Getting to Orkney and around.
The ferries, the flights and the barriers
By sea
NorthLink sails from Scrabster to Stromness, past the Old Man of Hoy, and from Aberdeen to Kirkwall, while Pentland Ferries cross from Gills Bay to St Margaret's Hope.
Book a space for the car well ahead in summer, and check the ferry company's page before you travel.
By air
Loganair flies to Kirkwall from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.
Small planes then hop out from Kirkwall to the North Isles.
Getting around
The Churchill Barriers carry the road to Burray and South Ronaldsay, and the island ferries sail from Kirkwall, Houton, Stromness and Tingwall.
Buses link Kirkwall and Stromness with the main sights, but a car or a bike makes the West Mainland easy.
Kirkwall has the most choice, with St Magnus Cathedral and the ferries to the North Isles. Stromness is smaller and full of character, close to Skara Brae and the Ring of Brodgar, and the North Isles suit anyone after real quiet.
Give it at least three days for the Neolithic sites of the West Mainland, Kirkwall and the Italian Chapel. A week lets you add Hoy and a North Isle or two.
The Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness stand in open fields, free to walk round at any hour. Skara Brae and Maeshowe are ticketed, and Maeshowe is seen by guided tour only, so book ahead in summer.
Orkney is windy and changeable, but milder than its latitude suggests, thanks to the sea. Summer days are very long, with barely any dark in June, and winter storms can hold up the ferries.
Seals haul out on the beaches all year, and the RSPB reserves at Marwick Head and on Hoy are full of seabirds in early summer. Puffins nest on Westray, at the Castle o' Burrian.
Yes. The replica house at Skara Brae, the beach at the Bay of Skaill and the Orkney Museum in Kirkwall are good with children, and the short ferries make a trip to another island an adventure.
Photographs by highlandpark, VisitScotland / Paul Tomkins, VisitScotland / Kenny Lam, hamishmorrison and rachelvisual; The Pickaquoy Centre, Graham Hall, Hetty IRL, Dionne Clarke, Holly M, Donald MacLeod, Gema Garcia, Graham McFarlane, Iain Macdonald, Ian Tresman, Calum Mackenzie, J F, The Orkney Museum, Ian Barrow, Polly Kettle, Mick Moreton, Torsten A. aus Berlin, Andy Chittick and Viking's View BnB via Google
