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    Orkney Visitor's Guide 2017 [Travel Series]
    Orkney Visitor's Guide 2017 [Travel Series]
    Orkney Visitor's Guide 2017 [Travel Series]
    Ebook134 pages57 minutes

    Orkney Visitor's Guide 2017 [Travel Series]

    By Lindsey Porter

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    About this ebook

    North of the Scottish mainland exist three groups of islands within the United Kingdom: Orkney, Shetland and tiny North Rona. Nearest to the mainland is Orkney, consisting of 67 islands (21 inhabited), with the tip of South Ronaldsay just six miles off the coast. Orkney is one of the most beautiful, welcoming, and interesting places to visit in the UK, and should be top of any traveller’s wish list when visiting North Scotland.

    This focused guide details all you need to know when visiting Orkney. Containing up-to-date information from veteran travel writer Lindsey Porter, it includes must-see attractions including St Magnus Cathedral, The Old Man of Hoy, Scapa Flow, the Heart of Neolithic Orkney (UNESCO World Heritage sites), and bird watching reserves. The guide also details how to travel around the islands, highly rated accommodation, island events, shopping, and more. The guide is hyperlinked so that readers can visit related web resources quickly and easily. If you are planning to visit Orkney this year – this 2017 guide is your first stop!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBennion Kearny
    Release dateJan 14, 2017
    ISBN9781910773437
    Orkney Visitor's Guide 2017 [Travel Series]

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      Book preview

      Orkney Visitor's Guide 2017 [Travel Series] - Lindsey Porter

      Orkney Visitor’s Guide 2017

      Lindsey Porter

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       [Smashwords Edition]

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      Published in 2017 by Oakamoor Publishing, an imprint of Bennion Kearny Limited.

      Copyright © Lindsey Porter 2017 in Association with Bennion Kearny Limited.

      ISBN: 978-1-910773-43-7

      All Rights Reserved. Bennion Kearny has endeavoured to provide trademark information about all the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Bennion Kearny cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

      Disclaimer: While every care has been taken to ensure that the information in this book is as accurate as possible at the time of publication, the publisher takes no responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by anyone using this book.

      All images © Lindsey Porter, except: Old Man of Hoy: © Can Stock Photo Inc. / andreaobzerova; St Magnus Church: © Can Stock Photo Inc. / Creative_Hearts; Graemsay and Hoy Islands viewed from Stromness © Can Stock Photo Inc. / kevers; Layered sandstone on South Ronaldsay, Orkney © Can Stock Photo Inc. / moonmeister

      Published by Bennion Kearny Limited, 6 Woodside, Churnet View Road, Oakamoor, Staffordshire, ST10 3AE

      www.BennionKearny.com

      Table of Contents

      Title Page

      Top Tips

      Orkney

      Stroma

      Getting to Stroma

      Accommodation

      Swona Island

      Orkney Mainland

      Kirkwall

      Getting to Kirkwall

      Things to Do

      Events

      Ferries

      Local Crafts

      Taxis

      Tour Guides

      Accommodation [Highly Rated]

      West Mainland

      World Heritage Sites

      Woodland Walks

      Exploring West Mainland

      Stromness

      Activities

      East Mainland

      Visitor Information

      South Ronaldsay & The Southern Islands

      Visitor Information

      Things to Do

      Local Crafts

      Hoy Island

      Visitor Information

      Places to Visit

      Flotta

      The Attack on HMS Royal Oak

      The Longhope Lifeboat Disaster

      The Scapa Flow Scuttle of the German Fleet

      Getting There

      Shapinsay

      Visitor Information

      Accommodation

      Events

      Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre

      Egilsay Island

      Wyre Island

      Eynhallow Island

      Visitor Information

      Accommodation on Rousay

      Dining

      Places to Visit

      Trails

      Tours

      Stronsay

      Visitor Information

      Events

      Accommodation

      Eday

      Visitor Information

      Accommodation

      Other

      Sanday

      Visitor Information

      Accommodation

      Places to Visit

      Westray

      Visitor Information

      Accommodation

      Places to Visit

      Papa Westray

      Visitor Information

      Accommodation

      North Ronaldsay

      Visitor Information

      Accommodation

      Appendix A

      Top Tips

      Kirkwall

      Explore the capital: Viking Cathedral, Earl’s Palace ruins, and lots of local products for sale in narrow main street.

      Stromness

      The second town; historic shipping port with unusually narrow main street with narrow passages to properties.

      Maeshowe/Ring of Brodgar Area

      World Heritage site for prehistoric remains on several sites. Very impressive, especially Maeshowe, 1,500 years older than Stonehenge.

      Kirkwall

      Distillery Tours

      Kirkwall has two distilleries, Scapa and Highland Park, the most northerly malt whisky distillery in the world.

      Newark Bay

      If you fancy a deserted, sandy bay and it’s not too windy, try Newark Bay.

      Outer Islands

      Take a trip to one of the northern islands; Rousay for a close one and out to Westray or North Ronaldsay for a longer journey plus those in between. All have a special quality found only on small islands.

      Hoy

      Take the ferry from Stromness or Houton. Visit the beach at Rackwick, the old Man of Hoy (two-hour walk) and Longhope in the south.

      Tours

      Check out the organised tours to Hoy and elsewhere and let someone else do the organising!

      Italian Chapel, Lamb Holm

      Built by Italian prisoners-of-war. Explore South Ronaldsay beyond

      Tomb of The Eagles, South Ronaldsay

      Visitor Centre and trip into chambered tomb where 16,000 human and animal bones were found. Good interpretive centre with craft shop and café.

      Craft Trail

      Follow the brown signs and visit some interesting craft centres in the islands.

      Orkney

      North of the Scottish mainland there are three groups of islands within the United Kingdom: Orkney, Shetland and tiny North Rona with a group of even smaller islands and reefs. Nearest to the mainland is Orkney, with the tip of South Ronaldsay only six miles/9km off the coast.

      (Image: Map of Orkney)

      Orkney consists of 67 islands of which 21 are inhabited (68 in 1901), supporting a population of 20,000 (28,699 in 1901) with 7,600 in Kirkwall and 2,100 in Stromness. The islands are mainly low in height and benefit from the effect of The Gulf Stream. An exception is the northern half of Hoy which offers some good moorland walking both on high hills and through undulating countryside with one striking east–west valley across the width of the island at Rackwick. As with many of the Scottish Islands they exhibit wonderful scenery, an abundance of prehistoric remains, many in good order and memorable beaches composed of white sand. In the south-west are significant cliffs, especially on Hoy. The islands extend to some 375sq miles (971sq km).

      The main islands are included here commencing with Orkney Mainland, then the islands to the south and finally those to the north.

      The shortest surface route to Orkney is Gills Bay (near John O’ Groats) to St Margaret’s Hope on South Ronaldsay.

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