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 near where fulmars glide, puffins nest, where loch fishing is free,… or you just want the view from our shoreline bench above Birsay Bay, where gannets dive, swans surf the waves and “singing” seals bask on rocks… then Annie’s Place will be your noust by the sea. The St Magnus Way passes by the front door taking you on wonderful sea shore and cliff walks in either direction.
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, Ness of Brodgar and Maes Howe.
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, and BT broadband Wi-Fi is on tap.
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!
