The Orkney Museum – Orkney's Story in Tankerness House
A few hours.
The route
The Orkney Museum fills Tankerness House, a 16th-century merchant's house on Kirkwall's Broad Street, with the story of the islands from the first farmers to the Vikings and beyond.
Entry is free, and the quiet gardens beside it make a pleasant place to sit afterwards. It's a fine wet-day choice.
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.
The day
Kirkwall
A couple of hours among Orkney's treasures, with a turn round the garden after.
About two hours
The Orkney Museum
The Orkney Museum is on Broad Street in the middle of Kirkwall, across the street from St Magnus Cathedral. Go in through the arched gateway from the street into the courtyard. It opens Monday to Saturday from 10.30am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 5pm, closing for lunch, and entry is free, with a suggested donation of £5. Inside are stone tools from the Isbister cairn, Bronze Age metalwork, Pictish symbol stones and the grave goods from the Viking boat burial at Scar on Sanday, along with the Baikie library and drawing room. There are stairs between the floors, with stairlifts, and accessible toilets by the entrance. Only assistance dogs may come in. Afterwards, wander into Tankerness House Gardens beside the museum, a lawn with an old round dovecote. Over Christmas and New Year, check before going.
If it rains
The museum is all indoors; only the garden is out in the weather.
Where to stay
Photographs by The Orkney Museum and Craig Ferguson (The Entertainment King) via Google