What's Nearby
5 Highbury Villas is situated in Kirkwall, Orkney's biggest town. Within
Kirkwall there is plenty to see - if you are interested in history there
is the viking built St Magnus Cathedral and the ruins of the Bishops and
Earls Palaces, open all year round. Opposite these attractions is the Orkney
Museum, which has fascinating displays of subjects ranging from Orcadian
Arctic Explorers to artefacts from the sunken German fleet in Scapa Flow.
The shops in Kirkwall are quite unique too - you won't find any Marks and Spencers or Gap here - instead you will find bakeries and butchers offering fresh and delicious local produce, and local craft businesses selling beautiful jewellery and knitwear you won't find anywhere else. 5 Highbury Villas is a mere mere five minutes walk from the shops.
Another local product worth sampling is made in most northerly distillery in Britain - Highland Park Whisky. You can catch a tour of the distillery (and a dram) several times a day.
For the more adventurous, Kirkwall Harbour and Kirkwall Airport offers
a gateway to the North Isles. We recommend you take in at least one 
island
on your visit to get a taste of the many flavours of Orkney. Why not try
North Ronaldsay with its sheep dyke that surrounds the island, keeping
the sheep on the beaches eating seaweed away from the farmland. Or try
Sanday with its vast expanses of beach. Or why not visit Westray, the Queen
O' The Isles, which has the best Fish and Chips you'll taste at the Pierowall
Hotel, is renowned as the best place in Orkney to spot puffins, and has
magnificent scenery including the sea cliffs at Noup Head and the Noltand
Castle.
For younger members of your party there is also plenty to do; Kirkwall is home to Orkney's cinema, with film showings every night. There is a newly opened bowling alley and a skate park a mere ten minutes walk away. There is also a swimming pool and plenty of play parks. Kirkwall is also home to one of Scotlands premier nightclubs, Fusion, which also hosts regular live bands.
There are plenty of events all year round - even in winter there is The
Ba’ on Christmas Day and New Years Day - which, roughly described,
is a scrum of street rugby that anyone can join - it is quite amazing to
watch. In the Spring there is the Orkney Folk Festival, and at midsummer,
the festival of the arts - the St Magnus Festival. Most St Magnus Festival
events, from orchestras to operas, poetry readings to plays take place
in Kirkwall. Highbury Villas is three minutes walk from the Orkney Art
Theatre. Towards the 
end of the summer there are the agricultural shows,
with the main County Show taking place in Kirkwall in August.
With so much to do nearby 5 Highbury Villas is suitable for visitors without cars. However, we also have two private parking spaces - and there's plenty to explore further out. From the Gloup in Deerness (a large blowhole in the cliff) to the Churchill Barriers (a mass of large Concrete blocks which were placed between islands to prevent attack by submarine during the Second World War) and the Italian Chapel (a beautiful chapel built from two Nissan huts by the builders of built the Churchill Barriers - Italian POWs.) The ancient monuments of Orkney, The Neolithic village of Skara Brae, the stone circle at the Ring of Brodgar and the Neolithic tomb at Maes Howe are all between 10 to 15 miles away.