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HIGHLANDS & ORKNEY

4 days / 3 nights - Saturday to Tuesday

Right at the tip of the British Isles, off the northern-most point of Scotland, lie the stupendous Orkney Isles. This is a destination that must rank high on all travelers' lists - if not, then it should do! Undoubtedly one of the most interesting places on earth, Orkney offers a mix of outstandingly rugged coastal scenery (teeming with bird and sea-life), the greatest single collection of pre-historic remains in the World, 'contemporary' sites dating from the two great World Wars of the 20th century, castles, interesting harbors, and a complete range of 'folk' sites. Our tour departs from and returns to Inverness and we make the most of the sightseeing opportunities en route to the island through Europe's last great wilderness region.

The tour departs at a time that enables participants to connect with early trains to and from Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Alternatively, with a day to spend independently in Inverness between tours, you can link this itinerary with our 3-day tour of The North-Western Highlands. Together, they make a marvellous, contrasting picture of Northern Scotland. Accommodation in Inverness can be booked at a specially discounted rate.

DEPARTURE DATES & PRICES FOR YEAR 2008

Tour Code	Depart Inverness	Return Inverness
ORK	Saturday	Tuesday
ORK 01	07 Jun	10 Jun
ORK 02	12 Jul	15 Jul
ORK 03	06 Sep	09 Sep
ORK 04	04 Oct	07 Oct

Cost: $1049 USD per person in a twin share room. Single $1089 USD single occupancy

What your tour price includes: Your accommodation for 3 nights while on the tour including both full breakfasts and dinners. Your price also includes all entrance fees to attractions, transportation, services of driver/guide-companion and all taxes and tips other than those you may wish to give your guide.

Airport transfers and accommodation pre and post tour is not included but can be reserved at a specially discounted price. Transfers or train tickets to Inverness are not included but can be organized on your behalf on request.

TENTATIVE ITINERARY

DAY ONE - Saturday

Our tour departs from Inverness at 11.00, allowing joining participants to travel up on either the day prior or on the morning train from Glasgow/Edinburgh. The train journey is itself a somewhat spectacular ride through the Highlands.

We'll then enjoy a journey through Europe's last great wilderness and the stark beauty of it all is quite simply astounding. Highlights include the Dornoch and Cromarty Firths and the tidal expanse of Loch Fleet where we are likely to watch seals. You'll see historic sites such as the Dunrobin Castle and its planned gardens; Golspie's astonishing 90' high statue of the First Duke of Sutherland, notorious for the Clearances in the Highlands in the 19th century and some of the small fishing and crafting settlements of this remote region.

We'll arrive at Scotland's northern most tip, to catch our ferry to the Orkney Islands at 19.00, arriving on the island at 20.30. The ferry ride across is naturally stunning in the context of the late evening setting sun.

NIGHTSTOP: Kirkwall or Stromness

DAY TWO - Sunday

We have two full days to explore the delights of these islands - and there's something here for everybody.

Kirkwall is a beautiful old town with many interesting historical sights including St Magnus Cathedral, Earl's Palace and Bishop's Palace, Tankerness House, the Wireless Museum with its huge unique collection of wartime communications equipment, wireless sets, headphones, old magazines, ancient valves and lots of other displays. Out of town there's Grain with an Iron Age souterrain, with stairs leading underground.

It is perhaps for its astounding archaelogical sites that mainland Orkney is most renowned. We'll visit the most important places with Skara Brae being top of our list. Built before the Pyramids, Stonehenge and the Great Wall of China, the ten houses that can be seen today were occupied from about 3100 to 2500 BC. Historians believe that the site was gradually abandoned as the island's community developed and people's needs changed. Over the centuries it was covered with sand and remained untouched until a winter storm blew up in 1850, thus bringing the Stone Age into the modern era. Other sites we can potentially visit, according to group interest, can include a selection form the stone circle of the Ring of Brodgar, the Stones of Stenness, Maes Howe, Brough of Birsay, Broch of Gurness, the Rennibister Earth House and Onstan Cairn.

NIGHTSTOP: as above

DAY THREE - Monday  

Continuing our explorations today, we will see Scarpa Flow, a huge natural harbour. As well as being the resting-place of HMS Royal Oak, whose wreck is marked by a single buoy, it is also the graveyard of the German High Seas Fleet. Then there's the Italian Chapel, originally a couple of old Nissen huts, decorated in imaginative style by Italian Prisoners of War. The chapel stands as a reminder of the unfailing faith of the Italians and their ingenious use of scavenged material.

Of course, we must make time for the rugged natural beauty of the island. Marwick Head and its 200-foot drop straight down into the foaming sea. Many birds nest in the nooks and crannies of the cliffs. Yarnsby Cliffs, formed by layer upon layer of the Middle Old Red Sandstone that makes up most of Orkney, these cliffs are a warm, ochre colour with fossil "horse-tooth" stromatolites, blue-green algae that grew in the lake that covered Orkney 350 million years ago. On the nearby moorlands, you may see some tiny mauve flowers with yellow centres, rare Scottish primroses found only in Orkney, Shetland and Caithness. If you look south, you might just see the outline of The Old Man of Hoy, the much-photographed sea stack off the Orkney coast.

We board our ferry after dinner, sleeping aboard in comfort. The ferry doesn't actually leave until the following morning but boarding now helps maximise your sightseeing time.

NIGHTSTOP: Overnight on ferry

DAY FOUR - Tuesday  

Our ferry departs at 06.30 AM allowing early risers a wonderful prospect of enjoying a 90-minute coastal 'cruise' watching for birds and sea life in early morning sun. There are not too many places in the World that one can honestly write are unspoilt, or undiscovered, but Caithness is surely one of them. This is true Back-Roads Touring country and we promise you some more amazing sights and unforgettable experiences!

Here, precariously hugging wind-swept cliffs are literally hundreds of castle ruins, connected in many cases to the warrior clans Sinclair and Gunn. In the northerly town of Wick we'll visit the Heritage Centre and learn how people have survived in this incredible terrain of peat bog and over the centuries.

Then there's Dunnet Head. This most northerly point on mainland Britain rises some 100 metres above sea level. The Dunnet Head lighthouse was built in 1831 by Robert Stevenson, grandfather of the author Robert Louis Stevenson. It was automated in 1989. On a clear day the view point allows the visitor to see as far as Cape Wrath to the west and enjoy a stunning panoramic view across to John O'Groats and Duncansby Head, while to the south lies Morven, the highest mountain in Caithness. Between John O'Groats and Wick we'll enjoy time stop at one of the remarkable and spectacular cliff such as the famed Stacks of Duncansby. It's a dream for bird watchers as we invariably find puffin.

We'll be returning to Inverness by late afternoon, allowing for evening connections (16.55) back to Glasgow or Edinburgh. Perhaps you'd like to stay-a-while and enjoy time in this Highland capital, and take various day tours offered to Skye and Aberdeenshire.

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Train information: Please check current schedules as times are subject to change.
. Glasgow to Inverness depart 07.10. Arrive 10.28
. Edinburgh to Inverness depart 06.40. Arrive 10.28. Both require change at Perth
. Inverness to Glasgow/Edinburgh. Depart 16.55. Arrive approx 21.00

If you wish a longer holiday, this tour links with either our Scottish Borders tour or our Royal Fife tour, each beginning on Wednesday morning from Glasgow.

Alternatively, you can choose to join one of our other tours beginning on Wednesday morning from one of our other city bases London, Manchester or Dublin. Your choices include: weekly departures Red Dragon tour of South Wales; weekly departures of Heart of England visiting Oxford and the Cotswolds; select departures of Eastern England, Mini-Harry Potter and the Kingdom of Wessex from our London base.

This tour is operated by Back-Roads Touring Co Ltd