Day 1 – Friday
We depart from London Luton on a morning flight to Aberdeen. (Please note we can also offer flights from other regional airports to Inverness or Edinburgh, however due to the flight times this may require you to have an additional night in either Inverness or Edinburgh – please contact our office for more details and a quotation). On arrival in Aberdeen we will travel north west, stopping en-route for refreshments. We will continue to Scrabster in time to catch the evening Northlink ferry to Stromness, where dinner will be served in the restaurant on board. On arrival in Orkney we will transfer the short distance to Kirkwall where accommodation has been arranged at the comfortable Kirkwall Hotel, overlooking the harbour.

Day 2 - Saturday
Enjoy your full Scottish breakfast. We begin this morning with a visit to Maeshowe, the finest chambered tomb in Western Europe. Built before 2700 B.C. Maeshowe was raided by Vikings in the 12th Century. It houses the largest collection of runic inscriptions to be found in any one place in the world. We later enjoy a visit to the Orkney Winery. The Orkney Wine Company produce traditional fruit wines and liqueurs. They believe in doing everything as naturally as possible, allowing them to produce healthy sulphur free wines that are full of anti-oxidants. We will enjoy a guided tour of the Winery followed by a chance to sample a few of their products. Following our visit we will enjoy a tour of the south end of mainland Orkney, crossing the Churchill Barriers which were built after the sinking of the HMS Royal Oak in October 1939. The causeways are built of 5 and 10 ton concrete blocks and have good roads on the top connecting Burray and South Ronaldsay to the Orkney mainland. We also stop off at the beautiful Italian Chapel, built on the site of a former prisoner of war camp. Several hundred Italians, captured during the North African campaign of World War II were sent here to work on the Causeways and converted two huts into a chapel. The marvellous paintings in the interior were done by Domenico Chiocchetti, one of the prisoners who has returned several times to restore and repaint parts of the building. In the evening we have arranged a "Grand Orkney Buffet" at the hotel.

Day 3 - Sunday
Enjoy your full Scottish breakfast. Today we will visit the archaeological sites of Skara Brae, with its new visitor centre depicting the history of this world famous monument; and the Standing Stones of Stenness, lying to the north side of the Orphir Hills. Dinner will be served at the hotel in the evening or, alternatively, you may wish to take up the option of dinner at Alan and Joyce Craigie’s superb Creel Restaurant at St Margaret’s Hope. Local produce is used whenever possible, including the freshest of local fish – wolf-fish, megrim, torsk and sea-witch being some of the more unusual species available. Add to this organic salmon, prime Orkney beef and seaweed-fed lamb from North Ronaldsay, locally grown vegetables and fruit, together with the ales and whiskies of the islands and some carefully chosen wines, and you have the ingredients for a truly memorable dinner.

Kirkwall Hotel, Orkney