Notes for tour groups

Visitors arrive at the Ness of Brodgar excavation site.

  • We ask that tour guides don’t add their clients on to the official site tours. Instead, they should guide their own groups. There are information boards around the site.

  • For those guiding groups themselves, we would ask for a donation of £5 per head – the project depends hugely on visitor support. It makes up 80 per cent of our funding. In addition, please encourage your guests to visit our on-site shop and buy our guidebook and other merchandise.

  • There is no need to book self-guiding tour slots for groups of less than eight people – just turn up on site, but please follow the parking guidelines.

  • Larger groups (8-15 people) should book a slot at least 48 hours in advance with site director Nick Card (nick.card@uhi.ac.uk). This is so we can avoid clashes with other tours and try and avoid the official site tour slots.

  • Coach tours or groups of more than 15 need to be booked well in advance with site director Nick Card (nick.card@uhi.ac.uk).

  • Coaches cannot be accommodated on site and coaches/minibuses must not park in the passing places.

  • Please check the site opening times – it is not open all day, every day and in bad weather may close at very short notice.

  • There is no entry to the excavation if the main gates are closed and there is no staff on site.

  • Please do not drop passengers off at the site entrance – the single-track road is busy and potentially dangerous.

  • For out-of-season tours, out-of-hours tours, or private guided tours during the excavation – with site director Nick Card (if he is available) or Sigurd Towrie – we ask for a minimum donation to project funds of £250 or £12 per head, whichever is the larger. Contact info@nessofbrodgar.co.uk for details.