Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland Port Reviews

Went to see some standing stones. Probably a good day to skip a port if you are looking to do so.

We were there from 6am till 2, so just wandered around the city. Main church is beautiful.

One of our favorites. Small village, not crowded and interesting.

Cute town. Not much to do.

Beautiful countryside.

The Orkney Islands are beautiful. Kirkwall is small and walkable with several interesting places to visit. Even so, I recommend booking an excursion so you can see the rest of the island. We toured the Bishop's and Earl's palaces in Kirkwall. Both were built in the 12th century and are very interesting. We also visited St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. It's the northernmost cathedral in the UK and is impressive and beautiful.

Gorgeous area, we did excursion

Catch a free, convenient shuttle at the port (it runs every 15 minutes) and go straight into Kirkwall. It's a quaint town loaded with history alongside modernity. We spent the day roaming, even coming upon a wedding letting out, with the bridal party in kilts walking through the streets. St. Magnus Cathredral is spectacular, with an organist setting the mood as the tourists explored artifacts. Honestly, we weren't too excited about this particular stop, which was near the most northern tip of Scotland, because we didn't think there would be much to do. True, it wasn't an action-packed day, but we needed somewhat of a break to gear up for the next 2 very long days in port, and it was very interesting learning about its Viking History.

Oh, whoa, another tender ashore. Cold and rainy, of course. We explored the town, that was charming. We're not shoppers, so we returned back to our warm and dry ship.

Distillery tour was excellent. Food good too at the various shops and cafes away from the downtown (Cathedral) area.