Kirkwall (Orkney Islands) and Torshavn (Faroe Islands)

We will have 1 cruise day in each of the Ports above in August 2018. I am looking for recommendations from others who have been there previously if these Ports can be seen independently or via a private guided tour. We are a traveling group of 6 adults, visiting these Ports for the 1st time. We prefer not to participate in ship excursions.

I have contacted a few tour companies in Kirkwall about private tours for 6-8 people but their Terms & Conditions for any changes, amendments to the tour, cancellations to the booking are very restrictive and penalizing even this far out.

They offer no provisions if inclement weather restricts our ship from getting into Port, we are out of the cost of our tour. This may be the norm for tour companies in the UK, but we have never encountered this when arranging private tours for small groups from our roll call. We have arranged and participated in small group tours for many years of cruising around the world.

Looking for advice and recommendations.

Thank You

Hire a car? You may find that you still have to pay if even if you don't land, but that's the way small businesses in limited supply with a very short season tend to work. Orkney's population is 20,000 and they don't all work in tourism, and there aren't many tourists outside of June to August, so they can't afford to have vehicles and drivers doing nothing if they could have been working for someone else.

Service buses aren't very plentiful, so I wouldn't try and rely on them.

I am like you with respect to touring but found Kirkwall a tough port to do OMO. Very limited rental cars, and tough provisions from local tour operators. Had to bite the bullet and booked a ships tour for part of the day. Did a walking tour on our own in the PM after taking free shuttle into town. Actually turned out to be a good overall day

I am like you with respect to touring but found Kirkwall a tough port to do OMO. Very limited rental cars, and tough provisions from local tour operators. Had to bite the bullet and booked a ships tour for part of the day. Did a walking tour on our own in the PM after taking free shuttle into town. Actually turned out to be a good overall day

I will likely wait awhile before committing to a tour this far in advance due to their strict change/ cancel policies.If there are openings 6-8 weeks before our trip then we will book. Otherwise we will make do and walk around on our own. I like to plan and book in advance as much as possible but don't think I will be able to in these Ports.

Thank You for your responses.

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Although it was a couple of years ago, I recall Torshavn as being very walkable on your own. We could go right up to the prime ministers door and read note they had gone away for the summer break! Others taking a ships tour reported limited visibility that day. Like Kirkwall, it has its own charm and is not greatly tourist orientated.

We arranged for a taxi in Kirkwall. Not a tour -- just transport. There was no prepayment. The driver was knowledgeable, but not a tour guide -- he just took us where we wanted to go and waited for us while we were there. There was some commentary, but it was pretty no frills.

In Kirkwall, you could use the tourist bus:- https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/north-scotland/discover-orkney-open-top-bus

No pre booking or prepayment needed. Bus leaves from same place as ship shuttle bus drops off.

In Kirkwall, you could use the tourist bus:- https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/north-scotland/discover-orkney-open-top-bus

No pre booking or prepayment needed. Bus leaves from same place as ship shuttle bus drops off.

Wow, thank you so much. This is the first I have seen or heard of a type of Hop On Hop off bus. Great to know. Is there more then 1 bus traveling around Kirkwall to the main tourist sites so as to be able to get on and off at each stop without a huge wait in between. I did not see this listed on TA. I am sure if they are running the bus this Summer, they will do the same in 2018. Thanks Again! 😊

Wow, thank you so much. This is the first I have seen or heard of a type of Hop On Hop off bus. Great to know. Is there more then 1 bus traveling around Kirkwall to the main tourist sites so as to be able to get on and off at each stop without a huge wait in between. I did not see this listed on TA. I am sure if they are running the bus this Summer, they will do the same in 2018. Thanks Again! 😊

There is just one bus doing the route, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. But they stop at each place for long enough to see what you need to see, as they do the route. It isn't like a city hop on hop off bus. It is basically a tour, without a guide, if you see what I mean. Though I think if you are lucky with the driver, they may give you some info as you go along.

It is listed on Tripadvisor as 'Stagecoach Bus Tour Orkney' if you want to check it out.

We did a private tour with Wild about Orkney and it was excellent.

In Torshavn we also did a private tour with Greengate Incoming. The island is beautiful, but unfortunately, our guide was not very informative and smelt very strongly of tobacco. The company ignored my complaint.

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We did the stagecoach bus tour about 2 weeks ago,there was an open top bus and a coach,it was a nice way to get around,you have to buy the tickets from the office at the bus station,not the shop,its also a full day ticket so if you want you can vist the chapel later in the day,

There were 2 stops one for 1.30 and another for 30 min,the driver did give some commentary but he is not a guide

Some people on the open top bus got on our coach as it was cold

On Orkney, we loved seeing Scara Brae! Google it to see if it is of interest to you. Did a private tour and loved Orkney Isles! (Sorry don't remember guide.). In Torshavn you can enjoy walking the "old town" but try to get out on a private tour that goes to the more rural parts. Loved those places...no matter what the weather.

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Faroes: From an excursion to Gjogv (which I recommend) and a link to a cruise that did both areas, so you can see what to expect. You'll love it!

We took that Stagecoach public bus in July, and there were long lines for tickets, and some people in line were out of luck (they only ran 3-4 buses and some weren't open-top). In our case, we could only take the morning bus (only at 10am) - the afternoon bus would have returned too late.

I would recommend getting off the ship earlier and start lining up before the ticket window opens at 9am.

It makes 2 stops. A longer stop at Skara Brae and a short stop at the Ring. You get off and get back on the same bus, so you can't stay longer. The bus had no commentary.

The cost was 10 pounds per person, but you will need to purchase admission at Skara Brae.

Of course a private tour would be better (though much more expensive) since you could spend more time at each location, and a private tour would also make stops at the other worthwhile sites on the island.

However, we found enough to see in Kirkwall for the remainder of the day. Plus all the major tour companies were sold out anyway by the time I booked the cruise and we also didn't like the restrictive/non-existent return policies.

On Orkney, we loved seeing Scara Brae! Google it to see if it is of interest to you. Did a private tour and loved Orkney Isles! (Sorry don't remember guide.). In Torshavn you can enjoy walking the "old town" but try to get out on a private tour that goes to the more rural parts. Loved those places...no matter what the weather.

Totally agree about Scara Brae. Very unique and interesting.

We did it on a Princess excursion, and got to see other parts of the island too. Neat place, and quite beautiful in it's own way.

Kirkwall - we hired a car, which worked out a lot cheaper (for four of us) than any of the tours would have done. You can easily cover Skara Brae, the various stone circles, and Kirkwall in a day.

For the Faroe Islands, definitely look at a tour of some sort which let you see some of the amazing mountain and coastal scenery on the islands. We also took a tour to Gjogv, which was one of the highlights of our cruise. Torshavn is pleasant enough, but it would be a real shame to miss the scenery the islands have to offer - a genuinely unique and remote part of the world.

Hire a car in Kirkwall if you can. There is so much to see and I would imagine you would want to see as much as possible. The Italian Chapel is awesome.

We were there last week. Definitely make arrangements before you get there to be sure you have a tour. The hop on hop off had a huge line when we were there on the Royal Princess. We dumb lucked into getting a taxi because our driver had driven her son to school and was available. All the other taxis were pre-booked or for locals only. It was well worth the 40 pounds an hour for five hours of tour seeing most of the major sites.