Stenness to Brodgar – Between Orkney's Great Stone Rings

The walk

Park in the car park at the Stones of Stenness, on the B9055 just off the A965. It's free. There are no toilets at either ring: the nearest public ones are in Stenness village on the A965, and they're open day and night. Orkney's tourist board gives the walk as 5 km on grassy tracks, grade 2, and allows two hours. The Stones of Stenness are a few steps from the car, through a metal gate that must be shut behind you, as sheep graze the field. Four thin slabs still stand, up to six metres tall, from a ring of twelve set round a hearth.

Close by are the low walls of Barnhouse, a Neolithic village, and an RSPB hide looking over the Loch of Harray, which is the one place to sit out a shower. The way to Brodgar crosses the Bridge of Brodgar, beside the tall Watch Stone. The bridge has no pavement, so step onto the verge when a car comes. Beyond it, paths follow the shore of the Loch of Stenness through the RSPB's reserve, past the covered-over dig at the Ness of Brodgar, with the ring on the skyline ahead. The Ring of Brodgar is far bigger, a wide circle of stones on a rise of heather inside a ditch cut from the rock. Its inner path is sometimes closed to rest the grass, and the outer one goes all the way round.

In winter the lochs hold ducks, swans and grebes, and golden plover and lapwing gather on the fields on bright mornings. The tracks are soft and muddy after rain, so wear boots. Keep dogs on a lead: this is a nature reserve, with sheep and cattle about. The strip of land takes the wind from every side, so wrap up. There's nowhere to buy food at the stones, so bring a flask. From November to January, set off by 12.30pm.