Scalloway Museum

Most people come for one chapter: the Shetland Bus. In the Second World War, small Norwegian fishing boats, crewed by young volunteers, crossed the North Sea in the dark winter months to occupied Norway, carrying agents, weapons and supplies to the resistance and bringing refugees back. From 1942 the base was here, in Scalloway, and the crews were welcomed into the village as its own.

Forty-four men were lost before the fishing boats were replaced in 1943 by three American submarine chasers, which made 116 trips without losing a man. In all, 210 missions were run. The first museum opened in 1985; this one, built by the Shetland Bus Friendship Society, was opened in 2012 by the Prime Minister of Norway, and volunteers run it still. There is a shop with Shetland knitwear, tea and coffee, and free parking.