Orkney with kids: days out, clubs and events

Good to know

In Kirkwall

The Orkney Museum is free, in Tankerness House across from St Magnus Cathedral. The Pickaquoy Centre is the place for a wet day: a 25 m pool and a leisure pool with water features and a slide, Jungle World soft play for under-5s beside the café, a climbing wall and a cinema. Scapa beach is a few minutes’ drive south of the town.

Further out

At Skara Brae, a paid Historic Environment Scotland site, children can walk into a copy of a 5,000-year-old house. The Ring of Brodgar is free and open any time. Kirbuster Farm Museum near Birsay is free (donations welcome) and usually open from March to October. The Brough of Birsay can only be reached at low tide, so check the tide times before you cross.

Beaches

Orkney has sandy beaches all round: Scapa and Inganess near Kirkwall, the Sands of Evie, and on the islands plenty more. Most have no lifeguards or shop, so take what you need.

Good to know

The weather changes fast and the wind is the thing to dress for: pack layers even in summer. On Christmas Day and New Year’s Day the Ba’ game fills Kirkwall’s streets: great to watch, but keep little ones well back from the scrum.