Orkney Islands

Remote it may be, but travellers who venture to this windswept archipelago are rewarded with prehistoric sites, seabirds and rugged splendour. 

- Ben Lerwill

Geography can be misleading. The islands of Orkney might look remote on the map — trace your finger up to John o’ Groats, then keep going north — but the truth is slightly different. The archipelago’s North Sea location placed it at the very heart of a seafaring Neolithic civilisation that stretched from Scandinavia to southern Britain — some of the towering standing stones here predate Stonehenge and the Pyramids of Giza by more than a thousand years.

Isolated? Not a bit of it. Orkney was at the crossroads of North Europe’s maritime trade routes. This explains why the best-preserved prehistoric village in the region (Skara Brae), and the most impressive chambered grave in Britain (the equally extraordinary Maeshowe) are both found here. And that’s just for starters. If you like archaeology — and even if you don’t — Orkney is a mighty special place to visit.

But the past is only part of its appeal. It doesn’t take long to cross the Pentland Firth from the Scottish mainland — there are options by sea and by air — but in making the journey you reach a destination far removed from the day-to-day. Orkney comprises around 70 islands — most, green, low-lying and virtually treeless. Ferries and tiny planes link the key spots, and each island has its defining feature, from Hoy’s huge, heathered hills to Westray’s puffin-frequented cliffs.