ferries to Orkney from mainland Scotland

All transport, accommodation, entry fees, breakfasts and four of five evening dinners are included, plus the company of our specialist Orkney guides.

Set just off Scotland’s far north coast, the Orkney Islands are a place of salt-bright seas, wide skies and ancient stone walls rising from windswept grassland. Seabirds wheel above sea cliffs, seals haul out on quiet shores, and small islands drift on the horizon like stories waiting to be heard.

Arrive after stress-free travel from Inverness to Orkney, as a group, completely organised and planned by GeoCultura.

Most people come first for the renowned Neolithic wonders – and rightly so – but Orkney’s magic lies in how naturally its wildlife, scenery and human history are woven together. This six-day guided small-group Orkney Islands tour is designed to reveal the islands in that fuller, richer way. 

You’ll explore the UNESCO-listed Heart of Neolithic Orkney, including Skara Brae, the remarkably preserved village revealed by a storm; the great stone circle of the Ring of Brodgar; the Standing Stones of Stenness; and Maeshowe, the chambered cairn whose walls were later graffitied by Vikings to whom this monument must have already seemed almost impossibly ancient.  

From there, your tour moves forward through time. You’ll glimpse the Iron Age at the Broch of Gurness. Orkney’s Viking past still runs strongly through the islands’ identity, stories and sense of place. You’ll feel it in St Magnus Cathedral – built in honour of a Norse earl murdered on his cousin’s orders with an axe to the head. In Stromness Museum, you’ll learn about the archipelago’s fascinating links to whaling and Arctic exploration, while wartime history lingers in the poignant landscapes of Scapa Flow and the Italian Chapel, built by prisoners of war. 

Orkney’s wildlife forms a vital part of your experience, too. In July, Orkney’s sea cliffs – some of Britain’s highest – and coasts are alive with puffins, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars and kittiwakes, while waders call across the fields and seals bask with their pups. The July tour group will enjoy a whole day trip to the island of Westray – the best place to see puffins close-up. 

By late August and September, migrant birds arrive, geese return, grey seal pupping begins, and birds of prey such as hen harriers and short-eared owls are often seen. The day trip to the island of Shapinsay has been chosen by our local wildlife expert for some of the best citings. 

From spring through to autumn, you may also spot otters, harbour porpoises, Risso’s dolphins or even orcas. Like our Scilly and Shetland tours, this Orkney wildlife tour is shaped by close collaboration with local specialists and organisations, helping you experience the islands with more depth, sensitivity and authenticity. Your experienced local guide will take you to the best places to meet the Orcadian wildlife. 

There is also time to enjoy Orkney as it is lived now: to stay in Kirkwall (Orkney’s lively island capital), soak up the local atmosphere, join an optional visit to Highland Park Distillery, and we’ll hope to offer an opportunity to hear traditional live music one evening. Accommodation is pre-booked throughout, and tickets to Maeshowe are included, allowing you to relax and focus fully on the experience.

Well-paced and full of Orcadian flavour, this is not a whistle-stop survey of famous sites, but a more rounded, more revealing experience of Orkney in all its wild and storied glory. 

Itinerary

Day 1: Welcome to Orkney

Day 2: UNESCO heart of Neolithic Orkney: Skara Brae, Standing stones of Stenness and Maeshowe

Day 3: Trip to Island of Westray for puffins, puffins and more puffins (July tour only)

Day 3: Stroll around island of Shapinsay with wildlife guide (August and September tours)

Day 4: Stromness Museum, Piers Art Centre and historic harbour

Day 5: Wartime History - Scapa Flow, the Italian Chapel, and the Churchill Barriers

Day 6: Return home

Extra activities: Please see full itinerary on tour page.