Trumland Farm Campsite and Hostel

About Trumland Farm Campsite and Hostel

Trumland Farm lies on Rousay, a short ferry hop from Tingwall on the Orkney Mainland, and offers a handful of pitches alongside its hostel accommodation. This is a small operation on an organic farm rather than a resort, with space for around five tents or motorhomes, and that scale is precisely the appeal. Rousay has fewer than two hundred residents, one road round the island and almost no traffic, so nights here are exceptionally quiet.

Facilities are simple but sufficient, with showers and laundry available and use of the hostel building. Campers should arrive self-sufficient for food, as shops on the island are limited and it is sensible to stock up in Kirkwall before crossing. The ferry takes about half an hour and carries vehicles, though many visitors bring bicycles instead and find the island easy enough to cover on two wheels.

Rousay is sometimes called the Egypt of the North for the sheer density of archaeology packed into its slopes. Midhowe Chambered Cairn, an enormous stalled tomb housed under cover, and the neighbouring Midhowe Broch sit together on the western shore, with Taversoe Tuick and Blackhammer cairns close to the road. Add hill walking, an RSPB reserve on the moorland above the farm and views across to the neighbouring isles of Egilsay and Wyre, and it makes a rewarding two or three night detour from the Mainland. Book ahead, because with so few pitches the site fills quickly in July and August.