Heart of Neolithic Orkney

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Heart Of Neolithic Orkney (1999). A Cluster Of 5,000 Year Old Monuments On The Orkney Mainland: The Stone Houses Of Skara Brae, The Great Stone Circle Of The Ring Of Brodgar, The Stones Of Stenness And The Chambered Tomb Of Maeshowe. Older Than Stonehenge And The Pyramids, In A Windy Treeless Landscape · Stromness, Scotland

The Heart of Neolithic Orkney is a UNESCO World Heritage cluster of monuments about 5,000 years old on the Orkney Mainland, older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. Skara Brae is a village of stone houses with stone beds and dressers, buried by sand and uncovered by a storm in 1850. The Ring of Brodgar is a vast stone circle on a narrow strip between two lochs, and the Stones of Stenness stand close by, both free and open air. Maeshowe is a chambered tomb with a long low passage and Viking runes scratched on the walls by Norse raiders. Together they sit in an open, treeless landscape that is windswept and often wet. Skara Brae and Maeshowe are ticketed; the two circles are not. This is a remote trip, not a day out: you need a ferry or flight from northern Scotland, then a car or tour. Kirkwall and Stromness make good bases. The famous Ness of Brodgar dig is now backfilled, so there is little to see there.

Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar, the Stones of Stenness and Maeshowe, on the Orkney Mainland, reached by ferry or flight from northern Scotland, Stromness, Scotland, United Kingdom

The Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness are FREE and open air, so they are accessible at all hours, day and night, in any weather; there are no staff and no gates. Skara Brae, run by Historic Environment Scotland, has a visitor centre with a replica house and is open daily in summer, with shorter hours in winter and some days or dates closed. Maeshowe is visited only on timed tours, which must be booked and are collected from the visitor centre; it is often CLOSED on some winter days and runs fewer tours out of season. Last entry is usually well before closing. Ferry and flight timetables change with the season and weather, so confirm every opening time and tour slot close to your date.

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