Shetland Museum – The Islands' Story and Lunch on Hay's Dock
A few hours, from Market Cross, Lerwick and back.
The Shetland Museum and Archives stands on Hay's Dock, the last surviving stretch of Lerwick's old waterfront.
Inside, it tells the islands' whole story, from the rocks and the first farmers to the Vikings, the fishing and the knitwear. It's free, it's all under one roof and lunch is five minutes away at Mareel, so it's an easy morning for families, grandparents and anyone hiding from the weather.
A morning under a roof on Hay's Dock, any Wednesday to Saturday.
A couple of unhurried hours among Shetland's Vikings, fishermen and knitters, then lunch five minutes round the dock at Mareel, looking out over the water.
Pick your dates, and who is coming, and every stop will say whether it is open that day, and what it is like with children, a dog or a wheelchair.
- How
- A few hours
- When
- The museum is free and opens Wednesday to Saturday from 10am and Sunday from noon all year, Monday and Tuesday too in summer; Mareel's café bar is shut on Mondays.
- Distance
- About a mile
- Starts and ends
- Market Cross, Lerwick
- Good for
- History, A rainy day
The day
Shetland Museum
An attraction
From the Market Cross it's about ten minutes' walk north-west through the town to the Shetland Museum and Archives on Hay's Dock. If you drive, its car park is entered beside Mareel. Entry is free. Two floors of galleries follow Shetland from its geology and first settlers to the Norse, crofting life, the fishing and the textiles the islands are known for. Look for the circle of dialect words to guess at, and the folk tales to listen to in the old chairs. Give it about two hours. It opens at 10am from Wednesday to Saturday and at noon on Sundays all year, and on Mondays and Tuesdays in summer, so check the day's hours on its website first. There's a ramp and an automatic door at the entrance, accessible toilets on both floors, a lift on request and wheelchairs to borrow.
About 5 min on foot
Mareel
Lunch
Lunch is five minutes' walk round the dock at Mareel, the arts centre and cinema on the corner of Hay's Dock. Its café bar looks out over the water, where you may see seals, and serves locally made sandwiches, wraps and salads, with cakes and hot drinks. It's open from 10am, Tuesday to Sunday, and shut on Mondays, with full step-free access. It closes now and then for a private event, so look at its social media first. If it's shut, the Peerie Shop Café on the Esplanade, back towards the Market Cross, does soup and pies until 4pm, Tuesday to Saturday.
If it rains
All of it is under a roof: only the ten-minute walk from the Market Cross and the five minutes round the dock to Mareel are out in the weather.
Photographs by Mike Mullen and Colin Keldie via Google