If you’re anything like me you will have been practically BUZZING to get to the Orkney Islands. An archipelago off the northeast coast of Scotland, this incredible collection of islands is home to neolithic sites, seal colonies, spectacular sea cliffs and quite frankly, some of the easiest roads i’ve ever driven in Scotland!

We were lucky enough to take out Ivy, the Staycation Orkney camper van to experience the islands how they should be - out in the wild! Because of the incredible quality of roads and Scotlands freedom to roam, it makes for the perfect place to travel and honestly, I think one of the best places for a first time camper-vanner!

After driving the roads in Skye (which can be terrifying to say the least) i was always a bit unsure about hitting the road in Orkney and put it off for years, but I can honestly say it was one of the most straightforward trips i’ve been on in Scotland. So if i’ve not convinced you to visit Orkney yet, perhaps my 3 day itinerary will!

To get to Orkney you’ve got the option of taking the ferry over from Thurso or flying. I think taking the ferry is more straight forward and a beautiful journey indeed! So we boarded the ferry in the late afternoon with our car (it costs around £200 return with Northlink Ferries for 2 x passengers and a standard sized car) and enjoyed the videos of the Old Man of Hoy as we travelled into Scrabster.

We parked the car in a nearby free carpark (another fantastic thing about Orkney, cheap and/or free parking!) and picked up our camper from the lovely Natasha who runs Staycation Orkney. Natasha took us through the ins and outs of the van and graciously gifted us a charcuterie box which was so welcome after a long day getting up to this magical spot.
We hit the road immediately and only a 20 minute drive north had us parked up to watch the sunset at the Brough of Birsay carpark - entirely to ourselves i might add!
As the tide was ebbing and flowing we saw the causeway that leads over to the Brough of Birsay, appear under the moonlight which felt nothing short of magical. We had every intention to cross over to see the wee island but kept missing the timing with the tide - next time! Regardless, we cracked out the camp chairs, opened a tennants and watched the last light pass across the water.

The beauty of Orkney (apart from, you know, the insane landscape) is how easily accessed everything is on the mainland. We decided to spend our first full day exploring everything the mainland had to offer before heading over to check out any other isles.
At the time of us visiting we were in the last week of off season, so a few restaurants were closed and inter island ferry services were a little harder to arrange - something to keep in mind when you visit Orkney! But that didn’t stop us from soaking up ALL the magic that the mainland had to offer us.

The weather was kind as we began our neolithic pilgrimage across the island. If you don’t know this about me already, i am a HUGE fan of standing stones, neolithic sites, ruins, heritage and how people used to live, i am soo fascinated by it which is why Orkney appealed to me so much!

But before our very first site, we of course had to check out a local honesty box which has been one of the best stocked honesty boxes i’ve come across on our travels. An honesty box is a wee box outside someones property where locals can stock eggs, baked goods, sweet treats, honey, handmade goods - anything really! There’s a little container left for you to pay for your items (hence, honesty) and some even boast a wee card tap machine. So we grabbed ourselves a treat, paid our fee and began exploring the Earl of Birsays Palace. Once the residence of Robert Steward (the half brother of Mary Queen of Scots), who later became the Earl of Orkney in the 1500’s, this ruin is still in remarkable condition and gives an incredible insight into how the palace would be operated on a daily basis. Absolutely worth checking out (also…there are very well maintained public toilets nearby)

Another easy 15-20 minute drive away lead us to the Unstan Chambered Cairn, a tight squeeze and not reccomended if you’re a bit claustrophobic, this was a place where Orkneys earliest farmers venerated their ancestors in this sacred site. For many years this was a sacred place for the living and the dead and human bones have been found amongst the chamber thats divided into stalls by vertical slabs.
This space was so peaceful and calming and such an incredible site to see on our first official neolithic site in Orkney.

A hop and skip down the road took us to the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar. 8 out of 12 stones at the Stenness site have fallen down, including the Odin Stone which was pushed over by a man named Captain W. Mackay who leased the land. The stones were still a large part of Orcadian tradition in the 1800’s and would receive regular visitors at the ancient site. Mackay was fed up with people ruining his land, so he decided to start pulling them down.
Native Orcadians were so infuriated with these actions, that many attempts were made at burning his house down (fair call if you ask me!)

Regardless of there only being 4 standing stones left, the site is no less magical than what it would have been all those years ago. Whenever i’m around standing stones and ancient sites I always feel this deep calm and peace as it transports me back in time and helps me think what life would have been like 5,000 years ago.

Just down the road is the Ring of Brodgar Stone Circle and Henge. 36 of 60 stones survive to this day and were once quoted by Scottish geologist Hugh Miller as to “look like an assemblage of anceint druids, mysteriously stern and invincibly silent and shaggy”
This incredible site also built 5,000 years ago is one of the oldest stone monuments in the British Isles and again gives us great insight into the traditions and daily going ons of Orcadian natives at the time.

After enjoying all that these sites had to offer, the time began to run away from us! So we threw together a quick lunch in the van and made our way to the Seacliffs of Yesnaby. The parking is plentiful and the views are breathtaking, these sheer sea cliffs are the perfect spot to watch wildlife and see the sun set over the water. We spent the rest of the afternoon photographing the cliffs as the sun began to set and just took a moment to really connect with nature and enjoy the spectacular sites around us.

We had the option to park up here for the night, but decided to return back to the Borugh of Birsay carpark, one of our new favorite park up spots in Scotland! A tennants was once again shared over a meal cooked in the van and we were happy to set up our bed with the tent popped for the first time in a long time! The weather is starting to warm in Scotland and it’s a blessing to hear the waves crash beside us as we drifted off to sleep.

We woke up bright and early with the sun shining down on us as we made our way through to the Isle of Hoy. Raising dramatically out of the sea, Hoy lives up to “high island”, the name it was given by the vikings. It’s the second largest island in Orkney and has a population of over 400 people. A quieter island than the mainland of course, but it boasts incredible hikes, views and community too.

We caught the internal ferry over which took no longer than 30 minutes (we only had to arrive for the ferry 5 minutes before it left, wild) and landed on the quiet island to do a little lay of the land drive. Top to bottom it takes approx 40 minutes to see the main road through the Island which makes it very easy to navigate.
We popped down to Beneth’ill Cafe for a lobster roll and milkshake (don’t judge my lunch choices) and loaded up on water before deciding the weather was nice enough to give the Old Man of Hoy hike a crack.
The Old Man of Hoy is a 137 metre sea stay formed of old red sandstone and takes around 1.5 hours to hike. It’s one of the tallest sea stacks in the British Isles and easily one of the most famous, and you can even climb it (but only if you know what you’re doing!) Considering we are not rock climbers by any means, we pulled up at Rackwick Bay instead and begun the easy marked out trail to the iconic sea stack.

It was a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky and it was so blissful to have the walk all to ourselves. As we climbed higher and higher, the view of the water at Rackwick was spectacular as azure waves crashed upon the shore. By this point we were a wee bit sweaty and would have preferred to have been swimming, but we go on!

When we arrived at the Old Man of Hoy we were gobsmacked, this is easily one of the most incredible sites we’ve both ever seen. The sheer DRAMA of this sea stack and the waves crashing alongside it were absolutely spectacular. We spent around an hour here admiring the scenery and taking photos at our leisure without another soul around!
We sadly had to leave so we could get home during light hours, so made the easy walk back down to Rackwick, but not before stopping at Cra’as Nest Museum on the way down. This incredible museum is a traditional croft house steading with 2 beds and a dresser, photographs, pots, pans and pieces and even a fisherman’s den to show what everyday life would have looked like in the Rackwick Valley in Orkney in the 18th century.

We decided to call it a day and made the choice to book a nearby BNB so we could shower and recharge all our camera gear. So we stayed with a lovely couple on Hoy (and their dog Archie) and were grateful for their hospitality, a hot shower and room to stretch before we made our way back to Edinburgh.

As i mentioned earlier, it was a wee bit hard to time up the ferrys for us to get across to Westray and the additional islands that made up Orkney on this trip, so we spent our last day wild swimming and heading back to the mainland for one last night in Orkney.

We woke up bright and early, thankful for a cooked meal and made our way back to Rackwick for a wild dip. The ocean was absolutely not swimming temperature, but for a quick dip it revitalised the soul and connected us back with nature - one of the best things to do in Scotland!

Before we took the ferry back to the mainland we popped into the Scapa Flow museum which gives an incredible insight into Orkneys wartime heritage and history. Scapa Flow was a Royal Navy Base during both World Wars and to see how different Hoy looked during this time and seeing what life would have been like here was incredibly insightful! I highly recommend a visit to this amazing museum, had I known how good it was going to be I would have scheduled more time here!

But alas, we needed to catch the ferry back and arrived back to Mainland at around midday. Now you might be thinking “Gabby, surely you’ve not seen enough neolithic sites?!” and to that I say, i absolutely agree! Despite Billy being a wee bit ‘rocked’ out, we made our last stop at the Skara Brae Prehistoric Village which dates back BEFORE the Egyptian pyramids?!

Skara Brae was a thriving village and is one of the best-preserved Neolithic settlements in Western Europe. Uncovered by a storm in 1850, this site still remains as a place of discovery to this day.
You can explore a replica of a Neolithic house and how it was laid out, follow the path through ancient buildings which allows you to imagine what life would have looked like through this time and see original fitted furniture made 5,000 years ago. This site is so incredibly preserved and one of the highlights of our trip to Orkney! We highly recommend you book ahead during peak season so you don’t miss out!

It was time to wrap up our trip to Orkney, so we made our way to Kirkwall for dinner at The Kirkwall. En route we stopped at the Orkney Brewing Co to grab ourselves some skullsplitters (they’re genuinely called that) and made ourselves cozy for a lush dinner out after all our hard work cooking in the van this week! A perfect end to our 4 day adventure in Orkney.

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A FEW THINGS TO NOTE…

When we go back to Orkney we would change a couple of things, which i’ll share with you below! But I also wanted to leave you with a few tips to help you plan your adventure like a pro:

IF WE HAD MORE TIME..

We would have booked ferries to check out Westray, Rouasy, Shapinsay, Stonsay and Papa Westray (which has the worlds shortest flight by the way, they give you a certificate and all!) Unfortunately the time we visited gave us limited options on ferries so it was a little challenging to get the timings right
Next time i’d love to visit during the Orkney Folk Festival! Orkney turns into a hub of musical magic during late May and is high on my bucketlist to attend!

THINGS TO KNOW:

Both Stromness and Kirkwall have great supermarkets and fuel and it’s very easy to come by groceries and petrol when you need it
Both towns also have a fabulous array of restaurants and cafes, but in peak season make sure you book to avoid dissapointment
There are loads of guided walks and activities you can partake in across Orkney during peak season, take a look at visitorkney.com to see what you can book into and support the local community!
It’s significantly cheaper to travel without your car on the ferry across to Stromness. Leave your car in Scrabster and pick up the van just outside the ferry port when you arrive in Orkney

There you have it! Our guide to 4 epic days in Orkney! Let us know below if you are inspired to visit this incredible archipelago, or if you have any tips about visiting too, we are always open to new locations, activities and epic spots to camp up!

Until next time!

A 4 Day Orkney Adventure