I’ve been hiking across the Orkney Islands for more years than I care to count, so I am always astonished to find new awe-inspiring places to write about. Many of the hidden gems in the following list, I only encountered for the first time in 2025!

There are so many hidden brochs in the landscape in Orkney. There’s one on the edge of the Loch of Ayre, which is nestled beside the village of St Mary’s in Holm, just before the first Churchill Barrier over to the Italian Chapel.

If you’ve seen Orkney’s main attractions and are looking for some lesser-known treats to visit, then why not try some of these historic sites, rugged coasts, and stunning viewpoints in the year ahead?

See also:
Ten hidden gems of Orkney
Ten more hidden gems of Orkney
An extra ten hidden gems of Orkney
Ten further hidden gems of Orkney
Ten additional hidden gems of Orkney
Another ten hidden gems of Orkney
Ten new hidden gems of Orkney
Ten other hidden gems of Orkney
A list of ten Orkney hidden gems

1. Mid Hill, Orphir

I’ll start the list with one of the most impressive gems – for Mid Hill in Orphir (272m) is the tallest summit on the Orkney Mainland. Usually, the tallest hill on each island is called Ward Hill, and there is a Ward Hill nearby, but Mid Hill beats it by being just 3m taller!

To reach Mid Hill, I’d recommend departing from Stenness Primary School (there’s ample parking there too) and walking up the Ireland Road, past the Old Manse, and following an old peat track towards the tallest peaks. Eventually the peat track will run out, and you’ll need to take big steps over heather, following a fence leading uphill. You can cross the fence using a style to reach the summit of Mid Hill.

As you look around from the summit’s cairn, you’ll see Stromness, the hills of Hoy, Scapa Flow and the Neolithic heartland of Orkney below. I was nearly blown over by the wind on a fine summer’s day!

2. The Point of Ayre, Deerness

I’m quite fascinated by Copinsay – a small wedge of an island with a lighthouse blinking away at its highest point – a 76m high cliff edge.

The Point of Ayre in Deerness lies just 1½ miles away and is the point on Orkney’s mainland that is closest to Copinsay. This makes it a great place to see Copinsay up close (without actually getting on a boat!) Being a low exposed cliff, the Point of Ayre is a dramatic and desolate place, and there are three wind turbines here which take advantage of the bracing winds! The shoreline here is made of black rocks – evidence of a basalt lava flow from the distant past.

A recommended walk is to depart from Dingieshowe beach, leaving that lovely shore behind, and follow wooden steps and a coastal path towards and past Newark beach and on to the Point of Ayre. It took around 3 hours, there and back. Look out for Muckle Castle, a small rock stack and volcanic rock plug, along the way…

3. Kilns of Brin Novan, Rousay

I (and two friends) discovered the Kilns of Brin Novan almost by accident. We had a couple of hours to kill on the island of Rousay before sailing back to Orkney’s mainland, and chose to visit these amazing sea cliffs, arches and blowholes, which are located in the north of the island, near Saviskaill Bay.

We parked up at the cemetery and walked through a farm, carefully closing gates behind us. The trail was quite uneven and boggy (turning a pair of white trainers quite brown), but eventually we made it to the island’s edge, where we discovered chasms – alarming open holes which look down into an interconnected series of sea caves. It was almost as if the entire area was made of Swiss cheese!

Kilns are a good name for this spectacular hidden gem, as the destruction of the cliffs by raging winter waves is on an almost industrial scale. The open shafts, eroded caves and rocks strewn around the clifftop offer an impressive demonstration of the power of the sea!

4. The George Mackay Brown trail

George Mackay Brown was a writer whose work features Orkney, its people, folklore and history. I’m still in awe of his beautiful poems and stories. GMB lived in Stromness, and this trail (created by the Orkney Arts Society in association with the Stromness Museum and the George Mackay Brown Fellowship) passes many of the Stromness places that were important to him and his life and work. These include his birthplace, his father’s workplace, and his home.

I love the trail as it offers a fascinating insight into GMB’s life, but also because it guides you to more obscure places such as Hellihole Road, Puffer’s Close, the former Braes Hotel, Khyber Pass and Franklin Road. I think these nooks and crannies, each with their own story to tell, are what make Stromness such a special place!

Follow the GMB trail

5. North of Skaill, Sandwick

Orkney author, Amy Liptrot, wrote in her spellbinding book, The Outrun, now a film starring Saoirse Ronan, about tremors from the sea on Orkney’s coast:
“The geology of the West Mainland coast, strewn with sea stacks, sloping rocks and treacherous currents is the first place to look. It is possible that the booms and tremors are caused by wave action within caves deep below the fields.”

You can experience this for yourself by parking up at St Peter’s Kirk, near Skara Brae at the Bay of Skaill, and following the coastal path north, away from Skaill itself. Soon you’ll see the farm and caravan – a location from The Outrun movie – and you’ll hear the deep bass rumble of the sea as it meets the rock shelf on the shore.

Energetic explorers can continue along this spectacular bit of coastline and will eventually be rewarded with the Stack o’Roo (a sea stack) and the fishermen’s huts at Marwick.

Please stay close to the shore though, as the farm and fields are private land.

6. Eynhallow

Eynhallow is a lovely little uninhabited island, which can be found between the mainland parish of Evie and the island of Rousay. The name means ‘Holy Island’.

In 1841, the island had a population of 26, but a plague or possibly a contaminated water supply forced the families that lived there to flee just ten years later. To make sure no one would return, the Laird removed all the roofs from the houses. That was when one of the residential buildings was discovered to have once been a church. Stories from the Orkneyinga Saga suggest that there might have been an earlier church or even a monastery there, but no one can be sure.

These days Eynhallow is tricky to get to because of the strong currents between islands, but the Orkney Heritage Society organise a yearly trip there, each July. On an evening, a ferry from Tingwall is chartered, and it lands on the beach of Eynhallow, its ramp touching the shingle beach like a D-Day landing. It’s a very special evening on an enchanting island, and tickets sell out fast, so make sure you grab some for this year’s trip!

A fun Eynhallow fact – Orcadians once believed that no rats or mice could live on Eynhallow, so in the past, farmers from Evie would use soil from the island to prevent vermin from infesting their corn!

7. The Broch of Ayre, Holm

I love how there are so many hidden brochs in the landscape in Orkney. Brochs are Iron Age buildings, 2,000 years old, circular and grand – status symbols at one time. There’s one on the edge of the Loch of Ayre, which is nestled beside the village of St Mary’s in Holm, just before the first Churchill Barrier over to the Italian Chapel. The Broch of Ayre is mostly grass covered now, but its shape is clearly defined.

I’d recommend a walk around the sheltered loch, which can be muddy, but is just filled to the brim with wintering wildfowl, including long tailed ducks, velvet scoters, great northern divers, and red-breasted mergansers. I took a further walk along the coast, and was treated to fabulous views of Scapa Flow.

8. The wreck of the Irene, South Ronaldsay

Along the exposed east coast of South Ronaldsay, there’s a shipwreck with a very sad tale.

On 17th March 1969, the Liberian steamship Irene was being driven towards the rocky Caithness coast and, battered by wind and waves, it sent out a distress signal. The Kirkwall and Longhope lifeboats went to her rescue, but in gale force ten winds, the Longhope lifeboat TGB was lost at sea, and all 8 crewmen perished. The Irene drifted ashore at Grimness, and, thankfully, all the men on board were rescued by breeches buoy (a rope-based rescue device similar to a zip line) from the shore.

Nowadays, fragments of the ship and its engine can be still be seen from the low cliffs near Grimness. Seeing part of the story on the shore is a vivid reminder of the tragedy of the Longhope lifeboat. You can reach the Irene by taking a well-worn path from the Millennium Stone near St. Peter’s Kirk, or you can reach the site from the picturesque bay at Honeysgeo. The third choice, to undertake a circular walk from the Millennium Stone to the Irene, Grimness, Honeysgeo and back, is the option I would recommend!

9. The Gas House, Shapinsay

My family and I spent the best day in Shapinsay last summer, hiring e-bikes which allowed us to fully explore the island. We peddled to Mill Dam nature reserve, to Burroughston Broch, and to the lichen-covered standing stone Mor Stein. Very close to our starting point in Balfour village, and to the ferry, however, there was an intriguing building that I think is a hidden gem! The Gas House is an imposing cylindrical building which almost looks like a castle turret.

Coal gas was made here from around 1860 to the 1920s, and it was used to light Balfour Castle and the village and pier. Gas lamps are much brighter than oil lamps, and this would have been a very impressive feat by David Balfour, the landowner at the time. The Gas House is also notable in that there were efforts to make the industrial building appear more ancient – it was built using stones from Noltland Castle in Westray to achieve this effect!

10. The Burray trig point

I first discovered this hidden gem on a golden December day with a friend, and cannot recommend this really easy, pleasant walk highly enough. The summit in Burray can be reached by parking in Burray village and walking west past the school and then following a road uphill. You’ll need to leave the tarmac and follow a farm track – this well-trodden path leads visibly to the highest point of the island.

Though the Burray trig point is only 80m above sea level, the view here is wonderful – and is perhaps one of the only places in Orkney where you can see all four Churchill Barriers at once. There’s a stunning panoramic view of the south isles, and also the uninhabited island of Hunda nearby (which has its own concrete causeway, built perhaps as a prototype barrier.) Hunda is now private land, so the view from the Burray summit is one of the best ways to see it!

By Magnus Dixon
Orkney and Shetland enthusiast, family man, loves walks, likes animals, terrible at sports, dire taste in music, adores audiobooks and films, eats a little too much for his own good.

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