Kirkwall / Orkney

Orkney holds a Neolithic settlement at Skara Brae that was occupied around 3180 BC — older than Stonehenge and the pyramids — preserved because sand buried it and a storm uncovered it in 1850. Kirkwall's red sandstone cathedral was built by Norsemen, the islands were Norwegian until 1468, and they were pawned to Scotland as part of a dowry that was never paid.