We loved our visit to Orkney, it’s the perfect place for a family holiday with lots of places to interest both adults and kids. I’ve written several blog posts about specific places we loved already, but here is our top 10 list of places to visit with kids in Orkney.
- Skara Brae. This neolithic site is fantastic to find out more about our past, check out my blog post here. It also has an amazing beach right beside the site.
- Orkney Beaches. The beaches in Orkney are gorgeous, with perfect clean sand and sea. Our boys had so much fun digging, splashing and playing with the ball at the beach. Our favourites were those at barrier 4, Newark Bay (east of St Margaret’s Hope at Kirkhouse, South Ronaldsay), Skaill Bay (near Skara Brae) and Rackwick on Hoy (a rocky beach, unless the tide is out, revealing a small strip of sand)
- Orkney Fossil and Heritage Centre. This was a great little museum for all of us. There are several interactive exhibits that kept the kids happy and a wealth of information about the construction of the barriers, fossils and artefacts from Orkney’s past (including information for tracing family trees). They also have AMAZING cakes in their little cafe. Well worth a visit!
- Broch of Birsay. This was one of my favourite places in Orkney and you can read more about Broch of Birsay here. It’s a tidal island, so check the tide times and then head over the causeway to visit the ruins of the broch, and walk up to the top of the island to see the lighthouse, views and if you’re lucky puffins!
- Tomb of the Eagles. This has been a topic of conversation in our house for weeks and was clearly one of the top places for our 4 year old. There is a great visitor centre, walk and a little trolley into the tomb itself. Read more in my blog post here.
- Standing Stones of Steness and Barnhouse Settlement. The stones are an interesting neolithic monument, albeit VERY busy with tours coming through. It’s a bit quieter along the path at Barnhouse settlement, which is actually thought to potentially be a ceremonial site. The kids loved learning about the construction of the houses and running around the stones whilst we explored.
- Orkney Museum and Gardens in Kirkwall. The museum in Tankerness House is VAST and extremely interesting, we spent hours wandering around with our little ones and then had a lovely picnic in the garden where the kids happily ran around within the shelter of the walls.
- Broch of Gurness. Another ruined broch, which is great to explore and guess what each stone structure was used for. Funnily enough, our 4 year old mostly remembers the quern stone inside, which we used to grind corn. Apparently that’s even more exciting than the ruins themselves!
- Ring of Brodgar. A giant stone circle, the third largest in the UK, situated on a narrow strip of land between two lochs. It is an extremely impressive circle and definitely a must visit. The only downside when we visited was that we couldn’t visit the entire circle due to restoration work being carried out to prevent more damage to the paths and ground around the stones. Once this necessary work is complete it will be much more atmospheric again.
- Ferry to an Island. We took the ferry to Hoy during our stay, which was great fun for the kids and meant we could visit another area of Orkney. You can take the car on the ferry to most islands, but just make sure you book in advance, as there is not much space on the ferries. If we visit again in would love to visit Sanday or Westray, they look rather interesting.
As you can probably tell from our photos we had an amazing time and despite the windy weather the boys loved everything. Older kids who can read will get a lot more out of the historical sites and if they are better at listening than our two, then sites where you are in an enclosed space for a tour, like Maes Howe, will be tolerable.
So if you were wondering whether Orkney would be too isolated for kids, it really isn’t. Take the whole family for an amazing adventure!
J x
Plutonium Sox says
I love that most of these places are both exciting and educational. We hope to spend more time in Scotland next year, and Orkney is on our list, along with the isle of Lewis.
Nat.x
Jenny Eaves says
Loved Orkney, definitely worth visiting! I visited Harris and Lewis pre-kids, but wasn’t so keen on Lewis itself (aside Callanish and Great Bernera island), I found Harris much more exciting.
Cheryl @ ReimerandRuby says
We have not been to Orkney yet, although my husband kept saying he fancies to go to the topmost part of Scotland at some point. It’s great to know that there are a lot of things to do there kids and adults alike. Thanks for sharing this. #Whatevertheweather
Sarah - Craft Invaders says
I’ve loved reading your Orkney posts Jenny – it looks stunning, and the archaeology is amazing – we’d all love to visit as a family 🙂
David Mellor says
Orkney is such a beautiful place. It looks like you had great fun while you were there. The beaches look world class and there’s so much rich history to immerse the little ones into. We can’t wait to visit.
Potty Adventures
#whatevertheweather
Emma - hip2trek says
Orkney looks amazing and your photos are beautiful. By the sounds of it my kids 8 and 5 would love the beach and the standing stones and ruined broch’s would keep me and Hubby entertained. You look to have had great fun!
Mackenzie Glanville says
looks like a gorgeous place to visit, I think that even when the weather isn’t perfect we can still have an amazing time, there we were soaked through in Melbourne and it was just an extra thing to laugh about. Your photos are lovely #whatevertheweatherkids
Leandra says
I really would love to visit Orkney, so much so I’ve even started looking for flights but sadly they are astronomical! 🙁 thanks for hosting #whatevertheweather xx
Jenny Eaves says
Oh no! You can drive up or get the train and then passenger ferry at John O’Groats and hire a car there? X
Leandra says
I need to have a look at options! That may be one, thanks xx
Emma says
what a fab top ten – and completely fun for kids but also interesting for us adults! win win! #Whatevertheweather
Sam says
Wow looks like an amazing place to visit! Our list of places to visit just gets longer and longer ha! #whatevertheweather
Merlinda Little (Glimmer of Hope) says
Amazing photos and the place looks stunning and fun to visit! #whatevertheweather
Hannah G, The 'Ordinary' Mum says
Scotland has been on our list of places to visit for some time now (we still haven’t gotten around to it) but I’ve now added Orkney to the list as a must to visit whilst there. I can’t believe how much there is to do and it looks beautiful too!! I’m a sucker for a beach and the coastline looks stunning! Thank you for hosting #whatevertheweather, very excited to read all about the next exciting stuff going on too xx
Sharon says
Oh wow those beaches are amazing. The boulders look just like the Seychelles but I guess the air temperature was a little different. I’d love to visit one day! Thanks for hosting #whatevertheweather
Clare's Little Tots says
I think Tomb of the Eagles looks like it would be my 4 year olds favourite place as well. The beaches look incredible would love to visit one day 🙂 #whatevertheweatherkids
Nell (the Pigeon Pair and Me) says
I was just watching a fascinating BBC4 programme last night that talked about Skara Brae! I was wondering whether it might be a good place to go with the kids – thanks for answering my question. Great post – I’m sharing it on Twitter and StumbleUpon.
Jenny Eaves says
It is a great place to visit and combined with the other neolithic sites around it makes for an interesting view on life at the time. Thank you so much for sharing! x
Claire says
My childhood friend used to holiday in Orkney. It looks beautiful so I can see why.
Naomi Rowan says
This is great to see! My parents live on Papa Westray which is a tiny island but lovely too – with its fair share of historical sites!
Clazz - An Orcadian Abroad says
Great post, glad that you and the kids enjoyed Orkney! 🙂 There sure is some interesting stuff up here!