Off the Beaten Path: LTD visits the Orkney Islands at the 59ºN Latitude

The Orkney Islands are off the beaten path but such a meaningful and beautiful place to visit!

Enjoy our visit and wait for our visit to the Ring of Brogdar at the end of the video below! The spellbinding stone circle - the Ring of Brodgar - is arguably the most iconic symbol of Orkney's prehistoric past. It is a site of ritual and ceremony, and hauntingly beautiful.

Stuck in the North Sea just beyond the tip of Scotland, the Orkney Islands often fail to register with tourists, but are FILLED with beauty and history. Too often, they're excluded from the map of Europe’s worthwhile hot spots. And with a latitude of 59ºN, they’re definitely not tropical: you won’t find white sand beaches and hammocks strung up between coconut trees here.

Instead, this scattered archipelago of 70 islands — two thirds of which are uninhabited — has a time-worn, slightly mystical charm of its own. All day we had Outlander on the mind! Like Claire and Jamie, we visited cliff top vistas, sat among heather fields, and dare we say, stood amount standing stones! You will see it all on the Orkney Islands, travelers will be rewarded with storm-battered cliffs, ancient stone circles, and ominous-looking “sea stacks,” which rise from the churning blue water like swords.

They might appear far away, but for travelers, these islands are entirely accessible by air or sea. Kirkwall is a thriving capital with shops and tour operators, frequent ferry service connecting the islands, and Europe’s highest concentration of ancient Neolithic sites (all of which are open to visitors). From the moment we arrived, we felt the warm embrace of the locals eager to tell us about their home.

Get yourself a great pair of European travel shoes the color of the Ocean to help you anticipate your Scottish Adventure!  Click the photo to learn more:

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