Shetland Islands

Is any one familiar with Lerwick of the Shetland Islands. We will be on the Caribbean Princess on 9/10/16. Places to eat or shop. We will be taking an afternoon tour but have the morning free

If it's not too wet, go for a walk round the town. The museum is worth a visit and there is a good tourist office. There are several cafes around the harbour area.

It's small town so don't think you'll need any particular recommendations as you'll easily see all the town centre in a short time

Don't just walk around the town. Take a tour to see the island. The scenery is fantastic.

We took a wonderful private tour.

http://:www.shetlandgeotours.com

I had found this tour on the roll call from the 2013 Star cruise. The tour had great reviews. We were not disappointed.

The tour was described as follows:

Lerwick, Shetland Islands, led by well-known island native Allen Fraser of Shetland GeoTours. It will be so much more than geology, combining history and archeology with local lore acquired from over 60 years of living in this beautiful land.

After visiting Clickimin Broch, an Iron Age defensive tower near Lerwick, we'll head north for a drive through Girlsta and Petta Dale on our way to the picturesque village of Voe, then across the Mavis Grind, a piece of geological history and Shetland's narrowest point at only 90 yards from coast to coast, on to Ronas Voe (Shetland's fjord) and finally to Eshaness cliffs and sea stacks (Shetland’s volcano), some of the most stunning scenery on the islands.

The tour can accommodate a total of eight people with one bus, or if we have enough people, we can add another bus of eight people for a total of 16.

We did book a tour for 16 and had two buses with Allen driving and guiding one bus and James the other bus. The tour was super and included the islands history, geology and stunning scenery. We had a wonderful lunch of soup and sandwiches for only £5. After the tour, we had a little time to browse around Lerwick, which was a quaint town. The population of the islands is about 23,000. The North Sea oil industry has added to the economy, but sheep farming appears to be the primary economic activity. We saw many sheep on our tour, as well as some Shetland Ponies. The ponies were more rotund than the one’s in the USA.

Hi there. I live in Shetland and would be happy to recommend a few things for you or answer any questions. Feel free to email me at valerie dot spence at hotmail dot co dot uk.

Good advice from above. It's. It's nice to walk around town. Fjara is a lovely place to eat with great views. It's a little further out from the centre (maybe 15 mins walk) but it's close to the Clickimin Broch which is good to see. The Havly is another cafe that's great to relax in.

I would definitely recommend the museum and the little shop there always has things to tempt me. Our tourist office, which is on the street ("the street" being Commercial Street and where all the shops are) is very good.

I hope you have great weather as that makes all the difference. Our islands are beautiful with so much to see and do. I love seeing all the cruise ships come in and all the tourists visiting! Which tour are you doing in the afternoon, if you don't mind me asking?

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We just visited Lerwick last month and loved our visit.

As Rasmie said, the Shetland Museum is interesting, and has a great cafe and a cute shop.

I wandered the town a little and it was cute - lots of yarn stores and a good bookshop. Shetland Jewellery had some beautiful things!

Enjoy your cruise!

Will be in Lerwick in Sept, is the coastal walk to Knab, close to the area we tender into. Also the Croft House Musuem in walking distance? Did a tour here a few years ago, now want to explore the town. I remember that I loved this place, thanks

I'm hoping that these 2 photos will post OK as this is the first time I've tried this!

These photos of the Caribbean Princess were taken on the 8th of September last year. The photos are taken from the Knab. It's about a 15 minute walk to get here from the pier that your tender will drop you off at. The Knab walk is worth it as you can great views. I walk around there often as my work is 5 mins away.

You can't see but behind my son's head is the path that continues down to the left along the cliffs back towards the pier.

If you're interested I can post a couple more photos of the views en route to the Knab which takes you past the Lodberries. For anyone who enjoyed watching the BBC drama series "Shetland", the house that Jimmy Perez lived in is there. I can also post a photo of the view from the other side of the Knab looking towards the town.

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I'm sorry. The photos look so small! I'm not sure how to increase them. They were taken on my iPhone but posted from the iPad. Hope you can make it out!

I forgot to say that the Crofthouse Museum at Dunrossness is around a 25 minute drive from Lerwick, so not within walking distance. The main museum however, is within walking distance and will take about 10-15 minutes from the pier.

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Thanks for the information. We are taking a drive to Northmavine, Tangwich Hag Museum and Eshaness Lighthouse.

Eshaness is a great spot and I'm sure you'll enjoy it. It's been many years since I was at the Tangwick Haa museum but it's close to Eshaness. The Braewick Cafe nearby is definitely worth a visit. You might consider a walk around Hillswick which isn't far. There's a wildlife sanctuary there but they don't always have animals there (it's usually seals).

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Get out and see the Shetland Islands.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotos-g186571-w2-Shetland_Islands_Scotland.html

For the info and pictures which were great, I enlarged them on my i-pad. We did see Shetland, we loved it, we watch a lot of bbc series, and this was one of the best.Love to watch for the scenery and great story lines.

Thinking that I read where we can get a taxi, I've read about so many places I may have got it confused with somewhere else, thanks again and I would love to see the other pics

Thanks debut. I've looked but the photos I mentioned are on my phone so will post them tomorrow. I added photos to my iPad via airdrop this morning but haven't got them all across yet.

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The Shetland Museum is near/in town. It was a drive to the Croft House museum but we loved it!

Have to check out the Shetland books and TV series now.

Thanks debut. I've looked but the photos I mentioned are on my phone so will post them tomorrow. I added photos to my iPad via airdrop this morning but haven't got them all across yet.

 

 

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Use Photobucket to download your pictures and then copy & paste the IMG code in your post. Your pictures will look this big. Click on Preview Post before posting to see if your picture is embedded. I have never been to Scotland but you may recognize this statue of Annie Moore (the first immigrant to process through Ellis Island) from Cobh Ireland.

We will be in Shetland next Aug 26 and I am really looking forward to it.

Shak

I know the original poster has already been to Lerwick, but I just wanted to add my thoughts in case others go and want an opinion. The town was nice, and I could have spent a whole day there happily exploring. There are some good webcams that will give you idea of where you'll likely be dropped off if you tender, and what the city center (Market Cross) looks like. I only had a couple hours in Lerwick, but certainly enjoyed it.

For the rest of the day, we rented a car from Bolts and drove around some of the island. It was quite worthwhile. With some pre-planning, we managed to see puffins and Shetland ponies, drive over an airport runway, and see a ruined castle, a broch or two, and a beautiful lighthouse. The roads were great and we had a great time. My photos are here, although you'll have to go back maybe 10 galleries or so, as I post a lot of pictures and love/live to travel: http://www.pbase.com/roothy123

The information here is very helpful and has helped us to decide just to stay in Lerwick and its walkable environs for the day. We are thinking about doing the following for our port day (8am-6pm (5:30pm back on ship): see town, visit Shetland Museum, grab a quick bite to eat (maybe sandwiches for walk) and quickly do email at the Shetland Museum cafe, do the Knab walk, and walk to and visit Clickimin Broch and back to the cruise ship or town. As an estimate, we would do town, Shetland Museum, wifi, and get sandwiches in the morning and spend the afternoon for the Knab and Clickimin Broch walks and visits (could eat sandwiches during walk and defer town visit until after walk if needed).

Rasmie, do you think all this is doable in one day? We walk 5-8 miles (8-13km) a day at home, but usually walk 6-14 miles per day, sometimes up to 20 miles (10-30km) in ports. Are we trying to do too much in around 8 hours of our 8am-6pm day?

Does the Shetland Museum cafe have wifi? Would we have the opportunity to see any Shetland horses or sheep or other animals in our route plan above?

We would like to visit the Croft House too, but it sounds like that won't be doable on foot.

Thanks so much for the very appreciated information.

Hi TourDeCruise.

This would be easily be doable in the time frame you have. The Clickimin Broch will be the furthest from your ship (I walked around the loch there just last night).

I'm pretty sure there's wifi at the museum but if not then there is at Mareel next door (cinema and cafe - you can google and find info and images).

After visiting the museum and having a cuppa you could head to the Knab via the town centre (you could either walk along "the street" and see the shops (not too many of them!) or along the Esplanade at the front (only a row of buildings separate the two). Go past the Queens Hotel and the Lodberries as it's a nicer walk (not up Church Road). If you haven't watched "Shetland" on Netflix (it's on UK Netflix, not sure about the US one) you might like to. It's a crime drama by the BBC. The main character's house is one along the Lodberries.

From the Knab you can continue walking on the tarred path at the side of the golf course and cliffs and follow the shoreline until you're nearly at the supermarket which is close to the broch. Just before the supermarket there are rocks that seals like to bask on most of the time. There probably won't be other animals for you to see (other than seabirds). There are two horses that are usually in the park next to the broch but not Shetland ponies. I have seen them there but I wouldn't count on seeing them there.

There's a very nice cafe - Fjara (pronounced Fyarrah) at the shore across from Tesco and about 10 mins from the broch. You might like a stop there too either for tea and cake, ice-cream or something a little more substantial. Again you can google it or find it on Trip Advisor.

A couple of other cafes I'd recommend is The Havly and the Peerie Shop. I'm not connected to any of them by the way!

You're right about the Crofthouse not being doable on foot - it's about 30 mins by car from Lerwick.

Which ship are you on and when do you arrive? I hope you have a great time planning what I hope will be a brilliant holiday.

Rasmie, your information is so helpful. I am going to print it out to take with me and use as an agenda and cue sheet (directions) along with your other recommendations. We will be on Royal Caribbean's 22 August Vision of the Seas for a Transatlantic cruise from Copenhagen to Cape Liberty/New York. We are scheduled to be in Lerwick from 8am to 6pm on Saturday, 26 August, the same as Shak who also posted on this thread. We like to stay active and see sights, so this will be a perfect way to spend the day for us. I really appreciate the details you gave me, especially since we can follow them on our walk to Knab and Clickamin Broch. This is going to be a fun day. Many thanks!

Kathy

Hi, Rasmie -

My husband and I plan to rent a car when we come to Lerwick. We would like to see beautiful scenery (and countryside?), and I will be on the lookout for Shetland Ponies and sheep. Can you recommend a route for us to drive? Are there any small quaint towns or villages along the way? Thanks so much for all the help you have provided!

Shelley

Hi, Rasmie -

 

My husband and I plan to rent a car when we come to Lerwick. We would like to see beautiful scenery (and countryside?), and I will be on the lookout for Shetland Ponies and sheep. Can you recommend a route for us to drive? Are there any small quaint towns or villages along the way? Thanks so much for all the help you have provided!

 

Shelley

I'm not Rasmie, but since I rented a car when I was in Lerwick, like scenery and countryside, and wanted to see ponies, I can help a little. The ponies are not all over the place, but we found a few by the road in or near Gulberwick. If you look that town up you'll see it's not terribly far from Lerwick. It's not like there are tons of highways on the island, so you'll likely be able to find the town. if you look. Some of my pictures are here: http://www.pbase.com/roothy123/invergordon__lerwick_shetlands&page=all

If you look at a map of the main island, you can kind of figure out from my photos where we went. Basically, we went north to Eshaness, and then back down towards Lerwick and kept going until we were at Sumburgh Head, southernmost part. There's an archaelogical site there, plus the airport (where you can drive across the runway - fun!) plus with a little detective work you can find (in season, anyway, not sure about mid September) a cliff at Sumburgh where you might see puffins. I have more pictures from the Shetlands here: http://www.pbase.com/roothy123/uknorway_cruise__more_

We did this easily in one day, plus I spent about an hour or two in Lerwick. However, I should mention that how we like to travel when we rent a car is to do fairly quick look-sees, with not a lot of time for museums, shopping or lengthy visits. For example, we did not go into the archaeological site at Sumburgh Head (sorry, name's escaping me now) although that would have been interesting. Weather in July was variable throughout the day but mostly good. Roads were great; so were the people. Keep in mind that most people have to tender in Lerwick, so that will take up a little of your time. Look outside when you're 30-45 minutes prior to anticipated dock time, as it's pretty scenic, and if you like lighthouses, you'll see one.

Hi, Rasmie -

 

My husband and I plan to rent a car when we come to Lerwick. We would like to see beautiful scenery (and countryside?), and I will be on the lookout for Shetland Ponies and sheep. Can you recommend a route for us to drive? Are there any small quaint towns or villages along the way? Thanks so much for all the help you have provided!

 

Shelley

Hi Shelley, sorry been awol from CC for a little while and I don't have it set tomemail notifications so hadn't seen your post til now. The sheep are everywhere so no worries there! [emoji1] Shetland ponies not too hard to find either.

Roothy123 is correct in saying that there are ones in Gulberwick (not far from Lerwick going south) and there are usually ones next to a tiny loch just before you turn the bend into Quarff. That's about 5 mins from Gulberwick. I sometimes see tour buses stopped at both places. Those are the ones I see driving to work everyday but there are other places to see them.

There is only one main road south (with little side roads leading off it) and both places with the ponies are on the main road, so you can just pull over on to the verge and get out.

If you turn into Fladdabister, that's quite nice to drive through as you head south instead of the main road (it's about 5 mins drive from Quarff).

Hoswick (in Sandwick) is a lovely place to visit as they have a visitors centre. It's a small village with a stony beach. On the way into Sandwick you'll see an island in the East - Mousa. There's an extremely well kept Pictish broch there - Mousa Broch. You won't manage to get there in the time you have but you can see it from the road and there's a layby if you want to stop for photos. You can google it to see if you're interested.

Continuing south just before you get to Channerwick there's a little sign at the side of the road letting you know that you are on the latitude line of 60 degrees North. (60N). Just past there you can either continue on the main road or take the side road towards Bigton (on the right side of the road). There are a number of lovely beaches to see and photograph. There's Maywick, St Ninians Isle (the most impressive/picturesque as the beach is a tombolo and joins to the isle where Viking treasure was found). From there still going south you'll see Rerwick beach which is not as accessible but you often see large numbers of seals basking in the sun on the sand. You'll see this from the road as you pass by and can stop to take photos. Scousburgh is the next beach you'll see and is opposite Rerwick. You'll be able to get back on he main road towards the airport (and Roothy123 has said, you can drive across the runway). If Pictish ruins are your thing you can visit Jarlshof or Scatness but I would definitely make time for drive to the Sumburgh Lighthouse as there's beautiful scenery and the puffins will still be there then (they've just arrived but it's snowing today - not exactly nice Spring weather!) as they usually leave in August.

Don't worry about taking detours on side roads as they'll only be minutes from the main road and you can't really get lost!

I'm impressed that Roothy123 made it to Eshaness and Sumburgh. That's quite ambitious. I'd probably pick north or south and take a little time to explore about. Scalloway (in he west) is 5 mins away from the main road and from the ponies in Gulberwick so you could easily head there. It's a lovely village with a castle. Continuing that way towards Burra is also a nice drive. Hamnavoe is a nice little village to see too. There's a lighthouse and marina there.

I'm always so tempted to just say "let me pick you guys up and show you around" when I hear of visitors coming to our lovely island!

There are so many other wonderful places to visit but I have only mentioned a few at the south end (and a little west of Lerwick too).

Let me know if I can be of more help but there should be lots here to keep you googling for a little while! [emoji3]

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Roothy123, your photos are super. Just in case you didn't know, you've tagged a photo "fishing" (in the first link) and it's actually mussel farming. I believe there are ropes that hang from each buoy and the mussels attach themselves to the ropes. They are then harvested. You maybe knew this already but I figured that not everyone looking at them will know that. [emoji846]

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Roothy123, your photos are super. Just in case you didn't know, you've tagged a photo "fishing" (in the first link) and it's actually mussel farming. I believe there are ropes that hang from each buoy and the mussels attach themselves to the ropes. They are then harvested. You maybe knew this already but I figured that not everyone looking at them will know that. [emoji846]

 

 

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Rasmie, I'm so glad you came on here. I'm less than two months away from visiting the mainland and Lerwick again, and I can't decide where to go and what to see. There are just too many choices. One priority, however, is seeing the puffins at Sumburgh Head. This time, I'm going to allow more time for that, and if we don't make it up to Eshaness again, that's OK.

Thanks for the mussel farming info. I didn't really know that before. I'll go and change the tag of that picture.

I agree that probably most people would prefer to pick either north or south on a cruise, although that would be a hard choice for me to make if it weren't for my desire to see the puffins. With my love of lighthouses, though, I wanted to do both, and so we ended up seeing 3. I have to say that I went on Google Earth and was absolutely amazed with what the reserve at Sumburgh looks like now. When we were there in 2013, there was construction equipment around and an almost muddy road up to the lighthouse and rock wall. I don't remember there being anything much at the lighthouse, although I really didn't have much time to explore there, and the tourist folks now tell me there are some concessions there.

So I still can't figure out exactly where I saw those ponies before, and my scribbled notes only say, "road to Scalloway, where other road comes in." I'm pretty sure, though, that it was not the farm near the loch that's "above" Scalloway. A few nights ago I found pictures of the pull over (passing place?) by the road where there's apparently a farm (Carol's?). If I don't see ponies on my travels this time, I'm going to head over there to look. Of course, things like St. Ninian's Isle, Dore Holm, and a couple of the things you mention that I had not really known about before, are also tempting me. I still haven't been to Jarlshof, either, but this time we'll be stopping in Kirkwall, where I'll visit Skara Brae, so that will have to do.

Great information; thanks!