The Phoenix Cinema – Supper by the Harbour and a Film
A few hours.
The route
The Phoenix is Orkney's cinema, inside the Pickaquoy Centre on the west side of Kirkwall, showing new releases, independent and classic films and live broadcasts of plays and concerts.
Start with supper at the Kirkwall Hotel's Harbour View Restaurant, looking out over the boats, then drive round for the film. All of it is under a roof but the short drive across town.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
None of ours is close by: the nearest is House of the Northern Gate, 28 miles away. Sleeps 18.
Book supper at The Kirkwall Hotel
Book a 6pm table at The Kirkwall Hotel's Harbour View Restaurant on 01856 872232 or online: booking is essential, and dinner is served every day from 6pm to 8pm in winter, to 8.30pm in summer.
Book the film at The Phoenix Cinema at the Pickaquoy Centre's reception, by phone on 01856 879900 or online: the schedule is posted a fortnight at a time, and tickets aren't refundable.
The day
Kirkwall
An early supper over the harbour, a short drive across town, and a film at Orkney's own cinema.
About four hours
The Kirkwall Hotel
Supper
The Kirkwall Hotel stands on Harbour Street, looking over the harbour, and its Harbour View Restaurant serves dinner every day from 6pm to 8pm in winter and until 8.30pm in summer. Booking is essential: ring 01856 872232 or book on the hotel's website, and a 6pm table leaves time for a 7.30pm film. The menu is built on Orkney produce, with local seafood and classic pub favourites, and vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free menus too. Dogs aren't allowed in the restaurant but are welcome in the hotel's Skippers Bar and Highland Park Bar. If it's full, Helgi's, a few doors along Harbour Street, serves food in its bar for over-18s: ring 01856 879293 to check the kitchen's hours.
4 min by car
The Phoenix Cinema
It's 4 minutes' drive west to the Pickaquoy Centre on Muddisdale Road, which has plenty of parking beside it; the Phoenix Cinema is inside. Pick a film from the schedule on the centre's website, which posts a fortnight at a time, and book at reception, by phone on 01856 879900 or online; tickets aren't refundable. An evening ticket is £9.75 for an adult and £7.50 for under-16s at the time of writing, and live broadcasts of plays and concerts cost more. The wheelchair spaces are in the back row as you come in, with no stairs, and there's a disabled toilet with baby changing opposite the cinema doors.
If it rains
All of it is under a roof; only the 4-minute drive and the steps from the car are out in the weather.
Helgi’s, a restaurant in Kirkwall.
Lynnfield Hotel, a restaurant in Kirkwall.
Photographs by The Pickaquoy Centre and Kirkwall Hotel via Google