Orcades Ouest: Mystères Celtiques & Paysages Époustouflants

We had a great day touring many of the beautiful sites of West Orkney with our driver and guide George. A lovely local man with tons of knowledge and stories about his home. We were very lucky that the weather was superb that day and we were able to see the best of everything. We started with the Unstan Chambered Cairn. Fortunately George brought knee pads as there was a bit of crawling to get in. Then on to Skara Brae. Such a fascinating place! George walked us around with details of the history and the culture of the site, then left us to wander about on our own. Nice long visit here! Up next the Ring of Brodgar. The good weather gave us access to wander among the stones up close. Standing Stones of Stenness was a truly magnificent site. Also able to walk among the stones and hear the stories. Then Yesnaby Cliffs, which are spectacular. Highly recommend this tour, and if you are lucky enough to have George as your guide you will have a great time!

Gerry was great company--informed, enthusiastic, his delight in Orkney and its antiquities was infectious. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and will recommend

We did the tour on 6.10.2025 our tour guide was George he was very friendly knowledgeable and kept us entertained during the tour even though he was in a lot of pain with an injury. We visited Skara brae which has a cafe on site which would recommend staff friendly and the fresh sandwiches were delicious. We also went to Scapa flow and learnt about the Germans sinking a ship and the fleet had left was so informative. We also went to ring of Brodgar, Yesnaby cliffs unson chambered Cairn, standing stones of Steness. We were a bus of 7 strangers and we all had an amazing day. Would highly recommend George as tour guide.

I went on this tour the week of 6th October. Chris, our tour guide was knowledgeable, friendly, on time, happy to chat with the group as the conversation flowed onto various topics around Orkney life and its history. I was lucky that it was a smaller group as it's heading into the off-season. Transport was just right too. I'd recommend it. If you want to get the most time at the stops to look around, taking my own snacks worked well.

We arrived as part of a cruise. The free shuttle on cruise days to get to start of tour was simple, quick, and no waiting. This tour was my favorite of 8 excursions throughout Ireland and Scotland. Chris was our Guide and he provided so much knowledge of each of the remarkable sites, and visited each site with our small group of six. From the Cairn to the cliifs to the Ring of Brodgar to the Stones of Steness, the history was so interesting. As a bonus, we had great weather. Highly recommend!

If you are like me who could only visit Orkney in a day (yes we came from a cruise ship), and have no access to drove a car, then this tour is perhaps the best to see all the most interesting sites in the Orkney island. Most people would only visit Skara Brae (yes there is a bus) but in this tour you will also see Unstan Chambered Cairn (an ancient tomb several thousand years ago, which you can get inside), the Ring of Brodgar (the ring is huge, you can get closer than stone henge, though you can't go inside) and the Standing Stones of Stenness (this one you could get really close!) It is almost impossible to see them all with public transport alone. We were lucky to have Iain as a tour guide for this tour. Of course he is one of the certified guides in Orkney but he has also worked in Skara Brae many years before. This means he knew his stuff inside out, not just about Skara Brae but all the facts and history of the Neolithic settlements in Scotland, as well as modern Orkney. An expert guide really helped to bring the tour alive when all you see were just stones. This tour is more focused on the unique archaeological finds (I am not a history buff but because of their uniqueness I decided this was the opportunity not to be missed) but you will also have a chance to look at the beautiful nature and landscape at the Yesnaby cliffs. Orkney is also famous of its WWII past, we did not have time to see these sites but Iain filled us in all the details while driving, including the Scapa Flow, the chapel made by the Italian prisoners and the significance of the book inside St.Magnus Cathedral to the sailors who died in WWII. Most importantly, this tour helped me learnt a lot about this island, which I have not even heard of before, and yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it (except the weather, but then it could be worse) One word of warning: They only operate in small groups of 8 so the tour could fill up very quickly, especially if you come by a cruise. We were in the waiting list at one point. Booking in advance is essential.

Excellent knowledgeable an friendly guide. Comfortable transport. Sufficient time at each location stop to absorb the history and Wonderful Scenery.

Our trip started with the wonderful Ian in an eight passenger van [not including Ian] with Ian wearing a headset so we could hear EVERYTHING he said while driving. Ian even repeated questions asked him, ensuring we knew what he was talking about. What a fabulous and thoughtful addition to a tour. Hands down that started a tour off on a high note having such a high caliber guide. Ian was so informative, there is no way I could recapture everything he imparted to us! There was never a dead moment, something ALWAYS interesting or funny was shared. He also encouraged us to ask questions too, so there was never a doubt he was making sure we were getting everything we wanted out of the tour. We visited: Unstan Chamber Cairn [go inside, you'll be thrilled! and its not creepy at all], Cliff of Yesnaby, Skara Brae & Skaill House, Ring of Brodgar, and Standing Stones of Stenness. We also drove by Scapa Flow at the start of tour. NOTES: Bring your own lunch or like us, a protein bar so we didn't have to waste time grabbing something to eat. Use the toilets at Skaill House! The wind is fierce so bring something to cover your ears and tie back your hair, the wind is no joke and was everything we dreamed of! We were lucky with dry weather, but were prepared with rain jacket and quick dry pants and water proof shoes [You will be walking on lots of uneven dirt paths] Our cruise ship brought us to the Kirkwall Travel Center early in morning and we walked around the village before the meet-up time, which was in same parking lot. Very easy to navigate. This was a 4.5 hour tour and it zipped by. I was by no means finished with Ian to educate me more and will certainly use Orkney travel again, we will be back :)

I highly recommend this tour of the West Mainland. We visited several Neolithic sites. There were only four of us in the van and our guide Iain was excellent. Our first stop was Unstan Chambered Cairn, a 5300-year-old Neolithic tomb. We had to crawl on our knees to get inside. Iain was prepared with knee pads for us in the van! Our next stop was the scenic Cliffs of Yesnaby. The highlight of the tour was Skara Brae. This 5000-year-old village is Europe's best preserved Stone Age Village. Before we entered the village itself, we went inside a replica house. Then we walked through the actual village. The Visitor Centre had a video about Skara Brae and some exhibits. It began to rain as we headed to our next stop. The Ring of Brodgar is one of the largest stone circles in Britain. It was built between 2600-2400 BCE. The oldest stone circle in the UK is the Standing Stones of Stenness. They were erected between 3100 and 2900 BCE. Only four of the 11 original stones still remain standing. In five hours, we managed to see the main sights of the Orkney mainland. I enjoyed this tour very much.

Orkney Travel made our visit to their lovely island perfect. The helpful staff quickly sorted out us being in the wrong pickup place and went out of their way to ensure we had a great experience. Our tour guide Rachel was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the incredible history of the places we visited, we felt very privileged to have visited the well cared for ancient places on the island. Also enjoyed the NorthLink ferry trip to the island from Thurso, the staff on board are lovely. We saw the old man of Hoy on our way back, such a bonus.