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The blue and white front of the Hoswick Visitor Centre on the village street.
Shetland Islands

Hoswick Visitor Centre

A café, craft shop and fishing and textile archive in the village of Hoswick in the South Mainland.

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Welcome

The Hoswick Visitor Centre stands in the small village of Hoswick in the South Mainland, a blue-clad building that serves locals and visitors alike.

It has three parts. The café sells coffee, tea and light lunches, homemade cakes and ice creams, with full breakfasts until 11.30 on weekdays. The shop sells arts and crafts, handmade things and books, all to do with Shetland. And up on the mezzanine is the village's own heritage: an archive of photographs and information on Hoswick's fishing and textile past.

The centre is full of local knowledge about the walks, the geopark and the history around it, and is glad to share it. The building is open-plan and step-free, with a ramp, wide doors, an accessible toilet and a small lift to the mezzanine. Other shops in the village sell handmade jewellery and woollen clothes. It opens Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm, and the kitchen closes at 3.

A short drive awaySandsayre Interpretive CentreThe waiting room at the Mousa boat's pier in Sandwick, with the old flit boat and the story of Mousa and its boats.6 min by roadSee itMousa Broch across the sound, seen from the water on the way over from Sandsayre.
Before you go

Monday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm; kitchen closes at 3pm; full breakfasts until 11.30am, Monday to Friday.

Closed Sunday. In the village of Hoswick, South Mainland.

Getting there
Hoswick, South Mainland.
Hours
Mon to Sat 10:00 to 16:00.
Kitchen
Closes 15:00; breakfasts to 11:30 weekdays.

Opening hours

Monday
10am–4pm
Tuesday
10am–4pm
Wednesday
10am–4pm
Thursday
10am–4pm
Friday
10am–4pm
Saturday
10am–4pm
Sunday
Closed
Where it is

Hoswick, ZE2 9HL.

Close byIn the South Mainland.
  1. Mousa Broch from the air, a round tower on a golden headland above dark rocks and sea.Mousa BrochThe best-preserved broch in Scotland, on an island of its own.2 miles7 min by road
  2. The pale sand and breaking waves of Levenwick bay, green headlands on either side.LevenwickA gently sloping sandy bay in the South Mainland with rock pools at either side, loved by families.5 miles11 min by road
  3. The white sand tombolo curving out to St Ninian's Isle, the sea on both sides.St Ninian’s IsleThe sand bar out to the isle, and the treasure found under the chapel.6 miles14 min by road
  4. Grey seals hauled out on the pale sand at Rerwick, the sea at the edge.Rerwick and Scousburgh SandsTwo beaches on the west side of the South Mainland: seals at Rerwick, white sand and a loch behind Scousburgh.7 miles14 min by road
  5. The long thatched Crofthouse Museum and its stone dykes under a blue sky.Crofthouse MuseumA thatched croft house of the 1870s at Boddam in the South Mainland, with its peat fire and box beds; free, and open in summer.10 miles18 min by road
Directions
Mousa Broch across the sound, seen from the water on the way over from Sandsayre.AttractionsSandsayre Interpretive Centre1.6 miles
High cliffs rising from a deep blue sea across the bay from Maywick.AttractionsMaywick2.3 miles over the water
Quendale Mill's stone buildings and water wheel round a gravel yard.AttractionsQuendale Mill11 miles
The sweep of sand round the Bay of Quendale beyond a green field.AttractionsQuendale Beach11 miles
Visitor walks among stone walls and hearth of an Iron Age broch settlementAttractionsScatness Broch12 miles
A reconstructed Iron Age house at Old Scatness, its turf roof and doorway, a cooking pot outside.AttractionsOld Scatness12 miles
The stone walls and low passage of the Ness of Burgi blockhouse on its grassy headland.AttractionsNess of Burgi13 miles
The round walls of a wheelhouse below the laird's house, Jarlshof.AttractionsJarlshof13 miles
Scalloway Castle's roofless walls above its stone dyke, a visitor at the gate.AttractionsScalloway Castle14 miles
Hidden Scotland, the magazine

Scotland, in print.

Every photograph commissioned, every word written by somebody who went. Printed twice a year, made in Scotland.

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For further reading, before you go.