Hoy – the Old Man and the Wartime Story of Scapa Flow
A day.
The route
Hoy is Orkney's high island, and its west coast holds the Old Man of Hoy, a red sandstone sea stack 137 metres tall.
This is a day across the water with the car: the ferry from Houton, then the walk from Rackwick out to the cliff top opposite the stack. On the way back to the boat, the Scapa Flow Museum at Lyness tells of the naval base that filled these shores in two world wars. A full day for fit walkers.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is House of the Northern Gate, 16 miles away. Sleeps 18.
Book the ferry from Houton to Lyness
Book the car on Orkney Ferries' 10.15am from Houton to Lyness and the 4.40pm back, online or on 01856 811397, at least an hour before sailing: on the winter timetable both run Monday to Friday, and return fares are £22 for a car and £6.90 an adult at the time of writing.
The day
Hoy
Across Scapa Flow with the car in the morning, over the hills to Rackwick and out along the cliffs to the Old Man, then the wartime story at Lyness before the evening boat.
About seven hours, Houton to HoutonAbout 4 miles on foot
The ferry from Houton to Lyness
Orkney Ferries' car ferry to Hoy leaves from the Houton terminal in Orphir. From 28 September 2026 to 1 May 2027 the 10.15am sailing runs Monday to Friday and reaches Lyness at 10.50am. Book the car and everyone in it online or on 01856 811397: vehicle bookings close an hour before sailing, cars must be at the terminal 20 minutes before departure, and foot passengers 10 minutes before. Return fares at the time of writing are £22 for a car and £6.90 for an adult, with under-fives free. Foot passengers can pay on board by card or cash, but book the car, as a full boat takes no more. Some sailings call at Flotta, so stay on until Lyness. In a gale, check the Orkney Ferries website before you set out.
About 15 min by car
The Old Man of Hoy
An attraction
From Lyness it's about half an hour's drive north and west across the island to Rackwick, a scatter of stone crofts in a glen above a bay of great boulders. Leave the car in the small car park there. The path to the Old Man of Hoy is signed from Rackwick: it crosses the common grazing and rounds the headland to a viewpoint on the cliff top straight across from the stack. By Visit Orkney's route figures it's about 3.4 kilometres each way; allow about three hours there and back with time at the top. The Old Man is a red sandstone stack 137 metres high, first climbed in 1966, and from the viewpoint the cliffs run north towards St John's Head. Keep well back from the edge: the sandstone is brittle and the drop is sheer. Wear boots, take waterproofs, and bring a packed lunch to eat on the cliff top or by the bay. If you bring a dog, keep it on a lead over the grazing and near the cliffs. Leave Rackwick by about 2.30pm to reach Lyness with time for the museum.
About 15 min by car
Scapa Flow Museum
An attraction
Drive about half an hour back to Lyness, where the Scapa Flow Museum is in the old pumphouse that once sent fuel oil out to the fleet. Scapa Flow was the Royal Navy's great anchorage in both world wars, and over 250 objects tell its story. They show how the base kept up to 100,000 service men and women entertained, the losses of HMS Hampshire, Vanguard and Royal Oak, and the salvage boom of the years after. Entry is free, with a suggested donation of £5. It opens 9.30am to 4.15pm, Tuesday to Saturday in March, October and November and Monday to Saturday in April, and shuts in January and February. Its café opens in October; from November it serves hot lunches on Wednesdays only. The museum is all on one level, a short walk from its car park, with accessible toilets and baby changing by the main entrance. Assistance dogs only.
The ferry from Lyness to Houton
The 4.40pm from Lyness, Monday to Friday, reaches Houton at 5.15pm: have the car at the terminal by 4.20pm. It's the last sailing of the day back to Houton, because the 6.10pm goes on to Flotta and Longhope instead. From late October the sun has set by the time it sails.
If it rains
The cliff path is no place in a gale, heavy rain or low cloud: the edges are sheer and the sandstone brittle. On a wild day give the Scapa Flow Museum longer, and check the Orkney Ferries website before setting out, as high winds stop sailings.
Where to stay
Photographs by Andy Gutsell, Matt McKnight and Wendies Cards via Google