Orkney Hotels - Smooth Hound Hotel Directory

Orkney, located on the Orkney Islands, is situated in northern Scotland. The islands are located approximately 16 kilometers from the coast of Caithness. There are actually more than 70 islands, but only about 20 of them are actually inhabited. It is estimated that Orkney has been inhabited for more than 5,000 years. As a result, some of the oldest as well as some of the best preserved Neolitic sites in Europe are located in Orkney. Visitors will find there are ample accommodation options in Orkney as well as in the local area. There are also ample shops and restaurants.

The Scottish area that is known as Orkney is located off the coast of Scotland about ten miles to the north of Caithness. The Orkney Islands are made up of about seventy different islands and about twenty of these are actually inhabited. The biggest of the Islands is referred to the mainland of Orkney and it covers an area that is about two hundred and two square miles and this makes it the sixth biggest island in Scotland and the tenth biggest island within the British Isles. The biggest settlement on the island is known as Kirkwall and this area is the administrative centre for the whole of the Orkney Islands.

The Orkney Islands is one of the thirty-two council areas that make up Scotland and the Orkney Islands are also part of the Scottish Parliament. The Orkney Islands are a former county. The local residents within the Orkney Islands are commonly referred to as Orcadians.

The Orkney Islands have been inhabited for the past five thousand five hundred years at least. Tribes of the Neolithic first inhabited the islands and then later on Picts inhabited it.

The largest part of the Orkney Islands is the mainland and this area consists of both the burghs that are within the Orkney Islands. The burghs are known as Stromness and Kirkwall. There is a regular ferry route that operates to and from the mainland and the ferry routes operate to the smaller island and also to the mainland of the Untied Kingdom. The mainland is home to about seventy five per cent of the total population of Orkney.