Experience the beauty of a drive through Orkney’s southern islands, stopping at sites with wartime history and a village where the shopping is peaceful. You’ll depart Kirkwall to the south, hugging the coast along Scapa Flow as you learn why action seen here during World Wars I and II make this one of the world’s best-known stretches of water. Heading across the Churchill Barriers, a series of four rock causeways that link Orkney’s main island to smaller south islands previously only reachable by ferry, you’ll first arrive at Lamb Holm. While uninhabited, this tiny islet is home to the Italian Chapel – converted from a raw corrugated metal hut into a place of hand-painted beauty by Italian prisoners during World War II. You’ll be touched by your visit here, as are the “Camp 60” ex-prisoners and their descendants who still come to visit. Further south is the island of South Ronaldsay and its pretty village of St. Margaret’s Hope. Stopping here for a while, you’ll learn more about the people behind that name and have some time to meander streets lined with handsome stone cottages or perhaps do a little impromptu shopping at the excellent craft workshop.