Shetland holidays: 6-day wildlife & geology tour of epic shores

Your Shetland holiday begins in the dramatic southern reaches of the archipelago. We’ll pick you up – from the ferry terminal, the airport or your accommodation if you arrived earlier – and head to St Ninian’s Isle. Connected to the mainland by the UK’s largest active sand tombolo, this sweep of golden beach is the perfect place to stretch your legs and soak up your first glimpse of Shetland’s wild beauty. 

A guided walk leads you to the ruins of a 12th-century chapel, where a schoolboy famously discovered glittering Pictish treasure in 1958. 

Next, we dive deeper into the past at Jarlshof, a layered archaeological site showcasing over 4,000 years of human habitation, from Bronze Age dwellings and Norse longhouses to a 16th-century laird’s house. Take in the sweeping views across Sumburgh Head, where puffins nest from spring to late summer. Here, the rocks tell stories of continental collision some 400 million years ago, when Shetland ‘enjoyed’ being close to the equator.  

We’ll stop for lunch at the Sumburgh Hotel, then return to Lerwick to check in at your accommodation for the next two nights. If you like, you spend the afternoon with a local guide on a short guided tour of Lerwick’s quirky, historic lanes with a local guide.

In the evening, have a proper chat with your fellow travellers over dinner at a Lerwick restaurant, a short walk from your accommodation. 

• Hotel: Alder Lodge – July & September; Busta House – August
• Group dinner

Today, set sail for one of Shetland’s finest gems: the atmospheric, uninhabited island of Mousa, where you can spend a couple of hours exploring with your local guide.

You can’t miss Mousa Broch standing tall on its shores. The best-preserved broch in Scotland is a 13-metre-tall, 2,000-year-old tower that has stood the test of time so well you can still climb the winding staircase to the top. It’s even mentioned in the old Norse sagas – twice! The views from up here stretch far along the east coast of the South Mainland.

(There may be an alternative option to take a one-hour cruise without going ashore.)

The reddish rocks in the cliffs and used to build the Broch have their own story. They were formed in hot, arid environments with seasonal lakes and rivers millions of years ago – a place very different to the present Shetland climate.

As you eat your picnic lunch, watch for seals hauling themselves out on the shore and (until the end of July) storm petrels darting among the rocks – Mousa is also an RSPB reserve, home to one of Britain’s largest breeding colonies of these remarkable birds.

(There may be an opportunity of an alternative one hour cruise without going ashore). 

In the afternoon we’ll visit Hoswick and explore the village’s thriving artisan scene, with traditional knitwear at Shetland Woollen Company and Nialenall and contemporary jewellery at designer Karlin Anderson’s studio.

Shopping not your thing? Strike out for a peaceful stroll along Hoswick’s pebbled shore and perhaps get close to the local folded rock layers – another of Shetland’s many geological gems. 

Return to your accommodation with time to freshen up before we gather for another relaxed dinner and swap stories from the day’s adventures. 

• Hotel: Alder Lodge – July & September; Busta House – August
• Group dinner

This morning, we embark on a spectacular wildlife boat tour to Noss National Nature Reserve. You’ll skirt towering cliffs that host thousands of nesting seabirds, including gannets, fulmars, guillemots and, from mid-April to mid-August, puffins. With luck, you may also spot porpoises, dolphins or orcas offshore.

 After lunch, we’ll visit the excellent Scalloway Museum. Here, you’ll hear the powerful story of the Shetland Bus – a secret World War II operation that ferried agents, refugees and supplies between Shetland and Nazi-occupied Norway, often in extreme conditions. 

© the copyright holder. Image credit: Scalloway Museum, the Shetland Bus Friendship Society and Scalloway History Group

There’s also time to see the ruins of Scalloway Castle, a tower house with an eventful past, before the drive to your next hotel, where we’ll digest the day’s blend of wildlife, history and seafaring stories together over dinner in the hotel. 

• Hotel: St Magnus Bay hotel – July & September; Busta House – August
• Group dinner

Today, we journey west to the brooding headlands and ash-black lava-formed landscapes of Eshaness. It’s said to be the UK’s best example of a section through the flank of a volcano, and one of the best places in Shetland to understand the islands’ deep-time origins – but don’t worry, there’s no danger. The volcano was last active around 400 million years ago! 

Our day centres on a gentle, guided 4-mile walk along one of Shetland’s most spectacular coastlines. Expect sheer cliffs, sea stacks, blowholes and Britain’s largest sea cave. If luck is on our side, you might glimpse seals or even whales and dolphins bobbing in the surf below, too. 

We’ll pause to admire Eshaness Lighthouse – the last of the lighthouses built in Scotland by the famed Stevenson family – and learn about its vital role in Shetland’s maritime history.  

After a hearty carvery-style Sunday lunch, we visit the Tangwick Haa Museum, a lovingly preserved 19th-century laird’s house, and, if time allows, call in at Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary to meet some of Shetland’s rescued otters and seals. 

A light supper awaits back at our accommodation, rounding off another unforgettable day. 

• Hotel: St Magnus Bay hotel – July & September; Alder Lodge – August
• Group dinner

Today we set off on an island-hopping adventure to Yell and Unst – a duo of islands land steeped in fascinating folklore, geology and some of the most beautiful beaches in Shetland – but we’re mostly here for the wildlife. 

Hear how the Unst and Yell landscapes and coastlines have been shaped by geological faults – large crustal breaks that shook the earth’s crust sideways. Small earthquakes still occur on these ancient faults, which can be linked back to mainland Scotland and the Great Glen, to the fault zone that hosts Loch Ness – if you’d been here in 2010, there’s a good chance you’d have felt a magnitude 3.3 quake.  

Today, Unst is the UK’s northernmost inhabited island. The 600 people who live here share its shores with thriving wildlife, including otters and vast colonies of seabirds.  

We’ll visit Unst’s dramatic Hermaness National Nature Reserve where gannets, puffins and great skuas fill the skies above rugged cliffs. 

Stop off for a light lunch. 

On Yell, a local otter whisperer with decades of experience tracking these elusive creatures will take you, in small groups, for relaxed walks along Yell’s secluded beaches, sharing secrets of the local wildlife, flora and tides along the way.  

Tonight’s final group dinner offers a chance to swap memories, raise a glass and celebrate the many wonders seen – and stories made – over the past few days. 

• Hotel: St Magnus Bay hotel – July & September; Alder Lodge – August
• Group dinner

For your final day, we explore Shetland’s greener side with a gentle morning visit to the Weisdale Valley – known locally as the “Alps of Shetland” thanks to its surprising pockets of lushness and rugged hills. You might even spot the occasional curious Shetland pony. Enjoy a relaxed stroll, perhaps sampling a sweet treat from the quirky ‘Cake Fridge’ – a local institution where honesty-box baking awaits.  

Then it’s back to Lerwick for lunch and a final farewell, with transfers available to Sumburgh Airport or the ferry terminal in time for afternoon departures. 

We’ll part ways with full hearts and unforgettable memories of ancient shores, lava cliffs, seabird cities and the quiet magic of the Shetland Isles forever lodged in our souls.