This four-hour, fully guided tour begins by heading out to the wild, eastern edge of Orkney’s Mainland visiting ‘The Gloup” a dramatic collapsed sea cave separated from the sea by a land bridge on the edge of Mull Head Nature Reserve in the parish of Deerness.

After an opportunity to explore and take photographs the tour continues by taking in magnificent views over Scapa Flow from Hurtiso (visibility of course varies and depends on the weather) followed by a short journey over the first of the causeways to Lamb Holm, a tiny island which is the location of the 'Italian Chapel' built by Italian Prisoners of War during WWII and lovingly maintained ever since. You will hear stories which explain how why the POWs were in Orkney, how the Chapel came to sit on this tiny, remote island and about the building of the Churchill Barriers -  causeways constructed in response to the sinking of HMS Royal Oak, sunk by a German U-Boat while it was anchor in Scapa Flow during the very early days of WWII. 

After your visit to this exceptional site you will complete the crossing of all four of the Churchill Barriers before arriving at St Margaret’s Hope - one of Orkney’s thriving villages and home to the Smithy Museum, the Loft Gallery and hidden lanes to wander through. The tour returns back over the barriers and then by a different route via St Mary’s back into Kirkwall.

This tour can often be linked with a corresponding four hour tour of the West Mainland of Orkney running on the same day. Price includes all entrance charges Tour order may vary.