Hi Friends!
Kirkwall was our first port stop in Scotland and I loved this day so much! As I was writing this blog post I realized that pretty much everything we did when we were in Kirkwall was something that we stumbled upon while walking around. There was a mixup with getting off the ship so we had literally like two hours to kill while waiting for my parents to get off and by the time we met up with them we wandered some more! We had the best day though, we wandered into coffee shops, thrift stores, castles, libraries, museums, restaurants, gift shops, churches and so much more and it was just the best most relaxing day considering nothing in the morning went to plan. But we had about 6 hours to spend wandering the city and it feels like we walked and explored SO much in that small amount of time!
A Few Things to Have on Hand!
Rain Jacket
Umbrella
Backpack for purchases
Camera or Phone for pictures
LAYERS! I was so thankful that I had a rain jacket, a sweatshirt and a t-shirt on because I shed and added layers all day long!
Where to Stop!
Welcome center - Usually I wouldn’t suggest a welcome center as a place that you probably want to check out when you are visiting somewhere new but the welcome center in Kirkwall was so helpful. The staff were so knowledgeable and happy to help us with questions about maps, locations of attractions, spots to eat, shopping, bus schedules, wifi locations and so much more. Another perk of the welcome center was that it was also a very cute gift shop with actually cute items to purchase! We stopped there at the beginning of the day and also on the way out just to look at last minute souvenirs!
Archive Coffee Shop - We stopped in here to get coffee and use their wifi for a few minutes to check on where my parents were and I am so glad we stopped because it was the cutest little coffee shop. We both got lattes and they were good! They also had a food menu but we weren’t eating. A great place to stop for a pick me up and to check on missed messages if you didn’t have service there like us! Haha
Kirkwall Library and Archive - Another place that I wouldn’t usually add to a list of places to visit when you are in a new city is a library but it was such a cool place to check out. It was raining right when we got into Kirkwall and we decided to go in the library just to see what it was like. But it was so fun! There was free wifi, bathrooms and they actually had books for sale. I needed up getting a few to use as decor and coffee table books for home. I would definitely suggest going into the library, even for just a few minutes!
Bishop’s and Earl’s Palace - Another place we stumbled upon was this old-timey castle palace thing which was SO cool to see inside of. It was like a medieval looking building and it was right next to the St Magnus Cathedral. It was dated all the way back to 1263 and it was just so interesting to see and imagine how life was lived inside the building. We spent maybe like 25 minutes here but if you are taking a guided tour I could see you spending more time and getting a ton more information. I would absolutely recommend checking out this spot!
The Orkney Museum - We didn’t plan to stop in here but we walked by it while we were exploring and the door said free so we figured we had nothing to loose! The museum was fairly small but it had information on the history of Orkney all the way back to the Stone Age. There were things to look at from the Vikings all the way until present day. I’m glad we stumbled upon it and went in. They also had restrooms that were available to use and another cute gift shop at the end of exploring.
St Magnus Cathedral - We went in here once we met up with my parents and it was so pretty inside. It was raining pretty hard at this point so we were happy to be inside but it was so neat to just learn a little more about this cathedral. Some of the dates that we were reading were just so interesting, some dated back to the 11th century. Also the stained glass was just incredible! It didn’t take us too long to walk through but it was absolutely worth the stop for us.
Harbour Fry Fish & Chips - I was SO happy to stumble upon this restaurant. It was on the main strip of shops and as you can see below, it literally said “ask about our gluten free options” and WOW was it yummy! The inside was small but like a fast paced diner almost. We ended up sharing a table with a couple and their Australian shepherd (some of you probably know we have two Aussies at home!!) and had the best time. It was great conversation with locals and was honestly the highlight of our day. The fish was crispy and delicious and 10/10 recommend eating here if you are visiting! Plus the staff was SO friendly! I can’t say enough good things about this spot!
There were also lots of other shops along the main walkway including the cutest book shop that had so much to choose from. There was also a fun record store that we spent way too much time in! The record store also had things like legos, games, puzzles, it reminded me sort of like a game stop with fewer video games. There were also so many thrift stores that we wandered into. We went to like three or four different ones and I got a couple of cute paintings that now live in my house. I liked being able to get things for the house that weren’t from a gift shop but there is like a history to those items! Other than that there were lots of stores that had souvenirs and gifts that we loved. OH and there was an art fair that was cute to walk through. My best advice would be to just go into places even if you think it might be something you wouldn’t usually stop at.
With only spending about half of a day here, as you can tell we were able to fit so many things in and had a great day! If we had a little bit more time we probably would have ventured out and did some things outside of the city. But that just means we need to visit again for a longer amount of time! I could absolutely see us visiting Scotland again in the near future! Have you been to Scotland? What was your favorite part when you were there? As always, if you have any questions at all, please comment below or send me an email at tarynintotravel@gmail.com and I will get back to you asap!
Much Love,
Emma
WHAT TO READ NEXT!
