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Cicerone Book of the Month March 2009
WALKING ON THE ORKNEY AND SHETLAND ISLES by Graham Uney
Most of us think of Scotland as a distant and wild walking paradise, but think again. Travel further north to these clusters of islands and you are a world away from the rest of Scotland.
The very names on the map are exciting… Hoy… Skara Brae… Papa Westray… Yell…
This is a new guide to day walks on Scotland’s Northern Isles – Orkney and Shetland – off the northwestern tip of Britain. Inhabited since the proverbial dawn of time, the islands are packed with archaeological sites, dotted with rare wildflowers and thronged with seabirds. They sit at the turning point of the North Sea and the North Atlantic – Orkney nearest to mainland Scotland and Shetland further out – with Fair Isle midway between the two.
This book is a must if you want to explore this diverse landscape on foot. The book is split into two sections – one for Orkney, the other for Shetland. The walks range from short strolls to ancient monuments to more challenging long coastal routes and moorland traverses.
Highlights are obviously the superb wildlife: whales, otters, seals, puffins, whooper swans, birds of prey, seabirds and many nature reserves; ancient archaeological sites: Skara Brae, Jarlshof, the Ring o'Brodgar, the Mousa Broch; the Old Man of Hoy and the North Ronaldsay Coastal Traverse.
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