GoOrkney Highlights Tours – Small Group Tours

Our ‘Orkney Highlights Tour’  takes you on a journey through time, giving you a real sense of life ‘on the edge’, from experiencing how our Neolithic ancestors lived and survived over 5000 years ago, through the ‘invasion’ of the Vikings, documented in the 13^th Century Orkneyinga Sagas and how they still influence Orkney’s culture today to the global importance played by Scapa Flow during two World Wars, the moving stories of which tell of innovation and tragedy and are forever preserved in the fabric of our amazing Islands and their people.

 

Orkney Highlights Tour

Depending on the date of your visit, you will be offered either a reduced rate 4.5hrs or a standard rate 6hrs tour, all of which are scheduled to ensure cruise ship guests can maximise their time in Orkney. You will be met and welcomed by your GoOrkney Guide at the ship’s arrival point. From here, the tour will start and head west, hugging the coastline of Scapa Flow where you will hear about the Royal Oak Tragedy, learn about the ‘Scuttling’ of the German fleet in 1919 and how Scapa Flow remains economically important for Orkney today.

On to ‘Yesnaby’, to view our stunning Atlantic coastline with stunning cliffs, geology, wildlife and fauna and where you may, if you’re lucky find the rare ‘Primula Scotica’. On a clear day you may also catch a glimpse of ‘The Old Man of Hoy’ and Britain’s highest vertical cliffs.

Step back 5000 years now as we enter the ‘Heart of Neolithic Orkney’ and our UNESCO World Heritage Sites, home to some of the best-preserved Neolithic structures in the world. You will visit Skara Brae, a world-renowned Neolithic village dating to 3100bc, buried and preserved in sand for thousands of years before being uncovered by a storm in 1850. You will be amazed at the condition of the houses that make up this completely original village with stone furniture, beds and implements exactly as they were left. A nearby modern visitor centre and replica Neolithic house adds to the experience and enables you to fully immerse yourself in our Neolithic history.

Your Neolithic experience continues as we take a short drive to our next stop where you will be guided around two stunning henge monuments, the Ring of Brodgar and the Standing Stones of Stenness, set in a natural amphitheatre and amongst the oldest in Europe. Our 4.5hrs tour allows for a drive past visit and photo stop at the Ring of Brodgar.

We now travel south, passing other Neolithic sites and learning about our Viking heritage and Wartime history. We will take in panoramic views of Scapa Flow and visit the World War 2 sea defences, the ‘Churchill Barriers’, an incredible engineering achievement, built by Italian prisoners of war in response to the tragic sinking of HMS Royal Oak in 1939. We then visit and marvel at the splendour of the ‘Italian Chapel’, where you will not fail to be moved by this masterpiece built and beautifully decorated by the Italian prisoners and affectionately named ‘The Miracle of Camp 60’.

Then back to our Capital City and Royal Burgh of Kirkwall where our 4.5hrs tour ends outside St Magnus Cathedral. On our 6hrs tour you will be guided around the stunning red and yellow sandstone St Magnus Cathedral. Known as ‘The light of the North’ and built in the 12^th Century, this magnificent monument honouring our Viking Earl, St Magnus has been beautifully preserved and is still in use today.

It will then be time for us to bid you all farewell. We can either return you to the Travel Centre where we started the tour, to your ship or you can take a leisurely stroll through the historic streets of Kirkwall and enjoy the unique abundance of shops and businesses selling local food, drink, garments and of course stunning jewellery.