If you come to Orkney with a dream of cliffs, islands and setting sun, then the beach below Annie’s Place, Birsay is the place for you.
If you seek history on your doorstep, around you at Annie’s Place lies the ancient capital of Orkney, and the 16th Century Earls Palace is the view from your kitchen window. Annie's Place is the ground floor of the listed Old Manse which adjoins the kirkyard of the historic St Magnus Church where many visitors come in search of their Orcadian ancestors.
If you long for a place where you can meander along the coastline, walk or cycle for miles in any direction… or you just want relax in the peace and quiet of our shoreline bench above Birsay Bay… then Annie’s Place will be your noust by the sea for watching gannets dive, swans surfing the waves and "singing" seals basking on the rocks.
If archaeology is your passion, Annie’s Place is just 10 minutes walk from the tidal island of Brough of Birsay, 15 minutes by car from the World Heritage sites of Skara Brae, Ring of Brodgar, Maes Howe and Standing Stones of Stenness. The archaelogical discoveries of Ness of Brodgar can also be viewed in the summer months.
If you long to see exciting skies and sunsets, then enjoy the skyscapes on view from the garden wall overlooking the shoreline of Birsay Bay. In spring or summer just relax on our shoreline bench and enjoy the wonderful sunsets dipping into the sea, and then marvel at the fact that around midsummer the skies hardly darken at all! In the winter months, on clear nights, you can feast your eyes on the Milky Way immediately above your head and if you are in luck, you may glimpse the wonders of the Northern Lights across the northern shoreline.
At Annie’s Place you have access to our walled manse garden where you can barbeque or just sit and read in the garden or summer house among bright summer flowers.
A service bus runs to Kirkwall, or you can easily access all areas of Orkney by car and ferry. We are next to Palace Stores, the village shop, which provides basic provisions, home baking of cakes and pies, ice creams and hot/cold drinks.
And the final touch for a dream holiday?… a good coffee shop with home baking? Well then… just stroll over the bridge from Annie’s Place to Birsay Bay Tearoom, prizewinning finalists in Scotland’s small restaurant competition!
