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Cathedral
St Magnus Cathedral
Red and yellow sandstone cathedral founded in 1137 by Earl Rognvald for St Magnus; open daily April to September, Monday to Saturday in winter.
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A mini guide to
Kirkwall & central Mainland: things to do
Places worth your time in Kirkwall & central Mainland
Top places
Things to do in Kirkwall & central Mainland
Landmarks, museums, parks and viewpoints in and around the area.
Palaces
Bishop's and Earl's Palaces
The Norse-era Bishop's Palace, where King Haakon IV of Norway died in 1263, beside Earl Patrick Stewart's Renaissance palace of the early 1600s.
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Museum
The Orkney Museum
Orkney's story from prehistory to today in Tankerness House, a museum since 1968, with Pictish stones and grave goods from the Scar Viking boat burial.
Whisky distillery
Highland Park Distillery
Distillery and visitor centre on the southern edge of Kirkwall, described as the northernmost single malt Scotch whisky distillery.
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Whisky distillery
Scapa Distillery
Whisky distillery on the shore of Scapa Flow, half a mile south of Highland Park, with a visitor centre offering tastings.
Neolithic tomb
Wideford Hill Chambered Cairn
Well-preserved tomb about 5,000 years old with a high central chamber and three cells, entered through the roof; inside is rare Neolithic scratch art.
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Neolithic tomb
Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn
Neolithic tomb about 5,000 years old above Finstown, where the bones of people, dogs and oxen were found.
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Iron Age earth house
Grain Earth House
Underground Iron Age chamber on stone pillars, reached by its original entrance and a 5-metre winding passage, on the edge of Kirkwall.
Iron Age earth house
Rennibister Earth House
Stone-lined underground passage and chamber found in 1926, the only earth house where human remains have been found: about 18 people.
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Museum
Orkney Wireless Museum
Radios from the 1930s onwards, plus wartime displays on how Scapa Flow was defended, with Spitfire radios and spy suitcase sets.
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Coastal walk and Norse chapel
Brough of Deerness
Clifftop walk to a rocky stack almost cut off from the Mainland; rock-cut steps and a chain lead up to a small 11th-century Norse chapel.
Norse church and hall
Earl's Bu and Church, Orphir
St Nicholas's round church, one of only two round medieval churches in Scotland, beside the ruins of Earl Paul's hall from the Orkneyinga Saga.
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Orkney
More areas to explore
21 sights · 12 places to eat
Stromness & the West Mainland
Skara Brae, Maeshowe and the stone circles, Stromness harbour and the cliffs of Birsay and Yesnaby
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13 sights · 7 places to eat
Scapa Flow, the South Isles & Hoy
The Italian Chapel and Churchill Barriers, St Margaret's Hope, and Hoy's hills, Old Man and wartime Lyness
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17 sights · 5 places to eat
North Isles: Rousay, Westray & beyond
Rousay's tombs, Westray's castle and cliffs, the Knap of Howar and the lighthouses of the outer isles
Open the mini guide →Photo credits
- Kirkwall & central Mainland (area photo): Robert Scarth, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- St Magnus Cathedral: Mike Pennington, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Bishop's and Earl's Palaces: Van de Beek at nl.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- The Orkney Museum: Andrew Abbott, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Highland Park Distillery: Mark Crook, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Scapa Distillery: Lakeworther, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wideford Hill Chambered Cairn: David Wyatt, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn: adrazahl, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Grain Earth House: Otter at Dutch Wikipedia (Original text: Hopmans), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rennibister Earth House: Otter at Dutch Wikipedia (Original text: Hopmans), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Orkney Wireless Museum: G J Coyne, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Brough of Deerness: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Earl's Bu and Church, Orphir: David Wyatt, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Stromness & the West Mainland: Dr. John F. Burka, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Scapa Flow, the South Isles & Hoy: Gregory J Kingsley, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- North Isles: Rousay, Westray & beyond: MichaelMaggs, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Photos from Wikimedia Commons, used under the licences shown. All photo credits