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Voykit pocket guide · United Kingdom
Stenness
Base in Kirkwall or Stromness and treat Stenness as a half-day: the Stones and Ring of Brodgar are free and open 24 h, Maeshowe needs a booked tour.
Stenness is a scattered village on the A965 between Kirkwall and Stromness, holding the core of Orkney's UNESCO-listed Neolithic landscape: the Stones of Stenness, the Ring of Brodgar and Maeshowe, with Skara Brae a few miles north. There is almost no village centre, so most travellers sleep in Kirkwall or Stromness and visit on a half-day or full-day loop. Two nights on Orkney covers it; Stenness itself needs three to four hours plus travel.
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Best months
- May–Jun, Sep
- Avoid
- Nov–Feb (short daylight, weather), mid-summer cruise-ship days for Maeshowe
- Stay
- 2–3 on Orkney nights
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- GBP
- Money
- Currency is the pound sterling (GBP, £). Cards and contactless work almost everywhere; some places are card-only.
- Daily spend
- Budget £45–75 excl. bed · Mid £75–130 excl. bed · High £130+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- EE, Vodafone (merged with Three in 2025) and O2 run the networks; prepaid SIMs sell in supermarkets, phone shops and airport vending machines, no registration needed.
- Emergency
- Police, fire, ambulance 999 · Police non-urgent 101 · NHS non-urgent 111
- Plugs
- Types G · 230 V · 50 Hz · Three-pin Type G only; European, US and Australian plugs need an adapter. Bathrooms have two-pin shaver sockets only.
- Tipping
- Restaurant with table service: 10–12.5% if no service charge is on the bill; check before adding more.; Pub or bar: Not expected; 'and one for yourself' offers the bartender a drink.; Taxi: Round up or 10%.; Hotel porter: £1–2 per bag.; Tour guide: £5–10 per person for a day tour; free walking tours expect £10–15.
- Water
- Tap water is safe everywhere. Free refills are common; restaurants will bring tap water if you ask.
- Toilets
- Public toilets are scarce and some charge 50p–£1 or are card-only. Stations, museums, department stores and pubs (if you buy a drink) are the fallback.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Maeshowe tour, adult / conc / child | £10 / £8 / £6 |
| Skara Brae with Skaill House, adult / conc / child | £12.50 / £10 / £7.50 |
| Stones of Stenness, Ring of Brodgar and Unstan Cairn | Free, open 24 h |
| Coffee or tea and cake | £4–7 |
| Pub main course | £12–18 |
| Bus X1 single, Kirkwall–Stenness | £3–5 |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- KOI · Kirkwall Airport
- About 20–25 min by road from Stenness; flights from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness
Typical fares
- Bus X1, Kirkwall → Stenness
- about 20–25 min
- Bus X1, Stromness → Stenness
- about 15 min
- Maeshowe tour
- adult £10, booked from the visitor centre
Show 7 more sections and the pocket cardHideGet around, See and do, Sleep, Phrase card, Etiquette, safety and scams, One and two days, Sources, Pocket card
Get around
Bus X1 runs hourly along the A965 between Kirkwall and Stromness, and from April to October it extends to double back from Stromness past Stenness, the Ring of Brodgar and Skara Brae. Bus 5 runs twice Monday–Friday from Stromness to Stenness, Ophir and Houton for the south Hoy ferry. You can walk between the Maeshowe visitor centre, the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar, but there is no footpath in places. A car or bike makes the loop far easier.
See and do
Known for
- Stones of Stenness
- Ring of Brodgar
- Maeshowe chambered tomb
- Barnhouse Neolithic village
- Unstan Chambered Cairn
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Skara Brae and Skaill House | Bus X1 (April–October) or drive north on the B9056 | About 30–40 min by road |
| Kirkwall | Bus X1 east on the A965 | About 20–25 min |
| Stromness | Bus X1 west on the A965 | About 15 min |
| Birsay | Drive or bus via the A967/A986 | About 40 min |
Sleep
- Stenness and Harray
- A handful of B&Bs and a hotel on or near the A965/A964; quiet, car needed for everything.
- Stromness
- About 15 min west; harbour town with more rooms, food and the Scrabster ferry.
- Kirkwall
- About 20 min east; the largest choice of beds, buses and services on Orkney.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Hello | Hello |
| Thank you | Thank you |
| Please | Please |
| Where is the bus stop? | Where is the bus stop? |
| One ticket, please | One ticket, please |
| Can I pay by card? | Can I pay by card? |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Handshake at first meeting; 'hi' and first names quickly; avoid: Cheek kisses with strangers
- Conversation: Weather is a safe opener; understatement and self-deprecating humour; avoid: Asking about salary or class
- Queues: Join at the back; avoid: Pushing onto buses or trains before others get off
- Apologies: 'Sorry' is said constantly, even when not at fault; avoid: Taking it as an admission of blame
- Pubs: Buy rounds in a group; wait at the bar without waving money; avoid: Clicking fingers at staff
- Nations: Call Scots Scottish and Welsh Welsh; avoid: Calling the whole UK 'England'
Scams and watch-outs
- Maeshowe entry is by booked tour only, from the visitor centre about a mile west of the tomb; it often sells out in summer and on cruise-ship days.
- Do not go to the old visitor centre near the Stones of Stenness turn-off or to the road outside the tomb: there is no access from there.
- Walking between sites means sharing or crossing roads with no footpath in places; wear something visible and watch traffic.
- Mobile signal is patchy on EE, O2 and Three and absent on Vodafone (as of 2024): download maps and tickets before you set out.
- Ring of Bookan is on private farmland with no public access.
Orkney is a low-crime, low-risk place; the real hazards are weather, single-track roads and walking between sites on roads with no footpath. Signal is patchy, so tell someone your plan.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Stenness yet. Suggested stay: 2–3 on Orkney nights. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- Stones of Stenness
- Ring of Brodgar
- Maeshowe chambered tomb
- Barnhouse Neolithic village
- Unstan Chambered Cairn
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- Historic Environment Scotland — Maeshowe: www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/maeshowe-chambered-cairn/
- Historic Environment Scotland — Stones of Stenness: www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/stones-of-stenness-circle-and-henge/
- Historic Environment Scotland — Ring of Brodgar: www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/ring-of-brodgar-stone-circle-and-henge/
- Historic Environment Scotland — Skara Brae: www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/skara-brae/
- Wikivoyage: Stenness, revision 5272387 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5272387
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
Stenness
To this address, please
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
No embassies in Orkney; the nearest consulates and embassies are in Edinburgh. US citizens: consulate general in Edinburgh (check).
Tipping: 10–12.5% in restaurants if no service charge is added; not expected in pubs.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/stenness). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.