Skara Brae – a Stone Age Village by the Sea and Lunch
A few hours.
The route
Skara Brae, on the shore of the Bay of Skaill, is a stone village about 5,000 years old, uncovered by a storm in 1850 with its stone beds and dressers still standing in the houses.
Walk round it, step inside the full-size replica house, see the finds in the visitor centre and stay for lunch in its café.
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, 29 miles away. Sleeps 18.
Book Skara Brae tickets online for the best price and a guaranteed entry: from April to September it opens every day from 9.30am, with last entry at 4.30pm.
The day
Skara Brae
A village of stone houses 5,000 years old on the Atlantic shore of the West Mainland. A couple of hours among the houses and the finds, a breath of sea air on the bay, and lunch to finish.
About three hours
Skara Brae
An attraction
Park at the visitor centre. Book tickets online for the best price: from April to October they include Skaill House, the 17th-century laird's house next door. From April to September Skara Brae opens every day from 9.30am, with last entry at 4.30pm. Start in the visitor centre with the finds, the quizzes for children and the full-size replica house you can walk into, then follow the path out to the village. There you look down into the houses over their walls, each with its stone dresser, box beds and hearth, and the white sand of the bay right beside them. Children under 16 must come with an adult. It's open to the wind off the Atlantic, so bring a warm layer.
Skara Brae Café
Lunch
Lunch is back in the visitor centre at the Skara Brae Café, under the same roof as the gift shop, so there's no need to move the car. From April to September it opens every day from 9.30am to 4.30pm, so you can go straight from the village to a table for lunch and a coffee, with the toilets close by. If it's full, Stromness is a short drive south, where Julia's Café by the ferry terminal serves lunch every day.
If it rains
The visitor centre, the replica house and the café are indoors; the village is open to the weather, so on a wild day see the houses quickly and linger over the finds.
Worth a detour
- The Ring of Brodgar
The B9055 runs right past the Ring of Brodgar, a great stone circle between two lochs, and a mile further on the Stones of Stenness, the tallest about six metres. Both are free and open, with parking beside them. Heading east, it adds no driving, only the half hour you spend walking round.
Where to stay
Photograph by Janine McMahon via Google