Cabins near Kirkwall with campfires
Orkney’s “big city” is a charming port surrounded by green lands offering coastal camping.
Popular camping styles for Kirkwall
Cabins near Kirkwall with campfires guide
Overview
Kirkwall is capital of the flat, fertile Orkneys, and the biggest ferry port, with connections to Aberdeen and Lerwick on the Shetland Islands. The sense of otherworldliness begins as you disembark your ferry or plane in the green, almost treeless, openness, the strong winds, the smell of salt, and the stone houses bunched around the harbour. Historic and culturally vibrant, Kirkwall offers a convenient place to stock up on outdoorsy provisions before journeying elsewhere. Unusual for a town, Kirkwall is also surrounded by green slopes conducive to pitching up, with two big (if blustery) modern camping and caravan parks respectively north and just west of the centre.
Where to go
Burray and South Ronaldsay
The easiest adventure from Kirkwall is south to these two rocky isles, once only accessible by boat, now linked by causeway but still retaining a special island-like character, and lined with sandy coastal hikes. The causeways that link these isles, the Churchill Barriers, protect Scapa Flow, one of the world’s largest natural harbours and a fantastic spot for snorkelling or wreck diving. South Ronaldsay has a couple of small campsites, with glamping pods and pre-erected bell tents also available.
Hoy
Rugged Hoy is like no other Orkney Island—wild and mountainous where others are neat and flat. There are lots of places to overnight in the outdoors here: Rackwick’s bothy and wild camping are perhaps best. The best hike is from Rackwick to one of Scotland’s most famous rock stacks, the Old Man of Hoy.
Birsay and North Mainland
It’s not far from Kirkwall to the far side of Orkney mainland, with Birsay, reaching its spectacular best at weather-bashed tidal island the Brough of Birsay, as far as you can go without needing a boat. The Birsay Outdoor Centre provides lush flat pitches in what is otherwise one of the mainland’s wildest moorland areas.
When to go
Orkney’s maritime climate prevents temperatures from dropping too much in winter (it rarely snows) but stops it getting very hot in summer—bring (very) warm gear for camping, even in midsummer. Within the April-to-September tourist season, the sun, rain, and wind can come any time and often all at once, but ferries, flights, and busses run full schedules during this period. April and September are the best crowd-free months.
Know before you go
- Kirkwall has Orkney’s only airport with flights to mainland Scotland—flights also leave to many outer Orkney Isles.
- Ferry and flight connections between Orkney mainland and its isles do not run very regularly. Check schedules carefully, and be aware that weather can turn in an instant and cancel any schedule.
- Kirkwall and Stromness are the only places with shops to stock up on camping essentials.
- Whilst wild camping is allowed in Scotland, Orkney is not the best place for it, as a high percentage of land is farmland.
- Winds get very strong—hold onto your canvas when setting up camp.
