eXplorador Escocés
A small and quiet town
This is the first part of my trip to the Orkney Islands in northern Scotland. For the English, the North is Scotland - to the Scots, the North begins at Thurso and extends to Orkney first and then to the Shetland Islands. The journey to Thurso passes through the capital of the Highlands, Inverness, and continues nearly 200 miles farther north, in fact, Thurso is one of the most northerly towns in Great Britain. It is small, quiet and is ideal for an overnight stay (either on the way there or back). Once there take the ferry to Orkney from Scrabster village 3 miles away. Next to the beach, and crossed by a small river, there are numerous parks for a quiet stroll after a dinner of good fish.
The town's history is closely linked to the Orkney Islands, in fact the name comes from Old Norse (sort of medieval Norwegian) and means water bull. So its history is also closely linked to that of the Vikings in the UK. It reached its peak in the XIII century, again by its relations with Orkney. Just keep in mind that once past Inverness, the two largest places are Wick and Thurso, and both are really small. This shows that the Northern Highlands (Caithness and Sutherland) are still quite remote and not very accessible (especially if you don't have your own vehicle). Best of Thurso, as I mentioned, is its location and continuous transit with other areas of the North and of course with the Orkneys and Shetlands. Simply, it is a very convenient (more details on pictures and video).
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