Orkney: Day 2, Birsay, Yesnaby, Earl’s Place & Orphir

According to our weather app, today was going to be the best weather day of our week and we wanted to take advantage of it. We were unable to schedule a ferry trip to the Island of Hoy as they were all booked up, so we decided to visit the Brough of Birsay which is a small island that is only accessible by foot two hours on either side of low tide. It is very important to give yourself enough time to explore the island and make it back to the mainland before the tide comes back in. The cautious part of me wanted to arrive in Birsay as close to the 2 hour mark before low-tide as possible, which meant our target time of arrival was approximately 6:30 a.m. and from our apartment it was a 55 minute drive. We ended up arriving in Birsay about 7:15 a.m., which turned out to be perfect. We were not the only ones there - which I thought might be a possibility - there were other early risers.

What makes the Brough of Birsay a must see is the ruins of a Picts and Norse settlement, as well as the magnificent cliffs and ocean views, with nesting birds nestled in the crevices of the cliffs.
After walking through the ruins of the settlement and trying to imagine what life was like back then, I was on a mission to spot a Puffin, as they build their nests in the cliffs of the island. I never did spot a Puffin, although we met a photographer who did get a glimpse of one earlier that morning and had captured the moment on film. The island walk was beautiful and well worth our early rising time. We were back on the mainland within a couple of hours and then visited the ruins of Earl’s Palace, which are visible from the island, and are in the village of Birsay. The palace was built in the late 16th century by Earl Robert Stewart. We then made our way down the street to wait for the opening of a sweet, wee cafe that had great coffee and scones and offered amazing views of the ocean.

During breakfast we decided that our next stop would be in Yesnaby which promised us a wonderful walk with “unforgettable views of cliffs and stacks.” Wow! I had no idea the sheer beauty we were in for. What an incredible walk with, as they promised, unforgettable views. The water below was crystal clear which also gave us views of the underwater rocks. We watched one man practicing his rock climbing skills. On our way back we met him on the side of the trail. He said that the rocks were perfect for climbing. Of course, he was tethered to a rope in case he fell. Earlier we had watched him climb from the bottom to the top of the cliff, and then repel back down to do it all over again. We clapped and cheered for him in the distance, but he told us he did not hear the cheering:

On way home we drove through Orphir, which is a part of the island that we had not visited yet. While there, we visited the Orkneyinga Saga Center and ruins of the Round Kirk (church) which part of a Norse settlement and is Scotlands only circular medieval church dating back to the early 12th century (according to the visitor guide). We also walked through the old cemetery, which we seemed to do a lot during this trip.

It was a beautiful day in Orkney!