The Pier Arts Centre is quite simply an amazing place to have somewhere as small as Orkney. It has…read morea world renowned collection, including works from the likes of Barbara Hepworth. There's the 'permanent collection' and it also hosts visiting exhibitions and exhibitions of local work throughout the year. There's lots of different rooms in the gallery - and a small courtyard outside right on the Stromness waterfront. There's a small shop - and the staff are knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. The extension to the gallery - built on reclaimed land - is also important architecturally and has won awards. The Pier Arts Centre hosts workshops at various times of the year - such as children's workshops in the school holidays. It is also often used as a venue during the Orkney Folk Festival.

From the owner: The Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, Orkney was established in 1979 to provide a home for an…read moreimportant collection of British fine art donated by the author, peace activist and philanthropist Margaret Gardiner. The Collection includes works by major 20th Century artists Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson and Alfred Wallis amongst others, as well as contemporary art and local artists. Although small, it is regarded as one of the finest collections of the period in the UK. The Pier is also a partner of Tate, and exchanges programmes, ideas and skills with the Plus Tate network of visual arts organisations across the UK. The Centre also curates a year round programme of changing exhibitions and events for the education and enjoyment of the general public.The Pier Arts Centre acts as a focal point for the local artistic community. It has a valuable library and archive which is accessible to the public, and runs a programme of education and outreach activities for groups of all ages.

Okrney and wine? I'll wait until you finish chuckling…read more Now that we've gotten that out of the way, Orkney Wine Company doesn't actually make wine, per se. That is, their "wines" are not made from "grapes." Because "grapes" don't stand a snowball's chance of growing in the Orkney terroir, lovely as it is. Rather, Orkney wine is made from native plants like elderberry, blackcurrant, bramble, cranberries, wild sloe, rhubarb, gooseberries and root ginger. I'll wait until you finish chuckling. Because they're really not as bad as they sound. I was afraid all the wines we sampled would be cloyingly sweet and lack any sort of depth when we pulled in to parking lot, lured by the promise of a "wine tasting." We were certainly treated to possibly the most *unique* tasting I've had the privilege of undertaking. We were told, basically, we could sample whatever we wanted, we just had to ask; the Wine Company doesn't do organized tastings exactly. So husband and I sampled away, trying the Orkney White (interesting, dry and herbaceous) and the Orkney Red (dry and jammy) blends; the Gooseberry (floral nose, smooth finish); and the Taak Hid Sloe (the sweetest we sampled). We ended up purchasing a bottle of the Gooseberry, just for the novelty of it. The "wines" themselves were fine. But what set Orkney Wine Company apart, for me, was the boutique attached, stocked entirely with Orkney merch: Westray pottery; sheepskins, hats, scarves and cushions made from North Ronaldsay wool; Orkney cheeses and game charcuterie; jewelry from local artisans. Everything is superb quality, making Orkney Wine Company the ideal place to pick up a one-of-a-kind souvenir. All five of us did.

this art gallery can be found above the wick library, it's a very nice building and its always full…read moreof lovely pieces of art, most of which by local artist but some of them are amazing. the building is in two parts, the down stairs is a library, which is full of books, fictional, pictures, science fiction anything really, a really good library. The upstairs is the art gallery and on your way up the stairs there is pieces of art placed on and around the stairs by locals, really lights the place up, the gallery itself is what any gallery should look like, lots of pictures and paintings

This is a really nice shop - packed with a huge amount of stuff. There's gifts galore - jewellery,…read moreceramics, CDs, books,, ornaments . In fact the biggest drawback is that there is so much stuff - and all packed into a relatively small space - that it's quite hard to take in. Also, because of this I would say it's not a great shop to visit with small children - and probably not wheelchair friendly either. Through the back of the shop if the gallery - which again is very small, but always has some lovely work on display. The gallery hosts different exhibitions throughout the year - which range from woodwork to ceramics, glass, photography and paintings. There's definitely something for everyone here - if you can find it