Orkney > Hoy and Flotta

The South Isles of Hoy and Flotta are dramatic and distinctive islands compared to the other green Orkney Islands. Hoy (from the Norse ‘High Island’) has a dramatic moorland landscape with tall heather-covered hills (Ward Hill is the tallest in Orkney), stunning beaches and awe-inspiring cliff scenery, whilst Flotta is strewn with wartime buildings, and is the site of the Flotta Oil Terminal, which has dominated it’s landscape since the 1970s when North Sea Oil production began.

Sites in Hoy worth a visit include:

1. The Old Man of Hoy – is a 137m seastack which can be seen from the Scrabster to Stromness Ferry, MV Hamnavoe or even closer after an hour and a half walk from the valley of Rackwick. Many climbers scale The Old Man every year.

2. St Johns Head – is the highest vertical cliff face in Britain at 351m. The first climb of this imposing cliff took 6 days and it can be seen during the NorthLink Pentland Firth crossing

3. Rackwick – a once abandoned valley with a sand and giant pebble beach. Many Orcadians have built holiday houses in Rackwick because it is peaceful and beautiful.

4. The Dwarfie Stane – a Neolithic burial chamber found off the road to Rackwick which was tirelessly carved out of a giant rock. It is the only tomb of it’s kind in the UK.

5. Lyness War Museum – a comprehensive and fascinating museum, one of the finest in Orkney, dedicated to the wartime history of Scapa Flow.

6. Longhope Lifeboat Musuem – the old Lifeboat Station at Brims which contains the lifeboat which served between 1933 and 1962, now tells the history of Hoy’s sea rescues and tragedies.

7. Martello Towers – a Napoleanic Gun Battery and Towers mounted by canons, built to guard merchant ships from marauding American Privateers.

Sites in Flotta worth a visit include:

8. Flotta Oil Terminal – started production in 1976 and has since processed 10% of Britains Oil Output. Though not accessible to the public, the Oil Terminal dominates Flotta, and massive oil tankers can be seen almost daily, anchored in Scapa Flow.

9. Buchanan Battery – a tall coastal defense building with a gun emplacement from WW2.

10. Stanger Head – another coastal defense battery from WW2, which had two guns to defend the entrance to Scapa Flow. Stanger Head is also known as a good spot for shore fishing.

Map of Hoy and Flotta

Booking a ferry to Orkney directly with NorthLink Ferries on www.northlinkferries.co.uk is cheaper than booking with another website and we never charge for any amendments made to your booking!

Getting to Hoy and Flotta
Travel from Scrabster to Stromness with NorthLink Ferres. Once docked, take the A965 out of Stromness and turn right after the Brig o Waithe onto the A964 to Orphir. Once on the A964 travel southwards for 6 miles and turn right into Houton. From here you can catch an Orkney Ferries South Isles ferry which will take you and your car to Hoy and Flotta.
Please note, there is also an Orkney Ferries foot passenger ferry to hoy which departs from Stromness. This can be found on the pier directly opposite the Stromness Hotel.
Alternatively, travel from Aberdeen or Lerwick to Kirkwall with NorthLink Ferries. Once docked at Hatston, take the A965 from Kirkwall to Stromness. After 13 miles, when you reach the Brig o Waithe, turn left onto the A964 to Orphir.
Once on the A964 travel southwards for 6 miles and turn right into Houton. From here you can catch an Orkney Ferries South Isles ferry which will take you and your car to Hoy and Flotta.

Top tips
• When walking in North Hoy, always stick to the footpaths to avoid being divebombed by Arctic Skuas (Bonxies.) If you do find yourself being divebombed, which can be frightening, remember that it is rare that humans are actually struck, and that by holding an item of clothing or stick above your head, the birds will be discouraged from swooping too low!
• When walking to the Old Man of Hoy from Rackwick, allow yourself three hours for the trip there and back.