Orkney day trips & shore excursions

Orkney Day trips & Shore excursions

Odyssey Private tour 5+ hours Base price £450gbp (per group of up to 4)

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Perfect for Day trips to Orkney, Clients staying on Orkney or those arriving via cruise ship looking for a shore excursion.
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Mainland Orkney, Italian chapel and Churchill barriers, Scapa flow, Unstan chambered tomb, Yesnaby, Skara Brae, Ring of Brodgar and the Stenness peninsula.
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The largest of the Orkney Islands, known as the mainland, is a place where the past lies just beneath your feet, and the wind carries stories older than stone. Here, nature doesn’t just surround you - it defines you. Towering cliffs meet crashing waves, endless moorlands roll under vast skies, and the raw, untamed beauty of the landscape invites you to step into something far beyond the everyday.

This is a land steeped in silence and legend, where time seems to fold in on itself. At the edge of the sea, the ancient village of Skara Brae lies nestled in the earth—stone homes still intact after 5,000 years. Walk through doorways older than the Pyramids and feel the weight of lives lived long ago, preserved by sand and time.

Not far from there, the monumental Ring of Brodgar rises like a crown between two lochs. Its massive stones stand guard over the landscape, catching the last light of day in a way that makes the air feel thick with memory. It’s a place of presence—where even Billy Connolly was moved to dance naked beneath the open sky, caught in the sheer, inexplicable magic of it all.

To the south, the deep, sheltered waters of Scapa Flow tell stories of war and peace, of fleets assembled and ships laid to rest. Once the heart of Britain’s naval power, its calm surface now

And yet, among these echoes of the past, there is beauty born from resilience. Rising gently from the landscape, the Italian Chapel is a handmade masterpiece—built by Italian prisoners of war using scrap materials, paint, and devotion. It stands today as a quiet, powerful symbol of faith, hope, and human creativity in the face of hardship.

The living landscape is no less stirring. Orkney’s cliffs host vast colonies of seabirds that swirl and cry above the waves. Seals haul themselves onto quiet beaches. Minke whales, porpoises, and even Orcas may appear on the horizon, slicing through the sea with quiet grace.

On shore, discover a people with deep roots and a fierce sense of identity. Orcadians speak in stories, songs, and craft - where silver glints with tradition and wool is woven with care. Fiddles take the place of bagpipes; fine knitwear replaces tartan. The cuisine is elemental and honest—lamb raised on salt-kissed heather, hand-dived scallops, fresh bread, and sea air in every bite.

Orkney is not a place you simply visit - it’s a place you feel. A place shaped by wind and wave, by myth and memory. A place where stone, sea, and sky remember - and invite you to remember, too.

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Included

• Private guide
• Site translation
• Private Transportation
• Relaxed atmosphere with no wasted time

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Not Included

• Entry fees to Skara Brae or the Italian chapel are not included but can be booked for you by arrangement.

Coastal charms Private tour 5+ hours Base price £450gbp (per group of up to 4) Perfect for Day trips to Orkney, Clients staying on Orkney already or those arriving via cruise ship looking for a shore excursion.
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Mainland Orkney, Broch of Gurness, click mill, Kirbuster farm museum, Broch of Birsay, Yesnaby, Stromness, Stromness Museum, Wideford Hill.
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Orkney's Mainland is no ordinary island. It’s a land shaped by wind and tide, by Norse hands and ancient hearts- a place where every stone has a story, and the raw beauty of the landscape speaks in silence.

While Orkney is rich in ancient monuments, it is the Norse and early Scottish layers that echo most strongly here. Nowhere is that clearer than at Birsay, where the Atlantic meets the island’s northwest edge. Among windswept ruins, you'll walk in the footsteps of both Pictish chieftains and Viking settlers, their homes and chapels still etched into the land. The tide still cuts the causeway to the tidal isle - a fitting reminder that history here is never far away, but always shaped by nature.

Just along the coast lies the Broch of Gurness, a striking Iron Age stronghold facing the sea. Its dry-stone walls, once home to an entire community, remain remarkably intact. Stand inside its circular heart and imagine Norse settlers repurposing this ancient structure centuries later—layer upon layer of life, all tied to the rhythms of land and ocean.

While the famous Ring of Brodgar stands nearby, it's the lesser-travelled paths that reveal Orkney’s soul. This is a place to linger in silence, to feel the land beneath your feet, to watch the sea shift under a darkening sky and realise how small - and how deeply connected you are.

The Norse spirit lives on, not just in ruins or runes, but in the people. The Orcadian identity is proud and independent, shaped by centuries of seafaring, island living, and resilience. You'll hear it in the music - fiddles that speak of both joy and longing. You’ll taste it in food drawn straight from land and sea: wild-grazed lamb, hand-dived scallops, seaweed bread, and fish smoked with care.

Artisans still work with the patience of their ancestors, weaving fine knitwear, carving silver, and crafting stories into every item they make.

Orkney is not just a destination - it is a conversation between land, sea, and memory. A place where Norse bones lie beneath your feet, and the sky still feels close enough to touch. A place where nature hasn’t just shaped the past, it’s still writing it.

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Showcase Private tour 7+ hours Base price £550gbp (per group of up to 4) Perfect for Clients staying on Orkney or those arriving via cruiseship looking for a longer shore excursion.

Mainland Orkney, St Magnus Cathedral, Scapa Flow, Unstan chambered tomb, Yesnaby, Skara Brae, Ring of Brodgar, Lunch, Maeshowe chambered tomb. Standing stones of Stenness, Wideford hill.

The largest of the Orkney Islands, known as the mainland, is no ordinary place. It is a realm of ancient echoes and untamed beauty, where time folds in on itself and the landscape tells stories older than memory.
Here, Sun shines and wind howls across vast heather moorlands, and sea cliffsrise like fortresses from the churning North Atlantic. Under skies that shiftfrom storm-dark to gold-lit in moments, Orkney invites you into its deep,layered past and fiercely alive present.

At the heart of this ancient archipelago lies Skara Brae, a Neolithic village frozen in time for over 5,000 years - older than the Pyramids and older even than the first whispers of written history. Step through its stone doorways and into homes where hearths still hold the shadows of those who once lived, loved, and laboured here. The stones themselves seem to breathe, telling tales of a people intimately tied to the sea and the earth, their lives etched into the very fabric of the land.

Just inland, Maeshowe awaits, a brooding burial chamber aligned with the winter solstice. Step inside to find Viking runes carved into its walls, left like whispered graffiti by Norse raiders seeking shelter from astorm. Nearby, the Ring of Brodgar stands silhouetted against sweeping skies and silent lochs. At dusk, its stones hum with an energy that defies reason, a sacred monument etched into the soul of the landscape. It’s nowonder it has inspired everything from ancient ritual to modern legend, including Billy Connolly’s infamous moonlit dance among the stones. In Kirkwall, the beating heart of Orkney, rises the magnificent St Magnus Cathedral known as the “Light of the North.” Founded in the 12th century by Norse earls, this soaring cathedral of red sandstone is a testament to the islands’ Viking spirit and enduring faith. Its intricate carvings and soaring arches whisper tales of power, faith, and the martyrdom of Earl Magnus, whose legacy still pulses through the island’s veins.

Further south, the waters of Scapa Flow hold the secrets of wartime sacrifice, with shipwrecks lying silent in the deep. This vast natural harbour once hosted the British fleet and now, it is a sanctuary of memory, mystery, and marine life. Yet Orkney is no museum, it’s gloriously alive. Towering seabird cliffs echo with cries of gannets and puffins. Seals lounge on white-sand bays, and with a little luck, you might glimpse Orcas carving through the sea, framed by the shifting light of an endless horizon. On land, discover a proud and resilient culture shaped by Norse rule and island life. Here, you’ll find soul-stirring fiddle music, not bagpipes; finely crafted knitwear, not tartan clichés. The cuisine is as fresh as the wind itself - think hand-dived scallops, tender local lamb, and sea-salted air that whets every appetite. Across more than 70 islands, Orkney offers more than a visit, it offers a reckoning with something far greater. A place where stone, sea, and sky converge. A place where the past isn’t gone. It’s just waiting for you to arrive.  

Included‍

• - Private guide
• Private Transportation
• Relaxed atmosphere with no wasted time
• Site translation

Not included

• ‍Entry fees to Skara Brae or Maes Howe are not included but can be booked for you by arrangement.
• Lunch

‍Day trips to Orkneys outer islands‍

(Hoy, Rousay or any other) Start at £400gbp Outer island day trips are a specialty; due to capacity issues these require more logistics than trips on Orkney mainland but are no less interesting.

Offering a more relaxed pace and no crowds if one has caught your eye, we are just an email away.