At the Heart of Neolithic Orkney are the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar. This is, along with Maeshowe and Skara Brae a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Orkney News has put together some tips about how and when to visit these magnificent sites whether you are a visitor to Orkney or a local we hope this is helpful.

The Ness of Brodgar excavation will be open from 26 June to August 16, for the last time.

Located on the Brodgar road (B9055) in the West Mainland the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar are free and open at all times. They are managed by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) who provide a Ranger Service. There are excellent informative walks provided by the Ranger service at these sites. Click on the links below to find out the times and dates of those:

• Stones of Stenness and Barnhouse Village Walk
• Ring of Brodgar Walk

The walks are free. During the summer day times the HES Rangers also have an information kiosk at the Ring of Brodgar.

How to get there

By Car:

Both sites have car parks. These get extremely busy from about 10am to 4pm in the summer months. The car park at the Stenness Stones has a ‘one way’ system and is small. The car park at Brodgar is larger but can also fill up quickly, and both car parks have dedicated parking for buses. The Ring of Brodgar has a few limited disabled parking spaces at the gate into the site. There are no public toilets at either site.

There is a delightful walk between the two sites and round the loch. Most of the walk has a pedestrian pathway which runs alongside the road except for the crossing point between the two lochs.

The road is a single lane one with passing places. During the summer if motorists park up in the passing places this can cause significant travel issues and delays.

By Bus

There are two bus routes, till 27 October, which will take passengers directly to the Stenness Standing Stones and the Ring of Brodgar.

X1 via Ring of Brodgar – Skara Brae: this bus will also stop at Skara Brae Neolithic Village. Please Note that if you get the X1 which does not go via Skara Brae etc then it will not drop you off at the Brodgar Road end, for road safety reasons.

8S, Quoyloo/Skara Brae : this bus will also stop at Skara Brae Neolithic Village

T11: This is a bus tour around the popular sites. The entire tour is £21 per person. It operates till  25th September 2024.  The T11 ticket allows unlimited travel on the T11 bus route as well as any other Stagecoach Orkney buses on the same day. It stops at the Ring of Brodgar for half an hour.

The full range of bus routes is included at the end of this article.

Both the 8S and X1 via Skara Brae can get busy if cruise liners are in, especially if there is more than one. You can check on those details here: Orkney Harbours Cruise Ships.

The bus drivers are very helpful and will advise you on the best ticket to purchase or you can ask in the Kirkwall Travel Centre. Visitors from Scotland who have a concessionary travel card can use that.

You can hail the bus along its route and there is a bus station at the Travel Centre in Kirkwall. At Stromness the bus stops at the Northlink Ferry terminal.

Walking and Cycling

If you are on foot please remember to walk facing the oncoming traffic. For both walkers and cyclists even in summer it is advised to wear bright clothing. The roads have a speed limit of 60mph unless otherwise stated and can get very busy. At the Ring of Brodgar there are dedicated spaces where cyclists can secure their bikes in the car park.

You can download a copy of the Orkney local bus services here:

Fiona Grahame