Spiritual Orkney
CONTACT US
Helen & Mark Woodsford-Dean
Craigielea, Harray, Orkney, Scotland, KW17 2JU
+44(0)7749 934617 (mob) / +44(0)1856 761133


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Fees for Tourist Guiding Services
Our Fees for Tourist Guiding
Our fees are for one of us guiding (i.e. per guide) as a step-on guide (see below for explanation) and are our total guiding fee (they are not a per person fee as we charge for our time, not the number of people we guide for). If you wish us both to guide together for you, we will be delighted to discuss our rates for two guides with you.

For individuals only, our charges include entrance fees to two (2) Historic Environment Scotland site (e.g. Skara Brae and Maeshowe). For couples, our charges include entrance fees to one (1) Historic Environment Scotland site for both of you. This offer does not extend to groups of 3 or more people.

Our fees do not include your travel fares, nor your refreshments or meals, but we will suggest refreshments / hostelries suitable to your budget. If you wish us to quote you an all-inclusive price, we will be delighted to do so on request. As guidance, please allow approximately £60GB per person per day, in addition to our guiding fees below, if you wish us to pay for your lunch, refreshments (hot and soft drinks, but not alcoholic beverages), and all entrance fees to all sites.

Peak season (beginning March - end September inclusive)

Our fees are based on STGA's indicative rates for 2025:
  • £330 GB per day (up to 8 hours)
  • £220 GB per half day (up to 4 hours) *
For tours booked directly, to accept a booking we ask for a reservation fee of £100GB per full or half day, with the balance (i.e. £230 per day or £120 per half day) due at the end of the tour. In the event that you cancel, this reservation fee is non-refundable and covers us for our time in planning your itinerary, dealing with any pre-bookings for any sites, plus our loss of income for the day. Partial cancellations will be treated proportionally, for example, you book for 2 days @ £660, you pay a reservation fee of £200, you subsequently cancel the second day, the balance you owe will be £330 + £100 - £200 = £230. Any refunds may be subject to an administrative charge to cover our additional costs.

For commercial agencies and travel agents, and for ALL coach tours (including minibus and midi-coach), to accept a booking we ask for a reservation fee of £100GB per date. There will be an additional hourly charge for our time if you require us to plan a detailed itinerary and make bookings on your behalf. In the event that you cancel, or partially cancel, this reservation fee is non-refundable and covers us for our preparation time and loss of income. We then ask for the balance (i.e. £230 per day or £120 per half day) to be paid in full 28 days before (i.e. in advance of) the start of the tour. In the event that you cancel, or partially cancel, with less than 14 days' notice (prior to the start date of the tour) this balance is non-refundable. Any refunds will be subject to an administrative charge to cover our additional costs.

* Please note that we offer half day tours at our discretion only and we would expect the timings to allow us to accept another booking on the same day, i.e. for a half day morning tour we would expect to finish by 12 noon, whereas a half day afternoon tour would usually start about 2pm. 

Outside peak season (October - February inclusive) our fees, terms and conditions, are all based on the above, and are negotiable depending on your requirements and the amount of daylight reasonably available. In general, during these months, the limited daylight dictates that we realistically only offer half day tours, although at our discretion we may extend the tour time.

Concerned about the cost? We understand that every visitor has unique needs and differing budgets so, if our set fees are beyond what you can afford, please contact us about providing a guiding service for you that is costed at a level that is comfortable for you as well as being fair for us. This particularly applies if you are travelling by yourself. We will always try to tailor our services to match your requirements and budget on request, especially for travellers exploring Orkney out of season. Promise!

Please note that we are only insured to provide walking tours or 'step-on' tours (which is where we join you as a passenger in your own or a hired car). You can drive your own car, or you can hire a car and drive yourself, or you can hire a taxi and driver - then take us as one of your passengers. For 2025, taxi costs set by Orkney Islands Council are about £50 per hour for a car and driver or about £60 per hour for a people carrier and driver. We can also design tours using public transport (bus) but would ask you to be aware that public transport cannot be pre-booked and is often over-subscribed and therefore cannot be guaranteed. If there is not enough room in your vehicle with you, we can follow or lead in our own vehicle.

Your tours can be:
  • walking tours
  • tours where you drive in your own car, or in a car which you hire, and we travel as your passenger
  • tours in a vehicle where you also hire a driver (such as a taxi or coach) and we travel as your passenger
  • tours accompanying you on public transport (we would expect you to pay our travel fare as well as your own, but we can advise on time-tables if necessary)
  • tours where we lead or follow your vehicle in our own vehicle
  • bicycling tours (within reason!)
We both have our own transport and can meet you at the starting point of your choice (the tour would usually need to end here, so we can collect our car, otherwise an additional charge may apply).  

These charges include a personal itinerary, planned just for you and based on your individual interests - this personal itinerary service is also available without guiding (see below).

Itinerary Planning Services
If you don't wish to book us as tourist guides BUT you do want to make sure that you make the most of your time in Orkney, you can arrange for us to design a personal itinerary, planned just for you and based on your individual interests.

This service is available from £40, depending on the number of days we are asked to plan your itinerary for. Our local knowledge will provide you with grid co-ordinates, detailed and clear directions, opening and accessible times of sites, brief description of sites, plus a suggested route with the potential to save your mileage and time.

We will also provide details of any charges such as entrance fees or travel fares and we will even suggest suitable places for refreshments / meals suitable to your budget. We also pre-book any sites which require pre-booking if you request us to to do (for some busy sites pre-booking well in advance is the only way to guarantee entry).

Please provide us with as much information as possible including your transport arrangements, where you are staying, when you arrive and depart Orkney and how (which ferry, plane etc), the dates of your tour, the numbers of people in your party and any mobility issues, your interests and any 'must sees'. Please provide as much notice as possible so that we have adequate time to carry out the required research and please note that we are usually unable to provide this service in the busy summer months unless we have a couple of weeks' notice. Your itinerary will be forwarded to you in a PDF format.

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