Ring of Brodgar

About this place

Neolithic stone circle on Orkney, part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, free to visit.

One of the largest stone circles in Britain, the Ring of Brodgar was raised around 4,500 years ago and remains one of the most impressive prehistoric monuments anywhere in Scotland, its stones standing in an open, windswept landscape between two lochs. It forms part of the wider Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, which also includes the nearby Standing Stones of Stenness and the burial mound of Maeshowe. Unlike some prehistoric sites, visitors can walk right up to and around the stones, giving a genuinely close, tangible connection to a monument built long before Stonehenge was completed. It's free to visit, with parking nearby, and the grassy ground makes it less suitable for buggies, particularly in wet weather.

Make a day of it — within 5km