Scotland's Best Hidden Ancient Sites
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The scotland's Best Hidden Ancient Sites include Corrimony Chambered Cairn, Midhowe Tomb and Chambered Cairn, Cairn of Get, Quoyness Chambered Cairn, Camster Cairns, Blackhammer Chambered Cairn, Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn and Aikey Brae Stone Circle.
Scotland's ancient past lingers most strongly in the north, where Neolithic tombs and stone circles have stood for five thousand years and more. Many sit in wild, out-of-the-way country, free to enter and blissfully uncrowded.
Orkney is the great treasure house: on Rousay alone lie the vast stalled tomb of Midhowe and the neat chambered cairn of Blackhammer, while Sanday holds the tall chamber of Quoyness and the Orkney Mainland the dog-bone-filled cairn of Cuween Hill above Finstown. On the mainland of the far north, Caithness keeps the Grey Cairns of Camster out on the peat and the horned Cairn of Get near Ulbster.
West of Loch Ness, in Glen Urquhart, the Clava-type cairn of Corrimony sits within its ring of standing stones, and down in the farming country of Aberdeenshire's Buchan, Aikey Brae raises its recumbent stone circle on a low wooded hill. Together they span the tombs and temples of Scotland's earliest farmers.
Here are eight hidden ancient sites to seek out across Scotland.
Corrimony Chambered Cairn
Photo: Anne Burgess via Geograph.org.uk
Visit Corrimony Chambered Cairn In Glen Urquhart, near Cannich to the west of Loch Ness, Corrimony is a well-preserved chambered cairn cared for by Historic Environment Scotland and free to visit. A circular stone mound about eighteen metres across, edged by a kerb, has a low passage leading to a central chamber built of large boulders, still partly roofed, that you can crawl into.
A cup-marked slab, probably the original capstone, lies on top, and a ring of eleven standing stones surrounds the cairn. It is a Clava-type tomb dating from around 2000 BC.
Midhowe Tomb and Chambered Cairn
Photo: Sandy Gerrard via Geograph.org.uk
Midhowe Tomb and Chambered Cairn They call it the Great Ship of Death, and one look at its long, narrow hull of stone explains why. This is the largest and best-preserved of Rousay's many Neolithic cairns, a huge tomb whose stalled chamber runs over twenty metres and is split by upright slabs into a dozen compartments; the remains of at least twenty-five people were found inside.
A modern stone-and-glass building now shelters the whole thing, with raised walkways that let you look straight down into the chamber. It stands on the island's west shore in Orkney near Midhowe Broch, reached on the same walk to the shore, and Historic Environment Scotland cares for it.
Cairn of Get
Photo: David Bremner via Geograph.org.uk
Discover Cairn of Get Out on the moors near Ulbster, in the far north-east of Caithness, Cairn of Get is a Neolithic burial cairn more than five thousand years old. This ruined stone tomb has been opened up so you can see into the chamber where the dead were once laid.
It has a horned shape, with arms of stone reaching out to form a forecourt at the entrance, a style found across this part of Scotland. Reached by a short walk over rough, boggy moorland from the road, it lies in open, empty country of moor and sky running down toward the coast.
Worked flints, pottery and human bones were found inside long ago.
Quoyness Chambered Cairn
Photo: Colin Park via Geograph.org.uk
See Quoyness Chambered Cairn On the Els Ness peninsula on the island of Sanday, in Orkney, Quoyness is a large Neolithic chambered tomb built around five thousand years ago. Visitors crawl through a low entrance passage some nine metres long into a tall main chamber whose drystone walls still rise close to four metres, with six low cells opening off it.
When it was dug out in the nineteenth century the bones of at least ten people were found inside. Cared for by Historic Environment Scotland, it is open and free, with a modern roof protecting the chamber, and is a place for those happy to crawl in.
Camster Cairns
Photo: Donald H Bain via Geograph.org.uk
Explore Camster Cairns Out on a bleak stretch of moorland in the flat, boggy country of Caithness, the Grey Cairns of Camster are two ancient burial cairns, among the oldest stone monuments in Scotland and built more than five thousand years ago. They survive in great heaps of grey stone: one round, the other a long cairn stretching some sixty metres, with horned ends.
Both have burial chambers inside, and, unusually, you can crawl through their low passages to stand in the dark stone rooms where the dead were once laid. A boardwalk leads out to them across the peat, in a setting wild and empty, all heather, bog and sky.
Blackhammer Chambered Cairn
Photo: N Chadwick via Geograph.org.uk
Visit Blackhammer Chambered Cairn On the green island of Rousay, in Orkney, Blackhammer Chambered Cairn is a Neolithic burial cairn built around five thousand years ago. It is a long, low mound, and inside a single narrow stone chamber is divided by tall upright slabs into a row of stalls, like open compartments down its length, the kind of tomb found across Orkney.
The outside was finished with care, the stonework laid in neat patterns of angled slabs. Today the cairn is protected by a modern concrete roof, and you climb down into it by a short ladder through a hatch.
It sits on a hillside above Eynhallow Sound and is free to enter.
Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn
Photo: Colin Park via Geograph.org.uk
Descend into Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn Built into a hilltop above Finstown on the Orkney Mainland, Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn is a Neolithic tomb around five thousand years old. You reach the chamber by crawling through a low passage into a stone room where you can stand upright, with several small side cells opening off it.
It is pitch dark inside, so a torch is well worth bringing. When the tomb was dug out, the bones of two dozen dogs were found lying on the floor alongside human remains, a strange discovery to make in the dark.
Aikey Brae Stone Circle
Photo: Ralph Greig via Geograph.org.uk
Walk up to Aikey Brae Stone Circle In a clearing on a low hill near Old Deer, in the Buchan country of Aberdeenshire, Aikey Brae is a recumbent stone circle, reached by a short walk uphill through forestry. The ring is much reduced now, with several stones fallen, but the great recumbent still lies flat along the south-western side, a single block of around twenty-one tonnes set where two taller stones once flanked it.
The remaining stones were graded by height, tallest toward the recumbent and shortest opposite, a pattern found across this part of Scotland. Circles like this were raised in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, and from the hill the view runs out over rolling farmland.
FAQs
Which ancient sites can you go inside?
Several in Scotland let you enter the chamber: at Corrimony near Loch Ness, Quoyness on Sanday, Camster in Caithness, Blackhammer on Rousay and Cuween Hill on the Orkney Mainland you can crawl or climb into the tomb, though a torch helps in the dark.
Where are Scotland's best ancient sites found?
Most cluster in the far north. Orkney holds Midhowe, Blackhammer, Quoyness and Cuween Hill, while Caithness has Camster and Cairn of Get. Corrimony lies west of Loch Ness and Aikey Brae in Aberdeenshire's Buchan.
Are these ancient sites free to visit?
Yes, the Historic Environment Scotland cairns such as Corrimony, Midhowe and Quoyness are free, as are Blackhammer, Cairn of Get and Camster in the north. Aikey Brae stone circle in Aberdeenshire is also open without charge.
Conclusion
For anyone drawn to the deep past, the north of Scotland is unmatched, its moors and islands scattered with tombs and circles raised by the first farmers. Orkney rewards island-hoppers with Midhowe and Blackhammer on Rousay, Quoyness on Sanday and Cuween Hill above Finstown, each a chamber you can enter.
On the Caithness mainland, the Grey Cairns of Camster and the horned Cairn of Get sit out on the wild peat, while Corrimony guards Glen Urquhart west of Loch Ness and Aikey Brae raises its recumbent circle over the fields of Buchan. Nearly all are free, remote and wonderfully quiet, places where you can stand alone with five thousand years of history.
Bring a torch and stout boots, watch the weather, and set off: these are the hidden ancient sites to seek out across Scotland.
