A fantastic museum! Congratulations to Setup something like this here! Highly recommended to everybody who is interested in Scapa Flow and it’s history

Visited after 50 years, my late father worked here in the 1960s, brought back so many memories. Full of all sorts of WWI and WWII things. An amazing cafe with the biggest pot of tea for two on the planet and their cakes are just sublime. Planning to not leave it as long until my next visit!

The new museum has a really good layout with lots of informative exhibits. It was much bigger inside than I was anticipating!

Great displays, staff & coffee. David spoke with great knowledge & enthusiasm about Scapa Flow & its history. A must for all visitors.

What a great place to visit. Thanks must go to the hard work and dedication of the staff (visitor section and Cafe) and the valued war time memorabilia and funding that went into this, a credit to you..I visited last week after years of wanting to visit. Our late father was based here during most of WW2 on HMS Norfolk completing many missions such as North Cape, battle of the Bismarck and Scharnhorst and Artic Convoys including the infamous PQ17... I did't realise it was just a simple passenger ferry from Houton to Lyness and a 200 yard walk..It was great to see a local school using the facility as this type of history is important to learn about.I would recommend this great museum to anybody and see what brave men and women did during the wars...This museum is a great credit to Hoy/Orkneys...finally worth making sure you visit the Italian church on Orkney what an amazing place to see..Thankyou..

We managed to squeeze this visit in before we got the ferry back over to the mainland. So glad we did. Firstly, it's free. Secondly, the staff were friendly and welcoming. But thirdly and most importantly the exhibits and displays on the Navy were ace. Very informative and expertly put together. Orkney Council have done an amazing job with this museum. Well done guys!

If you are interested in history of WW1 and WW2 a visit is a must. You will learn a lot about the role of Scapa Flow in both world wars. Take your time, go around, watch the short movie

This was brilliant. David was great with us at reception and the history is particularly well presented. A highlight of our trip to the Orkneys. The restaurant has nice food and coffee. The exhibition is top quality. Highly recommended if you have an interest in military history.

Fantastic place to visit for young and old. Couple of minutes walk up the pier from the Ro-ro ferry. But...do allow plenty of time, as there's loads to see. Lovely little cafe too.

Excellent museum telling the story of Scapa Flow thru both World Wars. Interesting and heartfelt. Lots of remnants of buildings and machinery outside too - great map leaflet shows you how it was herein wartime. Free - so make a generous donation!! Great cafe with some gluten free/ vegan options too. On quay past ferry building is a lovely food wagon selling tasty pulled pork, vegi/burgers with gluten free buns too!! Yum!

Excellent newly refurbished free museum with lots of fascinating information. Cafe on site, soup, sandwiches, panini, coffee, cake, etc. Note the cafe will close suddenly if no patrons in the afternoon. I came out of the hall for a coffee at 3pm and they had shut. The stall on the Quay did a nice tea and a good burger! Windy journey on the ferry, wrap up warm if you want to see the scenery as no windows down in the inside room. Interesting walk around the site.

What an amazing place! Absolutely full of history and amazing treasures and artefacts. If my history lessons at school had been more like this place I'd have probably remembered more! I particularly liked the items that had been washed ashore, historical items are so intriguing, and I love thats many of the signs were short and laid out in a very analytical way - short and sweet facts and figures! There was lots to see and not just reading, so even younger members of our group enjoyed this visit. I found it very interesting and can't believe having studied in the west country that we were never taught any of what happened on the islands during the war. The staff in the shop were lovely and helpful and gave us a kids passport. They also threw in a pencil with their ship puzzle purchases. We found the cafe a little disappointing, there was little in the way of seating and I had to eat half my lunch standing up (soup!) and my children sharing a chair. We also were a tad disappointed after studying the sandwich menu and making our choices, that by the time we got to the ladies taking orders, we found out we could only have what was in the cabinet, on the other side of the till, which were just 2 options left by that point in the day. I'm not taking a star away as my review is on the museum itself, however hopefully it can be useful for the owners/managers for suggestions :) I've attached a couple of photos to give you an idea of what you can see, but won't post anymore so I don't spoil it!

A beautiful museum that does a fantastic job of telling the story of Scapa Flow. 10/10 would recommend!

Excellent museum, plenty of information from WW1 & WW2. 5 mins walk from ferry terminal. Allow 2 hrs at least to take it all in.

Excellent museum. So much more to see than expected from the outside. Allow a couple of hours to do it justice. Nice café inside, for coffee and cake or for a light lunch. All good 😎 👍 👍 👍

Excellent visit so interesting and well laid out. Cafe service was good, cakes great and coffee good

Superb museum covering a fascinating period in history. How can this be free. Amazing. Go to the Navy cemetery while you're there it's just up the road

Great exhibits and enough information for you to wander around and pick up the information and follow the story of the navy at Scapa. Just of the ferry so can fill the time waiting for the ferry and if you are hungry the cafe can fill this but this usually closes after 2 apparently so may miss this if you are getting the last ferry. Well worth the visit

Wonderful place. If you like dark dusty moth ridden Victorian museums DON'T go, this place is clean, fresh, happy, bright and light. Cafe mustn't be missed either. All staff had a spring in their step and bubbled with ideas and plans for the future. Great novelty going to a museum on a ferry that was cheaper than many buses!

This was an excellent addition to our visit to the Orkney Islands. Huge amount of information and exhibits in a small museum. Staff were very helpful and friendly. We got the Orkney Ferry from Houton to Lyness at 13:15, then the return at 16:40. Gave plenty of time to wander around the museum and surrounding area, and to have a coffee.

What a fabulous museum! The exhibits were fascinating - lots of artefacts and useful information well presented. Well worth looking around. The wider site is also a wonderful place to walk around. A lot of the site is derelict, but there are some great free maps that explain what you can find. We were there from 11 until 4, which seemed the right time. Would love to come again!

Great museum. The new museum has taken the best elements of the old museum including old buildings and incorporated them into a new museum which is much better. The cafe has nice views as well!

Superb free museum within a level walk of the Lyness ferry port. The Dome includes ring binders full of information and an area for youngsters to learn and do activities. 2 large accessible toilets. Allow a couple of hours to explore fully. The Romney Hut contains further artefacts, including the Otter Bank- the floating Bank that visited the isles in the archipelago. The cafe can get busy, so once ordered at your table, you may have to wait a little for food. There is always a "soup of the day" a selection of hot rolls or sandwiches, plus cakes. Payment can be made electronically or in cash.

Visited today. Brilliant museum with very friendly staff. No entry fee so we were more than happy to donate. I'm only knocking a star off for the cafe! We went in at 1.25pm and there was only a very small selection of food available: three types of ready-made sandwich, small bakes/traybakes, and bacon/egg rolls. It's a bit of a shame but perhaps they will be able to offer a bigger and better range in the future.

Wonderful museum telling an amazing history... Stunning artefacts, I particularly liked the personal stories shared. Lovely cafe too, perfect spot for lunch! Definitely worth a visit.

Great museum with plenty to keep us occupied for about 3 hours! Lovely welcoming staff. It will be closed for the winter (Nov-Mar) but I thoroughly recommend it for anyone interested in Orkney's military history.

We LOVED this. Sadly we didn't have enough time, as well as seeing other things on Hoy. So much good stuff, well laid-out and well-explained. And my teenage son says the X-box (virtual 3-D roam) activity was excellent - very user-friendly and impressive graphics. Great café - awesome cakes!!

Really easy access from the ferry, be prepared to spend over an hour here as there's a lot to get through. Excellent historical artifacts and info with some interactive exhibits as well and it's free admission too. The cafe is worth a visit too for a coffee and a snack before getting back to the musem. We didn't take the car from Houton on the ferry so it was just over £11 return for 2 adults. Cheap day out and well worth it.

There are so many interesting things in this place from items related to the scuttling through to the nature of Orkney - it well worth a visit.

Fabulous, well laid out great building hosting inspiring stories and exhibits - its a must, I have been three times!

Recently refurbished with new café. Easy access from the ferry at Lyness Pier.

Unbelieveably good but i only had 30 mins here. Too much to see too little time. This museum for free? Are you joking, i'd pay for it. I'm coming back as i really want to see it.

It was very interesting, but as its only a temporary exhibition it was definitely lacking. Good effort though and a very nice man who gave us lots of information. Look forward to seeing the finalised exhibition.

Although it's a temp exhibition, it was still really informative, and fascinating. Very friendly staff. Definitely want to come back when they reopen the full museum.

This wonderful museum with free admission was left to the last day of my visit to the island of Hoy, just in case of a rainy day and I'm so glad that we visited in spite of the lack of rain! We first of all visited the tea room in the old coal store, but don't let that put you off as things have changed a bit since 1957. Filled with a good cup of coffee, sandwich and cake I then spent the best part of 4 hours wandering around the museum, up to the old cleaned out oil tank, and the boat store, a fascinating time spent. So be warned, if you're interested in the history of Hoy, and it's huge role in WW1 and WW2, don't be fooled into thinking it's something that will take no time at all.

Very interesting and some great exhibits. Loads of information. The cafe is great too, really nice tea and cake.

Fantastic museum full of lots to see and great things for the kids to keep them entertained. Would highly recommend.

Very well laid out looking forward when new museum opens up

This place is now closed for renovations...and once back it could become a great place to visit and eat.... interesting and not far from the ferry