📌 Isle of Westray, Orkney Isles
★★★★
The largest seabird colony on Orkney takes a little effort to get to – even from Kirkwall it’s a 90-minute ferry crossing followed by a 20-minute drive up the spine of the island via Pierowall. In early summer though it’s certainly worth the effort, as thousands of gannets, guillemots, kittiwakes and other seabirds nest here each year. Outwith the nesting season this is still a dramatic place, with interesting coastal architecture and seals often basking on rocks below the whitewashed lighthouse. The headland is accessible by a long, unsurfaced road which is a minefield of sharp stones for car tyres – it’s probably better to walk from near the end of the smooth tarmac at Backarass.
📷 Chronological photo guide
🌍 Location
📌 Start / finish at Backarass, minor road 2 mi west of Pierowall, Westray
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: HY 412482
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 59.316020,-3.034673
❌ No public transport within 1 mi. There is a bus to Pierowall (2 mi)
🚗 Unlikely-looking car park
📝 Key info
▶ 7 km / 4 mi | ▲ 190 m | ⌛ 2-2.5 hr
Features: 🌊 RSPB Noup Cliffs & lighthouse
⬤ Moderate | Faint, grassy coastal path to lighthouse, then stony track. Gentle gradients.
Download file for GPS➡️ Clockwise circuit: start – Russa Taing – coastal path to Noup Head lighthouse – track via Noup Farm to start
🥾 On our last visit
Wildlife: Fulmars and chicks, gannets and chicks, black guillemots, cormorants, a few puffins and numerous other seabirds on cliffs; seals below lighthouse; sheep and cows by return track.
Weather: Dry but mostly overcast, moderate wind, cool for summer.
July 2015
