Historic SiteOrkneyHistoric Scotland4.8
Free entry for everyone; no membership card is needed.
The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.
Historic Scotland names no parking and says only that the cairn is half a mile west of the Rousay ferry pier. A small parking place on the B9064, just past the signed path on the right as you come from the pier, has room for a couple of cars; no official charge or free statement exists, so the status is recorded as unknown. The cairn is also an easy walk from the pier.
Driving pin: the parking place on the B9064, 142 m east-south-east of Historic Scotland's own pin on the cairn, beside the start of Orkney.com's Trumland walk. Rousay is reached by Orkney Ferries' car ferry from Tingwall on the Orkney Mainland, a crossing of about 25 minutes: fares from 1 April 2026 are £6.90 adult return and £22.00 return for a car up to 5.5 m, bicycles free, and every booking must be made at least an hour before departure from Tingwall (telephone 01856 751360). In the winter timetable (28 September 2026 to 1 May 2027) the last sailing back from Rousay leaves at 17:30 Monday to Saturday and 16:10 on Sunday. The ferry is a separate charge, not Historic Scotland's.
Taversöe Tuick Chambered Cairn sits on the hillside above Trumland, half a mile west of the Rousay ferry pier, with wide views over the sea to the neighbouring islands. Built about 5,000 years ago, it is a rare two-storey tomb: its two chambers were planned one above the other from the start and used separately, and the only other Orkney tomb like it is Huntersquoy on Eday. The lower chamber, entered from the south, has four compartments with stone shelves, where a crouched skeleton lay with the bones of at least two other people and heaps of cremated bone. The upper chamber, entered from the north, held the cremated bones of an adult and a child. Just downhill is a unique miniature chamber linked to the cairn by a stone channel, which held three pottery bowls, perhaps offerings. Visitors can go into both levels, climbing down a ladder to the lower one. Roadside parking takes a couple of cars; take a torch.
Historic Scotland: 'Taversöe Tuick Chambered Cairn is free to visit and open year-round. Strong footwear recommended.' No hours, closures or notices on 20 October 2026.
Visitors can enter both levels: a short metal ladder leads down into the lower chamber, where a torch helps, and the small third chamber lies just outside. No facilities on site; toilets, a waiting room and an unmanned information centre are at Rousay pier.
Photo: The grassy mound of Taversöe Tuick Chambered Cairn with its stone entrance, looking out over the sea to the neighbouring islands. MichaelMaggs, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tavers%C3%B6e_Tuick_Chambered_Cairn,_Rousay_(exterior).jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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Dog access not confirmed
7.4 km, grade 4, about 3 hours, mainly hill ground on peat tracks, very muddy in places, with short road sections; from Rousay pier past the signpost and kissing gate for the cairn ('Taversoe Tuick itself lies a short detour to your left, but it is well worth a visit') and over Blotchnie Fiold and Knitchen Hill. Fits between ferries. Free public route.
