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Shetland.

Shetland · Shetland
Shetland Islands

Shetland.

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Shetland Islands  12° · Mostly cloudy
Shetland Islands

Where to go, eat and stay in Shetland.

Shetland lies out where the North Sea meets the Atlantic, closer to Bergen than to Edinburgh. The islands are cut about by long sea inlets called voes, so you're never far from the water or the birds.

Brochs, Jarlshof, museums and lighthousesPlaces to visitPuffins, gannets, cliffs and white beachesWalks and the outdoorsFish and chips, cafés by the water and island teaFood and drinkShops, studios and makersShops and makersDays we have driven, stop by stopDays out
The guide

Our guide to Shetland.

All of Shetland, part by part: what is where, how to get round, and where to eat and stay. Photographed by us.

Read the guide to Shetland
From our guideLerwickShetland Museum and ArchivesLerwickClickimin BrochScallowayScalloway MuseumNear BixterStanydale TempleCulswickCulswick BrochSumburghJarlshof

The history of Shetland.

People have lived on these islands for some five thousand years, and the past sits close to the surface here.

Read it
Days outA morningRonas Hill, Shetland's highest hillBy carA morningThe Lodberrie at dusk and a drink at the Lounge in LerwickNo car neededA dayA day in Fetlar: discover the island’s archaeology and built historyBy carA dayA day in Fetlar: lace up your boots and hike this wayBy carA dayA day in UnstBy carA dayA day in the North MainlandBy car

New days out in Shetland.

Ready-made days, the newest first, each with its drive times, its stops and somewhere to eat.

See every day out in Shetland
From the magazine5 minutes agoThe printed copy of Issue 11Issue 11Autumn / Winter 2025–26

Hannah Mary and Callum Goodlad, from Shetland, built Scotland's first wild sauna in a horsebox in 2020, and it usually sits on St Ninian's Beach.

The idea came to them on holiday in Norway, sitting in one of the floating saunas in the Oslofjord, at a time when saunas in the UK were mostly found in hotels and spas. They bought a horsebox from a farmer in Aberdeenshire and fitted it with a wood-fired stove, so the sauna could travel anywhere, and Haar Sauna was born. It has won several awards since, and its usual spot is on the white sands of St Ninian's Beach, right on the edge of the Atlantic. The idea is older than it looks, though: a sauna-like structure from the Bronze Age has been found at Stronechrubie in Assynt.

Read the full story in Issue 11
From our guide20 minutes ago

Fjarå Café Bar.

Fjarå sits on the rocks at the edge of Lerwick, on a small point running out into Breiwick Bay, with big windows and a deck right over the water. It covers the whole day, from coffee and breakfast to lunch, then burgers and cocktails at night. The cooking is built on Shetland produce, and the drinks run to island beers and spirits and a long wine list. Seals often haul out on the rocks just outside, and the café keeps a webcam on them. Grab a window seat and you may well have one for company.

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In Issue 13The magazine

Into the Gloaming

Inspired by her new book, Gloaming: Folklore, Recipes and Crafts to Spark Glimmers of Joy in the Darker Months, Rosie Steer explores how our ancestors learned to find the light and embrace the darkness in autumn and winter.

Read it in Issue 13
Did you know34 minutes ago

Snowy owls nested on Fetlar, one of Shetland's North Isles, from 1967 to 1975, the first time they were known to breed in Britain.

The naturalist Bobby Tulloch, the RSPB's man in Shetland, was guiding a party of Swiss birdwatchers across the island in 1967 when he noticed an owl behaving suspiciously, and found a nest with three eggs. A reserve was set up and an around-the-clock watch kept on the birds, with a hide and a house for volunteer wardens. Over the next eight years the owls raised 23 young, and in 1973 and 1974 the male had two mates nesting at once. He vanished in the winter of 1975, and the breeding stopped. A plaque to Bobby Tulloch now stands on Stackaberg hill, near where it all began.

Brough Lodge on Fetlar.Read about it
True or false49 minutes ago

True or false: Muckle Flugga, the lighthouse rock off Unst in Shetland, is the northernmost point of the British Isles.

Did you know1 hour agoWritten byLaurie GoodladRead Laurie’s piece

Rerwick, a beach in Shetland's South Mainland, often has close to 100 seals hauled up on its sand.

‘Rerwick and Scousburgh are two beaches that face each other in the Bay of Scousburgh. Rerwick is a beach best viewed from the road as there are often close to 100 seals hauled up, enjoying the sunshine. It’s best to leave this beach to the wildlife and, after enjoying watching the seals relaxing for a moment from the layby above the beach, head over to Scousburgh Sands.’

Written byLaurie GoodladRead Laurie’s pieceSee Rerwick and Scousburgh Sands · Shetland Islands
From our guide1 hour ago

Jamieson and Smith.

Jamieson and Smith buy most of Shetland's wool clip straight from the crofts, grade it by hand and sell it on as the yarn that Fair Isle and Shetland lace are knitted from. The shop on North Road is a working place rather than a boutique, with shelves of shade cards and fleeces at the back. Knitters travel a long way to stand in it. Even if you have never held a needle, it tells you more about how Shetland has made its living than most museums manage.

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Did you know1 hour agoWritten byLaurie GoodladMore from Laurie

Laurie Goodlad, a tour guide in Shetland, counts Burraness Broch, a 2,000-year-old tower on the island of Yell, among her favourites.

‘One of my favourites, which sits off-the-beaten-track on the island of Yell, is Burraness Broch. Standing at several metres tall, it has commanding views out to sea towards the island of Fetlar to the southeast, Unst to the northeast and the isle of Hascosay to the south. One suggestion is that brochs were used as a kind of early warning network, sending smoke signals to each other if danger loomed on the horizon, and Burraness fits these criteria, with several other brochs in sight.’

Written byLaurie GoodladMore from LauriePhotograph: Laurie GoodladRead the full story
In Shetland Islands1 hour ago

Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse have taken Gone Fishing to Shetland, fishing for trout on Tingwall Loch and pollock off the rocks near Minn Beach in Burra.

The pair made Scalloway their base, in a cottage looking over the harbour. The episode, Shetland trout and pollock, is on BBC iPlayer.

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From our guide2 hours ago

Crofthouse Museum.

Step through the low door of the Crofthouse Museum at Boddam and the first thing you notice is the smell of the peat fire. This long, thatched house of the 19th century keeps the home, the byre and the barn under one roof, and it is furnished as it would have been in the 1870s. There are box beds, a kitchen full of the family's things and a Shetland mousetrap to try to set. The custodians tell you how a crofting family got by. A watermill is a short walk away. It opens in summer, and entry is free.

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