Stromness to Warebeth – A Stone Street and Hoy Sound
About 4 miles on foot.
Stromness grew up facing the water: one long, winding stone street of gable-ended houses, many with a pier of their own behind.
Follow it to its end and the shore carries on round the Point of Ness to the beach at Warebeth, with the hills of Hoy across the sound the whole way. It's a walk of 6.5 km on good paths and quiet roads, and it's one of the few here that still makes sense on a blowy day.
- Time
- About two and a half hours: 6.5 km, or four miles, on street, shore path and minor road.
- The path
- Mostly well-surfaced path and minor road, with some narrow stretches on the shore and a farm track that can be wet.
- Where to start
- In Stromness: the car park on Back Road, a few minutes above the pierhead, has no charge.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January set off by 11.30am.
- Dogs
- On a lead on the coast path, where sheep graze.
- Children
- A level walk with a beach at the far end.
- Toilets
- Public toilets on Ferry Road in Stromness and at Warebeth.
- Before you set out
- Some narrow stretches along the shore, and the track inland from Warebeth can be wet. The shore catches the spray in a gale.
The walk
Park in Stromness. There's a car park on Back Road with no charge, a few minutes' walk above the pierhead, and public toilets on Ferry Road. The walk starts at the pierhead, in front of the tall face of the Stromness Hotel, where a statue remembers the Arctic explorer Dr John Rae, who was born across the water at Clestrain. Orkney's tourist board gives the round to Warebeth as 6.5 km, or four miles, and allows two and a half hours. It begins along the town's one long, winding street, past the house where the poet George Mackay Brown lived.
Beyond the last houses the shore opens out at the Point of Ness, low black rock and flags with the lighthouse on Graemsay across Hoy Sound and the hills of Hoy behind it. Warebeth is the beach at the far end. In winter it is often heaped with kelp, which brings in flocks of seabirds, and the cemetery beside it stands on the mound of an Iron Age broch. There are public toilets at Warebeth too. The way back comes inland by a farm track and minor roads.
The paths are mostly well surfaced, but a few stretches along the shore are narrow and the track inland from Warebeth can be wet. Sheep graze beside the coast path, so keep dogs on a lead there. In a gale the shore catches the spray, and the street makes a good walk on its own. Julia's Café by the ferry terminal says it is closed for the time being, so don't plan lunch round it: bring something, or see what's open in the town. From November to January, set off by 11.30am.
If it rains
The street is sheltered and the paths are mostly hard, so a shower does no harm. In a gale keep to the street and leave the shore for a calmer day.
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, 23 miles away. Sleeps 18.
For further reading, before you go.
Photograph by Lars De Richter via Google