Orkney Islands, Scotland
When you are visiting a place that has been settled for thousands of years, roads were developed with horses and carts in mind, not automobiles. Single-lane roads that work fine in rural and remote areas become much more problematic when those same areas become vacation hotspots. Welcome to Driving on the Left, Orkney Islands edition.
As an American tourist, driving on the left side of the road was already a challenge. What happens, however, when the left side of the road is also the right side of the road? Add bicycle tourists, farm traffic, and large ditches, and you can take your driving up a notch.
Driving in Scotland requires you to learn the difference between M, A, B, and named roads. Forget about M motorways on the Orkney Islands; they do not exist. The closest motorways are hours to the south. Surprisingly, there are 10 A roads on the Orkney Islands, but two are the main connectors; we used the A961 most, which links Kirkwall to St. Margaret’s Hope via the Churchill Barriers and leads to our Airbnb. The second is the A965, which connects Kirkwall to Stromness, the island’s two largest towns. Think of A roads as having 2 lanes but may or may not be wide enough for two lanes of traffic.
B roads are narrower and are at most 1 1/2 lanes wide. When you are visiting sites in popular areas like the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar that every tourist on the island wants to visit when a cruise ship is in port, you will have fun sharing these roads with tour buses and groups of tourist bicycles. Unless someone gives way, you might end up in a ditch.
For roads that have names only, you are lucky if they are one car wide. It’s best to remember where each pull-out space is, as you’ll sometimes need to back up and let a car pass. This tested our patience when we encountered a funeral procession leaving Skara Brae or heading to the Yesnaby Cliffs, and there was nowhere to go or park.
Here is my advice for driving on the islands. One, drive the smallest vehicle you can get away with for your passengers. Smaller vehicles are also cheaper on the ferries. Two, stay away from the main roads if you are on a bicycle. Of the 650+ miles of roads, only around 100 miles are listed as A roads. Three, be patient, because you may not be able to make tight connections between places on the islands. You also might not be able to make tight turns, so be observant and take your time. Fourth, be wary of directions that take you off A and B roads; they can be challenging. Finally, bad weather could affect your travel plans, so try to be flexible if possible.
Once we were away from the crowds and adjusted to the small spaces and the need for patience, driving in the area went well. Service stations are on the islands so that you can get petrol, diesel, or electricity. Thousands of people live on the Orkney Islands year-round, and the closer you are to Kirkwall, the easier it is to find amenities. A car paired with a ferry is the easiest way to get around the islands, and we covered a lot of territory during our two days and three nights on the Mainland. Here is hoping that you have as much fun on the Orkney Islands as we did on our trip.
