Orkney
United Kingdom
Low green islands with a five-thousand-year-old village, a stone circle, and the sea in every direction
Photo by Ryan Denny on Unsplash
Photos by Pix Tresa, Mark Foster, Ryan Denny and Julia Taubitz on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of United Kingdom
May to September for the stones and the seabirds, and December for the midwinter light in Maeshowe and the Ba'
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 125mm in Nov
Where it is
58.98°N, 2.96°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Check the cruise-ship calendar and see the West Mainland sites on a day without one
- Book the Maeshowe tour ahead and check it is running
- Walk to the Brough of Birsay only with the tide table in hand
- Arrive by sea from Scrabster for the Old Man of Hoy from the deck
- Watch the Ba’ in Kirkwall on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day, from a doorway
Orkney travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget United Kingdom
ExpensivePound sterling, and contactless almost everywhere. A little cash helps on the smaller islands and at honesty boxes for eggs and fudge at farm gates.
ATMs & cards
The bank machines are in Kirkwall and Stromness. Beyond those two towns there are few, so draw before taking a ferry to the north isles.
Avoid these
- shop machines that charge, outside Kirkwall and Stromness
Use these instead
- the bank machines in Kirkwall and Stromness
Cards work almost everywhere; draw any cash before heading to the north isles.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of United Kingdom
Very safeVery safe. The hazards are wind, tide and cliff: the Brough of Birsay is reached by a causeway that the tide covers, Yesnaby’s cliffs have no fences, and winter gales cancel ferries. The aurora, the mirrie dancers, is seen on active nights low to the north, but cloud is the usual answer. On summer cruise-ship days Skara Brae and the Ring of Brodgar fill up by mid-morning — go early or late.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (8 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- Brough of Birsay — the causeway is cut off by the tide; check the times posted at the car park
- Yesnaby — unfenced cliffs and strong gusts
- the Churchill Barriers — waves break over the road in a storm, and it is sometimes closed
- Ferry and flight cancellations in winter gales — leave a spare day either side
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa United Kingdom visa rules
Travel authorisation requiredup to 180 days£16
An Electronic Travel Authorisation is required before travel — it is not a visa, but you will not board without it. Valid two years or until the passport expires.
Other passports
Visa required in advancefrom £115
A Standard Visitor visa applied for online before travel.
How to get it: Apply for the ETA through the official UK ETA app or the gov.uk page. It usually comes back within minutes but can take up to three working days.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Before you fly: travel authorisation
UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)Required£20
Before you fly. Most come back within minutes, some take three working days.
Have these in front of you before you start:
- passport
- a passport photo
Valid for two years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first — it is not per trip.
Use the official link above. Sites that charge a "service fee" to submit one of these for you are not the government, and they want the same passport details the real form does.
Travel tipsHealth & emergencies all of United Kingdom
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
Emergency treatment in A&E is free to everyone regardless of nationality. Follow-up care, admission and repatriation are not, so insurance still matters. Pharmacists can treat many minor problems without an appointment.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodOrkney beef and lamb, scallops and crab, and the island cheese and fudge. Two whisky distilleries — Highland Park and Scapa — sit on the edge of Kirkwall, and the Orkney Brewery is in an old schoolhouse near Skara Brae.
Travel tipsGetting around
Limited- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- FREE NOWWorks here
FREE NOW black cabs and private hire in one app
- Against a taxi
- A black cab is metered and costs more; the apps are cheaper everywhere except short central hops.
Outside the cities the coverage thins quickly — in a small town the local minicab firm on the telephone is still the answer.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/London — 5 hours ahead of you
3 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–12:00 your time, 14:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 04:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 04:00–12:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of United Kingdom
Why these are United Kingdom's numbers and not Orkney's
Home broadband — Fast. Several people on calls at once, large uploads, 4K. Broadband here runs at 1.4× the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fair. Maps, calls and streaming; tethering a laptop works for an hour, not a day. Mobile runs at 69% of the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Orkney, so these are medians for all of United Kingdom. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Travel tipseSIM
A data eSIM for United Kingdom, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
British English — local usage
- Hello, informallyYou alright?
- ThanksCheers
- Yes, definitelyYeah, no worries
- That is expensiveThat is a bit steep
4 more phrases
- The bill, pleaseCould we get the bill, please?
- Sorry (used constantly)Sorry
- Very goodBrilliant
- A drink before dinnerA swift half
Religion
Church of England, and largely secular
The Anglican church is established by law with the monarch at its head, while actual attendance is low. Cathedrals often charge entry but are free during services.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Queue, properly and without comment — jumping one is the closest thing to a national taboo
- Say sorry constantly, including when someone else bumps into you
- Stand on the right on escalators
- Buy a round if you are drinking in a group, and buy yours in turn
Don't
- Do not skip your round; it is noticed and remembered
- Do not ask what someone earns or what their house cost
- Do not take "we must do this again sometime" as a firm plan
- Do not expect table service in pubs unless the sign says so — order at the bar
Where to stay in Orkney
No Holistay rentals in Orkney yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Orkney on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Kirkwall KOI
10 minfrom the airport· 4 km as the crow flies
10 min to Kirkwall.
Also worth pricing: Inverness INV — drive or take the train north to Thurso, then the ferry from Scrabster.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
