Norse heart of Orkney — Ring of Brodgar, St Magnus Cathedral, and neolithic wonder
Kirkwall is the capital of Orkney, a North Sea archipelago that punches wildly above its size for ancient monuments. The Heart of Neolithic Orkney — Ring of Brodgar, Skara Brae, Maeshowe — are UNESCO World Heritage sites clustered within a few miles of town. St Magnus Cathedral, built in 1137 from red and yellow sandstone, stands as one of Scotland's finest Romanesque buildings. The Highland Park distillery, the world's northernmost Scotch whisky producer, has been mashing grain here since 1798.
Orkney has been continuously settled for over 5,000 years — its neolithic monuments predate Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. The islands became a Norse earldom in the 9th century and weren't ceded to Scotland until 1468, when Denmark pawned them to settle a royal dowry debt. The Norse influence remains in the accent, place names, and the Up Helly Aa fire festival traditions (celebrated on the neighbouring islands of Shetland more famously, but Orkney has its own version).