Planning
We decided to visit Shetland on a bit of a whim. We were looking to extend a long weekend at Loch Tay with a visit somewhere else, and we ended up deciding on Shetland. Leaving on the overnight ferry on Monday and returning on the Saturday overnight ferry, gave us 4 nights and 5 full days in Shetland including a full day on arrival and departure. The ferry on our chosen days leaves at 7pm, as it does not go via Kirkwall in Orkney. If you chose a day when it travels via Kirkwall the normal departure time is 5pm.
The options we had for getting to Shetland were to fly or to get the Northlink ferry from Aberdeen. We chose the ferry for two reasons – we could take our own car (and inflatable canoe) and we felt the overnight journey would make a nice addition to our trip. You can book an ensuite cabin (private or shared), or just a seat. The seats are similar to airline seats in economy and business, though it is worth noting that none of them fully recline, hence we opted for a cabin. The cabins are en-suite and comfortable (twin or bunk beds, no doubles) and we slept pretty well on our journey over.
We also added on the Magnus Lounge which included 2 alcoholic drinks each, a limited choice of snacks (fruit & shortbread), unlimited tea, coffee & soft drinks, plus continental breakfast in the morning. The breakfast is served early, so you can either have it before you depart the ship, or take your car off and park it up (for free) and re-board for a more leisurely breakfast.
What we didn’t consider at the time of booking, was that in winter (we travelled in February) there is much more likelihood that adverse weather can result in delays or cancellations to the ferry. With a new storm hitting the UK every weekend in February this year, we were lucky that neither of our sailings were affected, although it came close! If you are choosing when to go, we would be inclined to recommend avoiding the winter, although it all worked out well in the end for us and it was incredibly quiet, which was nice. We had an amazing time with enough good weather during our 5 days to enjoy and photograph the spectacular scenery, do some short walks and get the canoe out for a paddle. We enjoyed our trip so much that we hope to go again, perhaps next time in June so that we can hopefully do more canoeing and also see the wildflowers in bloom and the puffins (which are usually around from approximately mid April – July).
On our outward journey the storm had just passed, and in the end the thing that nearly caused us to miss the ferry was snow! We had to dig out our car at Loch Tay and keep putting salt down to get it up the hill from the boathouse we had been staying in (very lucky there were salt bins at each corner!) We also had to re-route as we nearly got stuck again in snow a little further on. However, we made it and the crossing was pretty smooth (in contrast our journey back, which was during another storm!)
We arrived in Lerwick, the capital of Shetland, refreshed and ready to start exploring. The lady who owns the lodge we had booked said it would be ready for us arriving off the ferry, which was great, so we offloaded our luggage and headed straight out again as it was a lovely day with the sun shining down (weather-wise the best day we had).
It is worth recommending at this point the lodge we stayed in. The owner was super helpful and owns a variety of lodges in various parts of mainland Shetland. We stayed in Oxna Lodge, about 10 miles south of Lerwick, with views out to sea. It was really nice, well situated, super clean, very comfortable and had everything we needed.
We also recommend checking out the various maps and information leaflets that are available for free (our lodge had a good supply of them, otherwise try the tourist office).
What to see and do
Firstly, let me give you a link here to our daily blog. It’s a good idea to split up you time on mainland Shetland into 3 or 4 days – South Mainland; Scalloway, Trondra & Burra; Tingwall, Central Mainland & West Mainland; North Mainland.
We also have a short video on YouTube that will give you a taste of the stunning scenery that Shetland has to offer.
South
There are quite a few attractions to make at least one full day in the South worthwhile:-
For us it was the stunning sandy beaches and bays, which offer some fantastic canoeing opportunities (or swimming if you can brave the VERY cold water). Some of our favourite beaches in the South were…
Spiggie beach, where we canoed in the calm bay. Parking is available for a few cars.
Rerwick beach which had loads of seals sunbathing on the sand – it is hard to access, but you can get a good view of the seals with binoculars or a zoom lens from the road above. Rerwick is the next beach after Spiggie when heading north.
The spectacular tombola beach at St Ninians, an “island” connected to the mainland (sometimes only at low tide) by a strip of sand (a tombola). A must-visit!
For anyone interested in the historic / archaeological sites, the main ones are Old Scatness and Jarlshof “Iron Age” villages, The Crofthouse Museum, Sumburgh Head Lighthouse and Mousa Broch on the island of Mousa – said to be the best preserved broch to be found anywhere in the world (you need to take the short ferry ride from Sandwick). There is also the easily accessed Clickimin Broch in Lerwick.
For birdwatchers (or even whale spotting!) the RSPB’s nature reserve on Sumburgh Head is a great place to see puffins (April to July) and many other sea birds.
Scalloway, Trondra & Burra
Driving over to Scalloway, just before you arrive there is a good viewpoint worth stopping at, which looks over to Scalloway village, harbour and castle. If you want to look inside the castle you can get the key from the Scalloway Museum.
Leaving Scalloway, drive along East Voe to the bridges linking the mainland with the isles of Trondra and Burra. On Burra take a visit to the picturesque village of Hamnavoe, which has a small harbour and boat marina.
Meal beach has a car park and toilets (the latter open in season). It is a popular white sand beach accessed via a short path opposite the car park, and is apparently safe for swimming (though we didn’t swim as the water was far too cold!)
At the end of West Burra, there is a fairly short footpath that takes you down to the beautiful Minn beach, which is set on a tombola and well worth a visit. This is probably another good place for a canoe paddle, though we didn’t use our canoe there. We did see a lady go in for a swim though – very brave! It’s a lovely place to take a walk around.
Tingwall, Central Mainland & West Mainland
The day that we toured this area we had literally four seasons in one day! A bit of everything – snow, sun, showers…
To be honest the snow actually added to the beauty of the landscape, just a dusting, making it a winter wonderland in places.
We travelled the B9074 road through the Tingwall Valley and on via Whiteness Voe and Weisdale Voe. A voe is like an inlet – a sea loch or fjord. With the dusting of snow it was stunning, and the water in the voes and lochs was flat calm and clear, like a mirror.
We had it in mind to canoe in one of the voes on our way back after sightseeing. Unfortunately it was not to be as the weather closed in on our way home and it was no longer enticing us to go out on the water…
Continuing on to the West Mainland, we passed more stunning scenery of voes, lochs, sea cliffs, small rolling hills, crofts and Shetland ponies! We stopped off to take a short walk along part of the cliffs at Westerwick – a must-do! Really stunning and dramatic!
We finished off at Sandness, where you have views over to Papa Stour. There is a 2.5 mile walk called the Sandness Coastal Walkway, but unfortunately the weather had started to deteriorate, so we didn’t do the walk.
On our return we stopped off at the award winning Frankie’s Fish & Chips in the village of Brae for a take-away. Frankie’s is the UK’s most northerly fish and chip shop and the food was good!
North Mainland
North Mainland is home to some of the most jaw-dropping dramatic sea cliffs we have ever seen, in particular those at Eshaness, where we spent quite a bit of time hiking & taking loads of photographs. This place is a must-see, but please do take a good walk around or you will miss so much! Be careful, though, there are no fences to stop you going over the cliff edges!
Driving towards Eshaness from the south, we first stopped at Stenness and a view point en-route where we had good views of the tiny island of Dore Holm and lurking behind it what we assume is an oil platform.
We also drove to North Roe and Ibister / Sandvoe, which given more time would have made another good canoeing stop.
From Ibister you can hike on to Fethaland, a 10 kilometer round trip (we did not have time to do this, so no photos – sorry!)
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