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Sumburgh Head's green cliffs falling to the sea, the lighthouse on the top.
Shetland Islands

Sumburgh Head Lighthouse

A Stevenson light on the cliff, with puffins below.

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Welcome

Sumburgh Head Lighthouse stands 91 metres above the sea at the southern tip of the Shetland Mainland, and it was the first lighthouse in Shetland.

Robert Stevenson, grandfather of Robert Louis, designed it after a visit in 1814 with Sir Walter Scott, and it was built in 1821, with walls of double thickness against the weather. Its light carries 23 nautical miles and flashes every thirty seconds.

The keepers' houses, engine room and foghorn are now a visitor centre run by the Shetland Amenity Trust, and the cliffs round it are an RSPB reserve and one of the most accessible seabird colonies in Britain. In summer puffins, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars crowd the ledges, thrift and spring squill colour the cliffs, and dolphins, porpoises, orcas and minke whales pass offshore, with seals on the rocks below. The visitor centre opens from late March to early October; the reserve and car park are open all year.

A short drive awayJarlshofFour thousand years of settlement at Shetland’s southern tip, one layer on another.7 min by roadSee itThe round walls of a wheelhouse below the laird's house, Jarlshof.
Before you go

Visitor centre from 28 March to 4 October 2026: Monday and Thursday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm; closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

Last entry to the café at 4pm. The reserve and car park are open all year. At Sumburgh, the south tip of the Mainland.

Getting there
Sumburgh Head, the south tip of the Mainland.
Season
28 Mar to 4 Oct 2026.
Hours
Mon, Thu to Sun 10:00 to 17:00.
Reserve
Open all year.

Opening hours

Monday
10am–5pm
Tuesday
Closed
Wednesday
Closed
Thursday
10am–5pm
Friday
10am–5pm
Saturday
10am–5pm
Sunday
10am–5pm
Where it is

Sumburgh Head, ZE3 9JN.

Close byAt Sumburgh.
  1. Red foghorn atop a white lighthouse building overlooking the seaSumburgh HeadUnder a mile1 min by road
  2. A reconstructed Iron Age house at Old Scatness, its turf roof and doorway, a cooking pot outside.Old ScatnessAn Iron Age village found by accident while building the airport road.3 miles8 min by road
  3. Visitor walks among stone walls and hearth of an Iron Age broch settlementScatness BrochAn Iron Age village, dug and explained3 miles8 min by road
  4. The stone walls and low passage of the Ness of Burgi blockhouse on its grassy headland.Ness of BurgiAn Iron Age block fort on a narrow headland3 miles9 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.6 miles13 min by road
Directions
The round walls of a wheelhouse below the laird's house, Jarlshof.AttractionsJarlshof1.6 miles
Quendale Mill's stone buildings and water wheel round a gravel yard.AttractionsQuendale Mill8.0 miles
The sweep of sand round the Bay of Quendale beyond a green field.AttractionsQuendale Beach8.1 miles
Grey seals hauled out on the pale sand at Rerwick, the sea at the edge.AttractionsRerwick and Scousburgh Sands8.9 miles
The pale sand and breaking waves of Levenwick bay, green headlands on either side.AttractionsLevenwick10 miles
The white sand tombolo curving out to St Ninian's Isle, the sea on both sides.AttractionsSt Ninian’s Isle11 miles
The blue and white front of the Hoswick Visitor Centre on the village street.AttractionsHoswick Visitor Centre15 miles
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