Where to Stay in Orkney: Kirkwall, Stromness, Hoy or the Outer Isles?

Orkney is not one decision but four. You are not picking a hotel — you are picking which version of these islands you want to wake up in. The cathedral capital with its bus station and its restaurants? The flagstone harbour town where the Scrabster ferry comes in? The wild Hoy clifftop with the Old Man two hours' walk from your front door? Or the outer isles, where the kettle boils on island time and the puffins outnumber the visitors? Each base gives you a genuinely different trip. This guide is the decision tree, not the listicle.

How to Choose Your Orkney Base

Before the long answer, the short one. If you only have a minute to pick where to stay in Orkney, find your traveller profile below:

Who it suits

Kirkwall is the answer for first-timers, no-car travellers, families, and any trip where you want to move through Orkney without losing a day to logistics. The town is small enough to walk end to end in twenty minutes and busy enough to have proper restaurants open on a Sunday. The airport sits five minutes east; the bus station runs the only services that connect the West Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Houton (for Hoy); the inter-island ferry pier is a ten-minute walk from the cathedral.

What's on your doorstep

St Magnus Cathedral and the Earl's Palace, the Orkney Museum, the harbour walk, Highland Park distillery (a ten-minute walk up Holm Road), twelve-plus restaurants ranging from chip shops to bistros, a Tesco and a Lidl, the Orkney Library on Junction Road. The town's main streets — Broad Street, Albert Street, Bridge Street, Victoria Street — form a single walking spine south of the harbour. You do not need a taxi.

Hero stay · hidden gem

For the central pick, Orkneyinga is the apartment we send most reader emails to: a renovated self-catering flat on Laing Street, one minute's walk from St Magnus, 9.5 on Booking from 135 stays. Two bedrooms, full kitchen, the kind of place where you arrive late off the Scrabster ferry, dump bags and walk to a pub in three minutes. For the hidden gem, Karrawa Guest House sits on Inganess Road on the quieter east edge of the town centre — 9.4 on Booking from 99 stays, family-run, breakfast cooked-to-order, the kind of B&B that gives you genuine local recommendations rather than a printed flyer.

If you want the full ranked list of Kirkwall hotels — not just guest houses and apartments — our editor's top 8 Kirkwall hotels covers the Orkney Hotel, the Kirkwall Hotel, the Lynnfield, the Ayre, the Albert and four more, ranked one to eight for trip type. The Kirkwall location page lists all thirty-six stays across the town if you need to widen the search beyond editorial picks.

Who it suits

Stromness suits photographers, foodies, travellers arriving on the Scrabster ferry, and anyone whose trip is shaped around the West Mainland Neolithic sites or the cliffs at Yesnaby. The town is smaller than Kirkwall — about 1,800 residents to Kirkwall's 7,000 — and built along a single mile-long flagstone street that wraps the inner harbour, with gable-end houses pointing seawards in classic Hamnavoe arrangement. There is no airport, no major supermarket beyond a Co-op, and one main pub-restaurant cluster; but the Pier Arts Centre alone is worth a Stromness night, and you wake fifteen minutes' drive from Skara Brae.

Stepping out

The Hamnavoe ferry from Scrabster comes into the pier at the foot of Victoria Street; the Pier Arts Centre is a six-minute walk along the flagstones; Stromness Hostel and the Stromness Museum are five more; the Ferry Inn and Hamnavoe Restaurant flank the main street for evening meals. If you take the B9056 north out of town, Yesnaby's sea-cliffs are fifteen minutes by car, Skara Brae and the Bay of Skaill twenty-five. The Ring of Brodgar is twenty minutes east on the A965. Stromness accommodation along the flagstones tends to be self-catering apartments and small guest houses rather than the larger hotels of Kirkwall.

Hero stay · hidden gem

For the hero pick, Lindisfarne Bed & Breakfast earns 9.6 on Booking from 382 reviews — the strongest score of any Stromness property with that volume of stays. It is a family-run guest house on the south edge of the town, walking distance to the harbour but quiet, and the kind of breakfast that ruins you for hotel buffets. For the hidden gem, Harbour Cottage on Ferry Road is the self-catering pick — a small flagstone cottage with its front door looking across the harbour water, 9.3 on Booking from 34 stays, perfect for couples wanting their own kitchen and a window onto the gable ends.

Who it suits

Hoy is the wildest of the Orkney islands and the home of the Old Man of Hoy — the 449-foot sandstone sea stack — and the Dwarfie Stane, a 5,000-year-old rock-cut tomb. The island suits hikers committing to the eight-mile Rackwick-to-Old Man walk, storm-chasers who want the highest cliffs in Britain, dark-sky photographers, and travellers who would rather hear gannets than other travellers. The catch is logistics: limited accommodation, two ferry routes (passenger from Stromness to Moaness, or roll-on-roll-off from Houton to Lyness), and a thin bus service from the ferry piers. Day-trippers cross, see the visitor centre, and miss the cliffs.

Reality check

You need to commit at least two nights or it is not worth the ferry. Bring your own car if you can, or be willing to walk five to eight miles a day. There is no supermarket on Hoy — one small shop at Longhope and the cafe at Rackwick will not feed you a full day's groceries. Mobile data is patchy. Most stays close from November through March. For the practical detail on ferry timings, walks and which side of the island matches which interest, a fuller week on Hoy covers the whole island.

Hero stay

The honest answer for Hoy itself is that on-island accommodation is thin: a handful of B&Bs and self-catering cottages clustered around Moaness and Rackwick. Most fill out four to six months ahead in summer. Orkney Lux Lodges — Hoy Lodge is our pragmatic editor's pick — a 9.6-rated villa on the Stromness side that gives you a clear view across to the Hoy hills and one straightforward day-trip ferry to walk the Old Man. For purely on-island stays, book the Stromabank Hotel (Longhope) or the Old School Inn directly through the Hoy & Walls community website — both sit outside our affiliate inventory.

Who it suits

The outer isles — Westray, Sanday, Rousay, Papa Westray, Eday, North Ronaldsay, Stronsay — suit wildlife watchers, archaeology obsessives, walkers who actively want to be the only person on a clifftop, and Orkney return-visitors who have already done the West Mainland. Westray and Papa Westray together hold the shortest scheduled flight in the world (Loganair, ninety seconds gate to gate). Rousay is the "Egypt of the North" for chambered cairns. Sanday is one long pale beach. Papa Westray's Knap of Howar is the oldest standing house in northern Europe. None of these reward a day trip.

How to get there

Two routes. Either Loganair inter-island flights from Kirkwall Airport — nine routes a day across the isles in summer, twelve to twenty minutes' flying time, around £46 to £55 return — or Orkney Ferries roll-on roll-off boats from Kirkwall, Tingwall and Stromness piers, ninety minutes to two hours' sailing time, around £19 return for a foot passenger. Both routes are part of the experience; the flight especially is the trip in microcosm. For schedules and the planning detail on doing this without a car, the inter-island ferry timetable covers the full network.

Hero stays by island

On Sanday, Braeswick B&B is the editorial pick — 9.6 on Booking, sea-view bedrooms, breakfast with island produce, the kind of place where the hosts drive you to the beach if you ask nicely. For longer Sanday stays or for travellers wanting a kitchen, Orkney Retreats runs one to three-bedroom self-catering farmhouses across the island, 9.7 on Booking from 28 stays. On Westray, a two-bedroom house overlooking Pierowall Bay is the only Orkney Stays listing on the island — 9.5 on Booking, a hand's reach from the harbour, fifteen minutes' walk from Noltland Castle. Rousay and Papa Westray sit outside our affiliate inventory at the moment; for Rousay, book the Taversoe or Trumland House directly through the Rousay community website, and for Papa Westray the community-run hostel at Beltane House remains the standard answer.

Splitting Your Stay — The 2+2 Option

For a four to six-night first trip the strongest move is to split your stay. The standard route is two nights in Kirkwall plus two nights in Stromness; or three plus two if you want the slightly fuller week. Kirkwall and Stromness are fifteen minutes' drive apart along the A965, so you do not lose a day to logistics. The case for two bases is real: Kirkwall gives you the airport, the restaurants and the inter-island ferry pier; Stromness gives you the Neolithic sites on your doorstep and the flagstone-street atmosphere that Kirkwall, for all its strengths, does not have.

If you have a car, a more interesting split is one urban night (Kirkwall) plus one rural night (a farmhouse on Mainland's west or north coast). The change in light alone — from working-town orange streetlamps to a single farmhouse on a hillside — reshapes the trip. Three days in Orkney with two genuinely different settings feels longer than five days in one place.

Hotel vs Guest House vs Self-Catering vs B&B

What each property type actually costs in Orkney in 2026, and which to pick for which kind of trip:

• Hotels (Kirkwall and Stromness mainly). £110-£220 a night room-only. Best for travellers wanting a full bar, restaurant, night porter and breakfast in the rate. The Orkney Hotel, Lynnfield, Kirkwall Hotel and Ayre Hotel are the four established Kirkwall hotels; the Stromness Hotel, the Ferry Inn and the Royal Hotel cover Stromness. The smaller outer isles have none.
• Guest houses and B&Bs. £85-£140 a night with breakfast. The strongest single value bracket in Orkney — family-run, breakfast cooked-to-order, hosts on site with local knowledge. Polrudden, Karrawa, Shorelands, Lindisfarne and Braeswick all score 9.0-plus on Booking. Best if you want genuine Orcadian advice rather than a hotel front desk.
• Self-catering apartments and cottages. £90-£220 a night, no breakfast. Best for stays of four nights or more, families, longer trips where you want a kitchen and the freedom to eat in. Stromness leans heavily this way; Kirkwall has a growing apartment cluster on Bridge Street, Laing Street and Frasers Close. For the top of this bracket — hot tubs, sea views, dog-friendly properties — see our curated luxury cottage picks.
• Hostels (Kirkwall and Stromness). £28-£35 a night dorm, £65-£80 twin/private. Kirkwall Youth Hostel, Orcades Hostel, Stromness Hostel. Best for solo travellers, cyclists, and anyone arriving on the late ferry without a hotel booking.

When to Book — And Why Outer-Isles Stays Need 8-12 Weeks Lead Time

Two booking rules to know. First, festival weeks: the Orkney Folk Festival (late May, Stromness-led), the St Magnus International Festival (last week of June, Kirkwall-led), and the County Show (mid-August, Kirkwall). All three sell out central accommodation three to four months ahead. Second, peak vs shoulder: mid-May to mid-September is high season with rates 30 to 50 percent above November-March. Early May and late September are the best-value shoulder weeks — the same daylight you actually need (sixteen hours in May, twelve in late September) without the peak prices and the cruise-day crowds.

Outer-isles accommodation works on a different clock. Inventory is small (Westray has maybe ten listings, Sanday eight, Papa Westray three), and locals book repeat returnees first. Eight to twelve weeks lead time is the minimum in May-September; closer to twelve weeks if you want a specific cottage on Sanday or the community hostel on Papa Westray. Booking three weeks out for the outer isles in July is the most common reader email we get — and the hardest to answer well.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where should first-time visitors stay in Orkney?

Kirkwall. Orkney's capital is the most walkable base for a first visit — every restaurant, bus route, museum, distillery tour and the inter-island ferry pier sits within a ten-minute walk of St Magnus Cathedral. You can reach Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar and Stromness by bus or short drive without losing a day to logistics. Pick Stromness or Hoy only on a second visit when you already know what you came for.

Where is the best place to stay in Orkney if you don't have a car?

Kirkwall is the strongest no-car base. The town bus station runs services to Stromness, Houton (for the Hoy ferry), Tingwall, St Margaret's Hope and Burwick, and the inter-island ferry terminal is a ten-minute walk away. Stromness works too if you are arriving on the late Scrabster ferry and want to stay close to the pier, but services beyond Stromness require a connecting bus back through Kirkwall.

Should I stay in Kirkwall or Stromness?

Kirkwall for convenience and breadth: more restaurants, more accommodation, the bus hub, the airport, the cathedral, the museums, Highland Park distillery, and the inter-island ferry terminal. Stromness for atmosphere and West Mainland access: the flagstone streets, the Pier Arts Centre, the Hamnavoe ferry from Scrabster, and a fifteen-minute drive to Skara Brae and Yesnaby. If torn, split your stay — two nights in each, and the fifteen-minute drive between is part of the trip.

How many nights do you need in Orkney?

Three nights is the minimum for the West Mainland highlights (Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar, Maeshowe). Five nights lets you add Kirkwall properly, a day on Hoy and Highland Park. Seven nights opens the outer isles — at least one of Westray, Sanday or Rousay for archaeology, wildlife or wild walking. Less than three nights and you are mostly travelling, not staying.

Is it worth staying on Hoy?

Yes — but only if you commit a full two nights or longer. Hoy is the wildest of the Orkney islands and the home of the Old Man of Hoy sea stack and the Dwarfie Stane chambered tomb. The catch is logistics: it is a ferry leg from Houton (passenger ferry to Lyness) or Stromness (foot passengers and cars to Moaness), and once you are there the bus service is thin. Day-trippers see the harbour and not much more. Stay overnight and you actually walk the cliffs.

Where do you stay to visit Skara Brae?

Stromness or Kirkwall — both are inside a thirty-minute drive of Skara Brae. Stromness is slightly closer (about twenty-five minutes via the B9056 along the Bay of Skaill) and a more atmospheric base if your trip is shaped around the West Mainland Neolithic sites. Kirkwall has more accommodation choice and more restaurants. From Kirkwall it is a thirty-minute drive each way, or a Stagecoach 8S bus to Stromness then a connecting service in summer.