A Day Ashore in Lerwick, Shetland
Off the ship and into Shetland’s capital: the museum at Hay’s Dock, the Lodberries and the Knab on foot, a broch by a loch, and Noss and Mousa across the water.
Words by Hidden Scotland
Lerwick welcomes cruise ships from spring to autumn. Ships of up to 230 metres tie up at Mair’s Pier or Holmsgarth, north of the town, and a free shuttle runs into the centre, the last one leaving 45 minutes before the ship sails. Bigger ships anchor in the harbour and bring passengers ashore by tender, a few minutes’ ride, to a landing stage right in the town centre.
Shetland’s capital is a small stone town built along the water, and most of what there is to see is within a walk. A meet-and-greet team on the quay hands out a welcome leaflet, and the visitor information centre is in the town.
01 · Hay’s Dock
The Shetland Museum and Archives
Built for the job in 2007 on the historic Hay’s Dock, the Shetland Museum takes you through five thousand years of people living on the islands. Give it a few hours, and if your family came from Shetland, the islands’ archives are in the same building.
02 · Lerwick’s old town
The Lodberries and the Knab
From the waterfront, the road runs south past the Lodberries, the old stone stores built right onto the water, one of which is the home of the detective Jimmy Perez in the BBC’s Shetland. Beyond them the path goes round the Knab, the rocky headland at the edge of the old town, past Second World War defences and back into town.
03 · Lerwick
Clickimin Broch
On a promontory at the edge of Clickimin Loch, on the outskirts of Lerwick, stands one of the finest brochs in Shetland. Brochs are tall, double-walled round towers of the Iron Age, found only in Scotland, and this one still stands to an impressive height inside a stout outer wall.
04 · Gremista, Lerwick
The Shetland Textile Museum
In the Böd of Gremista, just outside Lerwick, the Shetland Textile Museum is given over to the islands’ knitting, from their patterned jumpers and fine lace to tweed and the work of Shetland makers today. Its exhibitions change every year.
05 · Lerwick
Lerwick Distillery
On Whisky Lane, off Market Street in the middle of the town, Lerwick Distillery calls itself the home of Shetland single malt, and it says the salty sea air on the wind suits the whisky as it matures. It runs tours and tastings.
06 · Off Bressay
The Isle of Noss
Noss is a small island off the east side of Bressay. It is one of the great seabird sights in Scotland, its cliffs rising 180 metres from the sea. In summer gannets, guillemots and fulmars crowd every ledge. After a crossing to Bressay, the last stretch is a three-minute dash over Noss Sound in the reserve’s own inflatable boat. A walk out to the cliff viewpoint and back takes about two and a half hours, so it suits a long day in port.
07 · Scalloway
Scalloway Castle
West of Lerwick, the village of Scalloway has one of only two castles ever built in Shetland. The castle, a tall roofless tower house above the harbour, was built in 1599 by Patrick Stewart, Earl of Orkney and Lord of Shetland, as his home and his courthouse. The Scalloway Museum beside it tells the story of the Shetland Bus, the Norwegian fishing boats that ran agents and supplies to occupied Norway in the Second World War.
08 · Off Sandwick, South Mainland
Mousa Broch
Mousa Broch, on a small island off Sandwick south of Lerwick, is the tallest and best-preserved Iron Age tower in Scotland, built in about 300 BC and still 13 metres tall, with a stone stair inside the wall to the top. The Mousa Boat crosses from Sandsayre Pier in about fifteen minutes, from April to the end of September, every day but Saturday, and gives about three hours on the island, so check its times against your ship’s.
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