A day in Lerwick

Lerwick has a distinct feel, and, like Shetland, its culture sits somewhere between Scotland and Scandinavia. With a lively town centre, picturesque buildings and a busy, international harbour, there’s lots to see, do, eat, buy and enjoy.

Lerwick, Shetland’s main town, is a beautiful place to land on a fine summer morning. The easterly-facing town basks in the early sunshine. There’s often a seal or three watching from the harbour – a welcome sight after docking in the picturesque harbour after the overnight crossing from Aberdeen.

This is a one-day itinerary for Shetland’s main town, Lerwick.

Lerwick was not a natural choice for a town and has only been the capital of Shetland since the 1800s. The town, built on a steep slope with an 18th-century foreshore that could even rival Venice (well, almost…), grew around the arrival of Dutch fishermen from the 1500s. These fishermen used the sheltered confines of Bressay Sound to anchor their boats before the beginning of their annual summer herring fishery at Johnsmas (24th June).

Locals quickly realised that the Dutch provided a ready – and lucrative – market, and they began trading their knitwear and fresh provisions in exchange for gin, brandy and tobacco. This, often illicit trade, gave rise to the town that we see today, which, it’s said, was built by smugglers – more on that later.

The first thing you’ll want to do is find breakfast and, despite being a town of only 7,500 people, you’ll find a few decent breakfast options to kickstart the day.

For the early bird keen to catch the worm, The Peerie Shop Cafe is set in Lerwick’s old town and opens at 8 am. Serving a range of breakfast options, including James’ legendary scrambled eggs, the Peerie Shop Cafe also serves what many locals call the best coffee in Lerwick.

Top tip: The Peerie Shop Cafe participates in the ‘Too Good to Go’ scheme where they sell off any surplus food that’s ‘too good to throw away’. Anyone – locals or visitors – can sign up via the app and, for £3.50, receive a ‘Magic Bag’ full of surprise goodies at the end of the day. Not only do you get fantastic food, but you also save a meal from being wasted – that’s a win-win. (This is a national scheme, so you can check out what businesses participate in your area too.)

The Dowry on the main street – Commercial Street – is a Scandi-style, modern cafe with a fantastic ambience and a real cosmopolitan feel. This may not suit you if you’re an early riser, as they only open at 10 am, but they do have a good menu with lots of healthy options too.

For anyone who wants to experience the ‘real’ grit of the town and a big greasy Scottish fry up, visit the Harbour Cafe, a charming ‘greasy spoon’ that’s tucked behind the Thule Bar, just off the Esplanade. It’s worth popping your head in the door just to see the colourful wall art that brightens up the cafe’s otherwise utilitarian space.

After breakfast, to shake down that breakfast and make the most of the early morning light, a coastal walk around the Knab and on to the Shetland Museum & Archives is the perfect way to blow away any cobwebs.

From Victoria Pier, this walk (ending at Shetland Museum) is two miles long (3km). It takes in the coast, big skies over the sea and a wander through the Edwardian part of Lerwick, the new town.

The walk follows South Commercial Street past the Lodberrie building – better known as the home of fictional Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez. The Lodberrie was built around 1772 and was one of 21 lodberries lining the Lerwick foreshore by 1814. The word comes from the Old Norse hladberg – meaning a landing place or a landing stone – and describes how these practical and beautiful buildings were used. These were trading booths, built with their foundations in the sea, with piers and winches to quickly unload boats before the customs men came along. Legal goods were sold from street-side shops, and the illegal goods, where the real profit lay, were taken into a maze of underground tunnels that ran under the street and the very feet of the customs men.

Beyond the old town, a coastal path, steep in places, runs round the Knab, with views across to the island of Bressay and the Stevenson-built lighthouse that guards the approaches to Lerwick Harbour. This area is an amazing place to watch fulmars soaring in the thermals and the sun rising above Bressay’s Ward Hill.

Past the southern tip of the Knab, the path skirts the nine-hole golf course, popular with dog walkers, then the walk turns inland up St Olaf Street towards the town.

St Olaf Street is about half a mile long and dates to the Edwardian era when town planners in Lerwick began to think about how they would solve the town’s problems linked to the haphazard building flurry of the 18th century. As a result, and in contrast to the chaotic, charming and densely packed maze of houses in Lerwick’s old town, you’ll notice that the streets in this area are wider, more uniform, and yes – straight.

Along the way, you pass the King George V Flower Park, which is worth exploring at any time of the year, and the grand Town Hall that dominates the Hillhead area. The Town Hall was completed in 1883 and designed by Inverness-based architect Alexander Ross. Beyond the flower park is the community play park, which serves a dual purpose and is also the burning site for the annual Up Helly Aa fire festival.

Up Helly Aa happens on the last Tuesday of January every year, and this is the area where the famous torchlit procession takes place.

From the end of St Olaf Street, it is a short walk down to the Shetland Museum & Archives.

Shetland Museum & Archives is a purpose-built museum set in the historic Hay’s Dock area of Lerwick. The award-winning museum, which opened in 2007, takes visitors through 5,000 years of human history in Shetland. You’re going to need a few hours here, and even after this, you will probably want to go back for more.

Depending on how much time you’ve spent in the museum and what time you set off in the morning, you may have time to dip into the arts and cinema venue, Mareel, for a coffee and a look at what is on.

Hungry? If so, head back across town to Fjara Cafe Bar, a fantastic option for lunch. Set right on the water’s edge, Fjara overlooks Breiwick, the large bay on the approaches to Lerwick harbour, and has views across to Bressay. If you’re lucky, you might see an otter as they are often spotted from the cafe windows, feeding along the shoreline.

Other lunch options include:

The Olive Tree

The Peerie Shop (Friday’s Cullen skink soup is unmissable)

The Dowry

After lunch, be sure to explore the small, independent shops that line Commercial Street. Shetland is famous for its knitwear, and the renowned yarn shops are well worth a visit:

Jamieson’s

Jamieson & Smith, the Woolbrokers (North Road)

Anderson & Co

Ninian Shetland

Lerwick is a fantastic place to pick up a special gift; a few good shops are:

The Peerie Shop

Island Larder (for the Puffin Poo)

The Shetland Times Bookshop

Forgot your binoculars for the Knab this morning? R W Bayes sells them.

No. 88 on Commercial Street is a restaurant that sells as much local produce as it can. The placemats on the tables show where the food comes from, along with how many miles it’s travelled. From the restaurant, you can watch the chef and kitchen staff at work preparing your meal.

If you haven’t made it to Dowry yet, this is also a brilliant place to have a meal – try the Burra Lobster; it’s excellent. Chef Helen is constantly evolving and changing the menu, which has a distinct ‘tapas-style’ feel and features lots of local produce.

And of course, you might just fancy a takeaway:

Fort Fish & Chip Shop – for fish and chips wrapped in paper

Phu Siam – fantastic Thai food

The Golden Coach – Chinese takeaway

Raba or Saffron – Indian

Fort Charlotte – completed in 1781, the Fort dominates the waterfront and is the perfect spot to get views across the rooftops and enjoy a fish supper.

The Ness of Sound – if you fancy another walk, continue along the Sea Road (beyond Fjara) and then walk the headland. Here you’ll find wartime remains from the Second World War and some fantastic graffiti art.

Clickimin Broch – Standing proud on Clickimin Loch, overlooked by the Anderson High School, the broch is a 2,000-year-old round tower that was built in the mid-Iron Age.

Town Hall – the Town Hall is open to the public and has excellent interpretation panels that give a good overview of the building and Shetland’s Scandinavian heritage.