Orkney 2024 | Bay Farm Tours

Orkney & The Scottish Highlands

fascinating agriculture and rich history

9 Days

24th May to 1st June 2024

All transport within the itinerary

Quality Accommodation of 4* and above

Experienced Tour Guide from the UK

All gratuities

Our journey takes us over the Queensferry Crossing and north through the magnificent Highlands, stopping overnight en route in Inverness, before travelling along the East Coast section of North Coast 500 to Gill's Bay, where we catch the ferry to St Margaret's Hope on Orkney mainland. This is an area steeped in history with many ancient wonders and more recent World War 2 history, in addition to excellent agriculture, crystal clear waters, big skies and interesting wildlife.

What's Included

Standing Stones of Stenness
Ring of Brodgar
Skara Brae & Skaill House
Entrance to Barony Water Mill
Orkney Brewery Tour
Churchill Barriers and Scapa Flow
Entrance to The Italian Chapel
Tour of a popular Distillery
Visit to John O’ Groats
Visit to Castle of Mae (subject to it being open)
Agricultural visits including dairy, sheep, beef and arable

2 nights near Edinburgh
4 nights in Kirkwall, Orkney
2 nights in The Highlands
Breakfast each morning
3 Lunches
7 Evening meals
Experienced Bay Farm Tours Tour Manager
Local Guide on Orkney
All gratuities
Baggage handling at each hotel

Itinerary

Book Today

Let us know you're interested and we we will send a full itinerary to you. Just fill in the booking form and we will organise the rest. Any questions? Give us a call or send us an email, we would love to hear from you so please do not hesitate!

1/14

Sightseeing

We see the Standing Stones of Stenness, The Ring of Brodgar and of course Skara Brae, a Neolithic village which was discovered following a storm. Add to this beautiful bays, quaint towns & villages and of course Scapa Flow. Here, warships in both world wars were protected by the natural harbour, created by the surrounding islands and in World War 2 by the addition of the Churchill Barriers. A famous tourist attraction is the Italian Chapel, created by Italian prisoners of war brought over to build the barriers.

Pace

Grade B

All of our tours are graded A to D according to the pace of the tour, with A being the least active. To find out more, please click here or on the goat!

Meals

Breakfast each morning

3 Lunches

7 Evening Dinners

More about your tour

Book Today

Agriculture

Oats, barley and wheat are the main crops, with grass for both silage & hay. Bre Barley is grown and acknowledged as the oldest cereal in continuous cultivation in the British Isles. Dating back to approximately 3000 BC, it is thought to have been brought over by the Vikings and can be sown in spring due to the long hours of daylight and harvested in the summer.

History

We visit a farm which is situated on the site of a World War 1 & 2 army camp, where gunnery buildings can still be seen along the shore. This 340-acre farm has 120 cattle, mainly Aberdeen Angus which understandably is a breed very evident on Orkney. On leaving the farm we travel the short distance to the famous Italian Chapel. This tiny chapel, created from a Nissan hut by Italian prisoners of war, now stands as a sign of hope and peace

This is a one off letter as I have

never ever written to a holiday company before thanking them, but on this occasion I just had to put pen to paper, as it truly was a fantastic holiday. I can honestly say I enjoyed every minute. From the very first day to the last every day had its wonderful surprises. Thank you Neil and everybody at Bay Farm Tours for organising, being with us and helping us on all the interesting occasions throughout our tour.

Mr and Mrs A

Copley, Co Durham