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Orkney open-jaw vehicle-ferry circuit: Route Guide

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Ring of Brodgar Orkney — Orkney
Photo: Stevekeiretsu · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

A green archipelago where the Stone Age is casually underfoot: Skara Brae's 5,000-year-old village, the Ring of Brodgar at midsummer, and wartime Scapa Flow with its Italian Chapel built by POWs from two Nissen huts. Kirkwall's red sandstone cathedral is the finest Norse building in Britain. Distances are tiny; millennia are not.

Orkney open-jaw vehicle-ferry circuit is a 50 km one-way journey (self-drive). It works best as a 4-day trip; the plan below is the 4-day version for June, built from 54 verified places, with planned transit times, opening hours and daylight checked.

4
days
50km
distance
5
Stops
54
curated stops

Plan your own version → 4-day plan · best time to go

The route

Scrabster ferry terminal→Stromness & Neolithic Orkney→ 25 kmKirkwall→ 25 kmSt Margaret's Hope→Gills Bay ferry terminal

What you'll see

Stromness Museum
Discover Orkney's natural history, maritime exploits, and wartime stories.
Stromness & Neolithic Orkney
Grain Earth House
Enter an Iron Age chamber via a 5-m underground passage.
Kirkwall
Italian Chapel
Admire the ornate decor of this chapel built by Italian prisoners of war from Nissen huts.
St Margaret's Hope
Ness Battery
See the remnants of a 1915 artillery post guarding Scapa Flow's entrance.
Stromness & Neolithic Orkney
Scapa Distillery
Tour the distillery producing slightly peaty single malts since 1885.
Kirkwall
Orkney Fossil and Heritage Centre
Explore an extensive collection of fossils and learn about Orkney's history and the Churchill Barriers.
St Margaret's Hope
Pier Arts Centre
Explore modernist and St Ives school art in an 18th-century merchant building.
Stromness & Neolithic Orkney
Highland Park Distillery
Visit the world's northernmost Scotch whisky distillery.
Kirkwall

Choose your length

4-day plan13 stops · 8.7 h transit3.2 stops/day · 2.2 h transit/daySee the full plan →

When to go

Best months: April, May, June, July, August, September, October

This open-jaw own-car product requires a confirmed NorthLink Scrabster–Stromness vehicle sailing and a confirmed Pentland Ferries St Margaret’s Hope–Gills Bay vehicle sailing. Recheck both services, weather and island roads for the exact dates.

See the month-by-month breakdown →

Similar journeys

Plan your own version →