# Trip to Orkney in Scotland



## Ameriscot (Aug 24, 2016)

A friend and I spent the last 3 days on the main island of Orkney in north Scotland.  It is rich with neolithic sites dating back 5,000 years.  

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/areaorkn/

One of the sites we visited was the Ring of Brodgar:  https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/ring-of-brodgar-stone-circle-and-henge/

Unfortunately, it was raining when we visited but I still got photos.  Since it is August, the landscape is rich with purple heather.

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## Ameriscot (Aug 24, 2016)

The site I was most excited to see was Skara Brae - a 5,000 year old neolithic village which was uncovered during a storm in 1850.  We booked a private evening tour which meant there were only 15 of us instead of mobs and mobs which are there during the day.  We had a great guide and we also were allowed to go in each dwelling which is always off limit during the day. 

http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/skarabrae/

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## Ameriscot (Aug 24, 2016)

We just happened to hear on one of our guided tours that there were tours of a huge archaelogical dig that's been going on since 2002.  So we toured and listened to a fascinating talk for an hour.  BBC was filming and there is going to be another BBC programme about this site - 3 one hour programmes.  My photos weren't great so better to share this site for anyone interested in ancient sites:  There are updates of past finds and a daily update.

http://www.orkneyjar.com/archaeology/nessofbrodgar/

For £10 people can pick a small square of this huge site and you get email updates of what was found there and your name is associated with this specific site.  I chose one as did my friend.


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## Bobw235 (Aug 24, 2016)

What a fascinating place to visit. One day I hope to get there.


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## Ameriscot (Aug 24, 2016)

Bobw235 said:


> What a fascinating place to visit. One day I hope to get there.



It was!  Yes, add that to your list of must see places.  It would take about a month to see all the sites as many of the islands have great ancient sites as well.


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## SeaBreeze (Aug 24, 2016)

That evening tour sounded great!  Very interesting, nice photos!


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## bluebreezes (Aug 24, 2016)

Thanks for posting all of your photos and your story. I was really looking forward to them after your trip. I'll keep an eye out for that BBC series too; hopefully we'll get it over here.


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## Jackie22 (Aug 24, 2016)

I enjoyed reading all about this...very interesting, thanks for taking the time to share.


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## Ameriscot (Aug 25, 2016)

SeaBreeze said:


> That evening tour sounded great!  Very interesting, nice photos!



Thanks.  When we were planning this trip I signed up for news and events on Orkney.  And just a few weeks ago I got an email saying they had just started doing private evening tours this summer.  I thought 'yea, and how much will this cost!?'.  But it was only 10 each.  Supposed to be for 12 but the guide let in 3 more that showed up.  Excellent!

I am a Historic Scotland member so except for that private tour admittance was free to everything else.  But my friend had to go to the tourist centre and she bought an explorer pass.  The man on staff who sold her the ticket mentioned that the next day was going to be 'manic' and that it would good we had bought the evening tour.  We weren't sure was manic meant but found out - a massive cruise ship and tons and tons of coaches full of tourists flooded the island!  

My friend is from an island off Washington state and it was unbelievable the number of people we ran into from Washington!


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## Ameriscot (Aug 25, 2016)

bluebreezes said:


> Thanks for posting all of your photos and your story. I was really looking forward to them after your trip. I'll keep an eye out for that BBC series too; hopefully we'll get it over here.



I've got TONS more photos which I'm still sorting out from my phone camera and regular camera.  So I'll post some more today.

We watched some programmes last night about the archaelogical dig and about the other sites.  They were all on Youtube.  So just google Ness of Brodgar and Neil Oliver and you get some good ones.


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## Ameriscot (Aug 25, 2016)

Jackie22 said:


> I enjoyed reading all about this...very interesting, thanks for taking the time to share.



Thanks, Jackie.  I've been wanting to visit this island since I learned about it when I first moved here.  I love ancient sites.


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## Ameriscot (Aug 25, 2016)

St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall.  http://www.stmagnus.org/history.html

Orkney was part of Norway until the 15th century, so many of the names are Norwegian.

They began building the cathedral in 1137.  The cathedral is massive so it's impossible to see the size of it unless from the air.  

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This is from the back:

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## Capt Lightning (Aug 25, 2016)

Lovely photos.  I've been to several of the western isles, but never to Orkney or Shetland.  Closest I've been is John o' Groats, but I must add Orkney to my list of places to see.  

Going off at a slight tangent -  Loganair, the  airline that serves the Scottish islands,  use to do a 'touchdown' ticket.  You stayed on the plane while it flew a round trip to some of the more remote islands.  They also run the world's shortest scheduled flight from the island of Westray to the neighbouring Papa Westray.  Time 1 min 30 secs,  but it can be done in 1 minute with a following wind!


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## Ameriscot (Aug 25, 2016)

Capt Lightning said:


> Lovely photos.  I've been to several of the western isles, but never to Orkney or Shetland.  Closest I've been is John o' Groats, but I must add Orkney to my list of places to see.
> 
> Going off at a slight tangent -  Loganair, the  airline that serves the Scottish islands,  use to do a 'touchdown' ticket.  You stayed on the plane while it flew a round trip to some of the more remote islands.  They also run the world's shortest scheduled flight from the island of Westray to the neighbouring Papa Westray.  Time 1 min 30 secs,  but it can be done in 1 minute with a following wind!



Thanks, Capt.  I highly recommend Orkney, especially if you like ancient sites.  We flew via Loganair from Glasgow as any other way looked like a total nightmare.  

I've seen the video of that very short flight!  Wild.  We only had time for the main island but I'd love to see more of them.  

I've only been to Barra in the Western Isles, Skye, and almost all of the Inner Hebrides.


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## Ameriscot (Aug 25, 2016)

The Broch of Gurness is not nearly as old as other sites on Orkney - only from about 200BC.  And Iron Age settlement. 

http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/brochs/gurness/

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## Ameriscot (Aug 25, 2016)

Maeshowe.  No photos could be taken inside and I can't find my pic of the outside, so I borrowed this one from online:

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http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/maeshowe/     We had a tour that I'd booked ahead of the trip.  Very interesting!  This site dates from 2700BC and is considered the best chambered cairn in Europe.  What we all found interesting was that later on, Vikings carved lots of 'graffiti' on the walls.  And it was virtually a 'Ragnor was here' type of graffiti.


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## Ameriscot (Aug 26, 2016)

If anyone is interested, I've done a travelogue on the trip to Orkney with links to photo albums:

http://orkneytouraandt.blogspot.co.uk/


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## Ameriscot (Aug 26, 2016)

It's okay to comment or ask questions.........


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## Ameriscot (Aug 27, 2016)

Decided I will go back to Orkney in the spring for a visit on my own.  My friend was limited in where she could go and how long she could walk as she uses a cane.  So I'm going back and hoping I can find an automatic car to rent.  There were several hikes I would have enjoyed, one a cliffside hike which looks spectacular.  

Husband isn't interested enough in visiting as he would lose interest after 2 or 3 ancient sites.  He suggested we go together with our bikes, but normally Orkney is very windy which makes biking a chore.  

Next time I will go for 3 nights and have booked a hotel in the centre of the island instead of the main town.  I can cancel any time up to a month ahead of time so I'll keep researching, and the trip depends on me finding an automatic car to rent.


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## Myquest55 (Aug 27, 2016)

I finally had a chance to sit and look through your photos.  What a WONDERFUL trip!  You got some great shots too!  Thank you so much for sharing them.  That would be a trip I would love to take.  Some of the places we visited in Scotland seemed to just exude history while some seemed to be just old rocks.  Did you get the sense of history as you stood among the ruins?  That ring of Brodgar commands such an amazing view of the surrounding area and loch.  What a spectacular place!  I miss it.


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## Bobw235 (Aug 27, 2016)

looks like a fascinating trip Annie. Great job on the travelogue too. I've sent the link on to my son.


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## Ameriscot (Aug 27, 2016)

Myquest55 said:


> I finally had a chance to sit and look through your photos.  What a WONDERFUL trip!  You got some great shots too!  Thank you so much for sharing them.  That would be a trip I would love to take.  Some of the places we visited in Scotland seemed to just exude history while some seemed to be just old rocks.  Did you get the sense of history as you stood among the ruins?  That ring of Brodgar commands such an amazing view of the surrounding area and loch.  What a spectacular place!  I miss it.



Easy to get a sense of history from 5,000 years ago when you visit these ancient sites.  Makes you wonder about the people who built them (and how) and what their lives were like.


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## Jackie22 (Aug 27, 2016)

I enjoyed the travelogue as well, Annie, this is all fascinating, thank you again for such a wonderful virtual tour.

You may have covered this and I missed it but....

Was there a building or museum displaying the artifacts from the dig and if so could you take pictures?


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## Ameriscot (Aug 27, 2016)

Bobw235 said:


> looks like a fascinating trip Annie. Great job on the travelogue too. I've sent the link on to my son.



Thanks, Bob!  I'm looking forward to going on my own next time.  Should have done it years ago.


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## ossian (Aug 27, 2016)

Great pictures of a wonderful place. I have never been there and would love to get there some day. But even for this small country, it is a fair old trip.


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## Ameriscot (Aug 27, 2016)

ossian said:


> Great pictures of a wonderful place. I have never been there and would love to get there some day. But even for this small country, it is a fair old trip.



Husband said it was too long a trip to be bothered with. Ha!  An hour flight from Glasgow.  Easy.  I am booked for next May already.  Just need to book flight.


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## Ameriscot (Aug 28, 2016)

Jackie22 said:


> I enjoyed the travelogue as well, Annie, this is all fascinating, thank you again for such a wonderful virtual tour.
> 
> You may have covered this and I missed it but....
> 
> Was there a building or museum displaying the artifacts from the dig and if so could you take pictures?



Looks like some of the items dug up are on display at the Orkney Museum.  We didn't make it there.  But I will try to see some of the items on my next trip there.  Don't know if you can take photos.

Took ages to find, but these are some of the artifacts found which were displayed in a musuem near the site back in 2015:
https://sketchfab.com/hugoandersonwhymark/collections/ness-of-brodgar-artefacts


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## Ameriscot (Aug 28, 2016)

I've already added a list of places to see that we missed this trip.  And I will be staying 3 nights instead of two this time.


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## Ruthanne (Aug 30, 2016)

Thank you Annie for sharing all about Orkney.  Very interesting and a beautiful place to visit!


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## Ameriscot (Aug 31, 2016)

Thanks Ruthanne!  I've already made plans for my return trip next May!  Love to plan!  Going to add a trip to another of their islands this time which includes this site -  a 6,000 year old dwelling:

http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/knaphowar.htm


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## Ruthanne (Aug 31, 2016)

Ameriscot said:


> Thanks Ruthanne!  I've already made plans for my return trip next May!  Love to plan!  Going to add a trip to another of their islands this time which includes this site -  a 6,000 year old dwelling:
> 
> http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/knaphowar.htm


Wow, it's amazing to read about people and their living so very very long ago!  They knew how to do a lot of things, too.


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## Ameriscot (Aug 31, 2016)

Ruthanne said:


> Wow, it's amazing to read about people and their living so very very long ago!  They knew how to do a lot of things, too.



It is amazing!  We think of them as primitive but they weren't.  How did they move all those stones?


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## Ruthanne (Aug 31, 2016)

Ameriscot said:


> It is amazing!  We think of them as primitive but they weren't.  How did they move all those stones?


Good question!


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## Ameriscot (Sep 1, 2016)

Ruthanne said:


> Good question!



I would love to know!  I became fascinated by these ancient sites the first time I saw a stone circle in Ireland in 1998 - my first trip abroad.  

I've already revised my trip back to Orkney even though May is a long way off.  I've changed my hotel booking to 4 nights and moved it to mid May.  At husband's suggestion, instead of flying - drive.  It's nearly 7 hours to the short ferry crossing to Orkney, so we've decided we'll drive to Inverness where his daughter's family lives.  He'll stay there and visit and I'll drive the rest of the way to the Orkney ferry (about 2 3/4 hours) the next morning.  No flights, no worrying about hiring one of the very few automatic cars on the island.  I also won't have to think about packing - I can toss in my camera bag, tripod, hiking boots, etc etc.  

There is a one day tour to one of the smaller islands that has the oldest dwelling:

http://www.papawestray.co.uk/tours.html

Or I could just rent a bike and tour this tiny island on my own for the day.


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## Vedaarya (Oct 21, 2016)

You really do a great job, sharing your travel experiences in such a way, Ameriscot. I used to think Scotland is famous for its spectacular scenery, but as I can see, it's worth visiting because of historical sites as well. I must add it to my travel list!  I visited England in 2006, saw a lot of magnificent places, but the cathedral in York impressed me most -  so old and imposing!


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## Ameriscot (Oct 21, 2016)

Vedaarya said:


> You really do a great job, sharing your travel experiences in such a way, Ameriscot. I used to think Scotland is famous for its spectacular scenery, but as I can see, it's worth visiting because of historical sites as well. I must add it to my travel list!  I visited England in 2006, saw a lot of magnificent places, but the cathedral in York impressed me most -  so old and imposing!



Scotland is packed with ancient sites and historical buildings.  Yes, you must visit Scotland!

I've been to York and loved the cathedral and the town.


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## Ameriscot (Oct 21, 2016)

Vedaarya, if you look in the photography section you'll see lots of Scotland photos I've uploaded.  Have done a lot of long bike rides and take lots of photos on those trips.


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