What to do and see in Orkney Islands, Scotland: The Best Specialty Museums

Kirbuster Museum is the last un-restored example of a traditional ‘firehoose’ in Northern Europe. The house has a central hearth, complete with peat fire, and a stone neuk bed reminiscent of the Neolithic interiors that can be seen at sites such as Skara Brae, and demonstrates how little some aspects of domestic life changed in Orkney over many centuries. The house also has an Edwardian parlour and Victorian Gardens and visitors can enjoy a game of putting on the green and explore the Trowie Trail in the back garden. Kirbuster is a unique survivor which gives a fascinating insight into four centuries of family life in Orkney. An excellent place to visit if you are researching your Orkney ancestry. FREE ADMISSION. Access is currently restricted so please be prepared to wait if the site is busy, and to adhere to the safety advice on hygiene and physical distancing. It is mandatory to wear a face covering in the building and you will be asked for your contact details for Test & Protect.

A small museum tracing the history of early domestic radio and wartime communications in Orkney. Maps, charts, valves, an early computer game, a 'spy' suitcase radio. Young visitors can send their name in Morse code to get a certificate. Entirely run by volunteers. Normally open April to September. Mon-Sat 10am to 4.30 pm. Sun 2.30pm - 4.30pm. 2016 admission £3 for adults, £1 for under 16 and students. UNFORTUNATELY THE MUSEUM MUST REMAIN CLOSED FOR THE REST OF 2020. It is a very small space and does not enable social distancing.

Corrigall Farm Museum is a traditional ‘but and ben’ laid out as a typical Orkney farmhouse and steading in Victorian/late 19th century period, although it was still lived in like this until the last inhabitants left in the mid-20th century. The site has a working barn, a kiln for drying grain for milling and malting, horse-drawn machinery and livestock. Some older visitors may recognise objects or implements from their childhood in and around the museum, but present-day youngsters are can see how basic life was pre-electricity. The house is still heated by a peat fire, with its distinctive smelling smoke, and peat cutting implements are on display in the byre. The museum gives a fascinating insight into a way of life and an agricultural pattern that has all but disappeared from Orkney. FREE ADMISSION If the site is closed on a day you want to go there, why not visit Kirbuster Museum, Birsay, a few miles north?

The Sanday Heritage Centre displays some of Sanday's natural and man-made treasures, and showcases some of the community's history. Current displays focus on farming, the sea, archaeology, natural history and Sanday's contribution to the First World War. A new display about the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, a Sanday resident and Master of the Queen's Music, was unveiled in May 2017.

The village smithy in St Margaret's Hope has been turned into the Smiddy Museum and houses a fine display of tools and artefacts, which the blacksmith would have used in his work. Horse harnesses hang from the walls and there are strange-looking pieces of equipment on the floor. As well as the blacksmith's tools, there is a unique and interesting collection of archives and photographs which show local events, island life and items of interest, for researching local history or genealogy.

Open from May to August, we provide a guided tour of this 5,000 year old Neolithic Tomb. The tour is an experience unlike any other in Orkney today because it still contains human remains. Tours take approximately 45 minutes.