First visit to Orkney

Toffeecat

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Hi all, just wondered if anyone has any advice on visiting Orkney. Me and the missus are having our first adventure in the motorhome and wondered if theres any good places to camp, best company to use for ferries, any advice really that might help us.

Thanks

Mick
 
Pop in the search bar the site held a meet there ....a hidden jewel in my world I did the Scrabster crossing interesting

Channa
 
Toffeecat said:
Hi all, just wondered if anyone has any advice on visiting Orkney. Me and the missus are having our first adventure in the motorhome and wondered if theres any good places to camp, best company to use for ferries, any advice really that might help us.

Thanks

Mick
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i live 7 miles from J O groats the best ferry is from gills,you can wild park anywhere on orkney.plenty of beaches camp sites,you can olso take the day ferry from john o groats,leave your motorhome in groats for the day free parking,and just take bus tour,of orkney,not that much to see in orkney,
 
I have mixed feelings about Orkney....
The actual terrain was a little on the rolling side rather than my fave epically mountainous...
A lot of the early history stuff left me with a feeling of it being a tad commercialised...
However the ww2 stuff was fantastic (and just left au natural) some nice spots to stop including a spot just along the beach from Skara Brae... With tap and 24hr toilets.
They seem to love to collect scrap on Orkney too.... Sadly little of it 'interesting' scrap lol....
Ohhhh and expect it to be windy....












 
Endless places to wild camp on Orkney, nice simple camp site in Stromness very close to the port with great views.
 
dawolf said:
i live 7 miles from J O groats the best ferry is from gills,you can wild park anywhere on orkney.plenty of beaches camp sites,you can olso take the day ferry from john o groats,leave your motorhome in groats for the day free parking,and just take bus tour,of orkney,not that much to see in orkney,
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your joking? Skara Brae,, Maes How ring of Brodgar bfore you start with Churchils barrier the Italian chapel a day in Cleethorpes doesn't compare

Channa
 
Water etc

Council sites at Stromness and Kirkwall allow waste/toilet emptying and fresh water fill up without camping. No barriers at Stromness , facilities outside barriers ar Kirkwall. Oh, you can get a shower at both as well.

Helen
 
Hoy

Don't miss out on a trip to Hoy whatever you do.

Quite unlike the rest of the islands and you can stay for up to a week at Rackwick for nowt. From the car park the Old Man of Hoy is about ninety minutes walk and the effort is repaid tenfold, promise.

Cheers

H
 
'Best ferry' depends on what you ask from a ferry!
Gills Bay- St Margarets hope is the shortest (fastest) crossing and is usually cheaper depending on the size of your Motorhome but its a bit like a bus service and usually fully booked during the summer - you also have to reverse on (if thats an issue for you)

Scrabster - Stromness is a much nicer boat with resturants and bars and more like a conventional ferry there is almost always space available although it may be a little more expensive.




the campsite in Kirkwall is excellent but expensive (£25 last year) Stromness isnt bad and is a little cheaper but really wild camping is so easy and good there is little point in using a campsite unless you really need to (laundry, a good shower etc)
 
I have just priced the two ferries for my annual pilgrimage to Ness of Brodgar
Pentland ferries (Gills Bay) is either £2 cheaper or £3 dearer than Northlink (Scrabster) depending on whether or not I claim by bike rack (for which Pentland charge £5) as I am below 6m even with the rack I dont see why I should claim it but they may have a different view!

As it happends I usually use Northlink due to the proximity to Brodgar - the fuel saved easily covers the extra fare

A lesser consideration is that the Northlink boat very rarely gets cancelled due to bad weather - even in the height of summer it can get rough!

My wife came over one August and there were people being sea sick when the boat was still in harbour at Scrabster!
 
orkney

channa said:
your joking? Skara Brae,, Maes How ring of Brodgar bfore you start with Churchils barrier the Italian chapel a day in Cleethorpes doesn't compare

Channa
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it all depends what you are into.as i said live and breath,north east scotland,its so easy for travellers like you to have the wool.pulled over there eyes,orkney,has been changed,for the purpose.it is so comercialised.it is one of the big rip of in tourism,scotland.skara brae,as you like to speak about.has been build up so that it is not recognisable.from its original state.there is a lot more on history,in caithness sutherland which is free to visit.£175,for car and 2 adults on ferry,and then they have the cheek,to ask £8 per person,to see skara.i live and worked in flotta,for years in 60s 70s.so please do not tell me about north east scotland,or orkney,as i do not think you know what yo are talking about,if you think the churchils barriers and chapel are really tourist hot spots,then i think you should delve into the real history of north east scotland.before making an uneducated opinion.
 
Council sites at Stromness and Kirkwall allow waste/toilet emptying and fresh water fill up without camping. No barriers at Stromness , facilities outside barriers ar Kirkwall. Oh, you can get a shower at both as well.
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whilst the above is true Kirkwall at least have a charge for waste dump and water fill - I believe that last year it was £5 that said the staff go off duty at 19.00!


it (Orkney) is so comercialised.it is one of the big rip of in tourism,scotland.skara brae,as you like to speak about.has been build up so that it is not recognisable.from its original state.there is a lot more on history,in caithness sutherland which is free to visit.£175,for car and 2 adults on ferry
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SkaraBrae and Maeshowe are the cash cows of Orkney archeology there is an aweful lot of really good interesting stuff on Orkney which is free including complete intact neolithic tombs (Cuween for example) stone circles, henges, standing stones Viking stuff and a host of world war stuff.


If you are prepared to go to Rousay (sorry thats another ferry) you will find a concentration of grand Neolithic monuments like no where else in the world!
I cant quite understand why the fact that you need to use a ferry to get to Orkney means that the stuff once there should be free? It would cost me £20 in petrol to get to Belfast Opera house does that mean that they should let me in for free?
 
sorry in my above rant I neglected to mention the FREE access to the archeological dig at Ness of Brodgar which is possibly the most impressive neolithic site in Europe

**Its free but a few coins in the collection barrel are appreciated - the dig runs on a shoe string with almost no funding and I believe that this year it is particularly short of money
 
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