Hoy and South Walls
Hoy takes its name from the Old Norse - 'Haey' means the High island. The second largest of the Orkney isles, Hoy differs markedly from its neighbours. The northern and western parts are a wild and inhospitable place of rugged, steep-sided hills - the highest in Orkney - fringed by some of Britain's most magnificent coastal cliffs. These culminate in the mighty bastion of St John's Head, but their fame rests on the iconic sea-stack of the Old Man of Hoy, a popular walk from the fine bay at Rackwick.
To the south and east the wildness relents into a fringe of more fertile land and small villages. South Walls - just offshore - is linked to Hoy by a road causeway; it offers a very fine coastal walk along its southern cliffs. Offshore is Flotta, the site of Orkney's oil terminal.
Accommodation
| Walk | Grade | Length | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyness Wartime Trail and Wee Fea hill, Hoy |
 | 6km | 2 - 2.5 hours |
| Lyrawa Hill and Scad Head, Hoy |
| 3.75km | 1.5 - 2 hours |
| Rackwick Glen - Moaness to Rackwick, Hoy |
| 7.25km | 2 hours (one way) |
| The Old Man of Hoy from Rackwick |
| 9.25km | 2.5 - 3 hours (return) |
| Graemsay island circuit |
| 9.75km | 3 - 4 hours |
| Ayre to Cantick Head coastal circuit, South Walls |
| 13km | 3.5 - 4.5 hours |
| Flotta island explorer |
| 15.24km | 4 - 4.5 hours |
| Ward Hill and the Dwarfie Stane, Hoy |
| 12km | 4 - 5.5 hours |
| Cuilags, St John's Head and the Old Man of Hoy |
| 20km | 6 - 7 hours |