History Holidays

Orkney bleeds history.  Our stones speak for themselves - be they neolithic or otherwise.  Orkney abounds with ancient monuments over 5,000 years old, and our local island of South Ronaldsay is no exception.  We take pride in taking our guests to the neolithic (and nearby bronze age) site of the Tomb of the Eagles (see entrance pic below!) - for more detailed information see www.tomboftheeagles.co.uk.  We have had guests from all over the world who literally want to hug our stones and feel humbled by their presence.  Our circular brochs are awesome in age, construction and siting.  Anyone particularly interested in neolithic Orkney should visit Charles Tait's website www.maeshowe.co.uk or Sigurd Towrie's www.orkneyjar.com

In fact Orkney has had a strategic significance ever since humans settled here some 10,000 years ago, and has been sought after by the new stone age tribes, bronze and iron age tribes (the Picts), the Vikings, and of course we contemporary British.  Orcadians are justly proud of their Norse ancestry, indeed the islands were under Scandinavian rule for around 600 years, more Norse than Scottish to date (although the Viking Jarl above is an invader from Shetland!).  Orkney was of critical importance in both world wars and sadly suffered tragedy in both with the sinking of HMS Vanguard and HMS Royal Oak.  We tour Scapa Flow with some reverence to its natural and man-made aspects.

We visit lots of history, it's unavoidable in Orkney.  Whatever your favourite era, from new stone age to second world war - we can show it to you sympathetically.  Some islands are simply stunning from an historic perspective - Rousay isn't called the Egypt of the North for nothing, and the Westness Walk on Rousay is Steve's particular favourite Scottish timeline.

Please use the bookings page to book or enquire for 2012 weeks.