Why go?
Lerwick, Britain’s most northerly cruise destination, is the capital of Shetland, an archipelago of around 100 islands of which fifteen are inhabited. Cruise ships usually call here as part of round Britain itineraries or when heading for the Norwegian Fjords. Cruise passengers enjoy dramatic landscapes, abundant wildlife and a unique cultural heritage.
Cruise port location
Lerwick is on the Shetland island of Mainland. Cruise ships up to 230 metres long berth at Mair’s Pier, which has a meet and greet welcome station and information centre. Larger vessels use the nearby inner harbour anchorage with landing stage for tenders. Traditional Shetland music provides a warm welcome to arrivals.
Can I walk to any places of interest?
Key attractions are a relaxed five to ten-minute walk from your ship. Shuttles are available to and from town for the less mobile or if you simply don’t feel like walking. The pint-sized town is ideal for independent touring so it’s easy to visit the town’s big hitter, the Shetland Museum and Archives. Otherwise there are plenty of places to eat, drink and shop.
Getting around
The town itself is easily walkable (see above) but if you want to venture farther afield, you’ll find a taxi rank on Victoria Pier opposite the tourist information office at Market Cross (open Monday - Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday from 10am to 4pm from 1 April to 30 September. The rest of the year it is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 4pm, closed on Sundays.) There are several car hire firms in town if you want to eschew your cruise line’s organised excursions. Roads are excellent. Wherever you go, the deeply indented coastline means you are never more than three miles from the sea.
What can I do in four hours or less?
The Shetland Museum and Archives bursts at the seams with more than 3,000 artefacts, works of art, textiles and 60,000 + photos dating back to the 1800s. There’s an introduction into local life and language with displays of kishies (baskets), a fourareen (four-oared boat) and haps (shawls).
More historical clout awaits at Fort Charlotte, a five-sided artillery fort and the ancient Clickimin Broch, a ‘broch’ is a Scottish stone built roundhouse.
Azamara’s two-hour walking excursion covers Lerwick highlights including the fort.
The Böd of Gremista, an 18th century fishing bod (booth) has a huge claim to fame particularly for today’s cruise passengers as the 1792 birthplace of Arthur Anderson, co-founder of the P&O Shipping Company. These days it is a textile museum with displays of Shetland lace, woven tweed and frequent demonstrations of knitting, spinning and weaving.
Prefer something a little more adrenaline-packed? Rent a bike from the Shetland Community Bike Project. The Lerwick to Hillswick Road path takes around four hours to complete or you could cycle from the town centre to the Bressay Ferry Terminal, a round trip of 14 miles.
What can I do in eight hours or less?
Head for Jarlshof, approximately an hour’s drive from Lerwick. This archaeological site cloaked in mystery offers a unique insight from the time of Stone Age and Bronze Age life up to the Middle Ages. You can explore an Iron Age broch, wheelhouses and Viking long houses. You’ll visit 43 feet high Mousa Broch too, the world’s best preserved Iron Age structure, then it’s on to Sumburgh Head RSPB reserve where thousands of seabirds including colonies of puffins – ‘tammie norries’ to the locals – gather for the breeding season from May to mid-August. Cruise lines offering such excursions include Silversea, Viking and Seabourn.
Love horses and ponies? Silversea and Viking are among those who offer passengers the chance to have close-up encounters with the world famous tiny Shetland ponies. Around 1,500 of them roam free throughout the archipelago.
If marine life interests you, Viking also offers a catamaran trip to view orca whales, puffins, sea otters and seal colonies. You also get an excellent view of the teeming undersea marine life thanks to the special camera installed on a remote-controlled mini-submarine. These excursions offer the chance to understand how man and nature share these striking islands in a harmony long vanished from busier places.
Don’t leave Lerwick without…
Visiting artisans in their workshops, perhaps taking home some Shetland glassware, basketwork or silver jewellery. Knitwear here is beautiful too, best known is the ‘Fair Isle’ pattern created from natural undyed sheep wool.
Eat and drink
Local seafood is up there with the world’s best. Before the days of fridges and freezers, locals salted or dried their fish to ensure it kept longer and sometimes you still see fish drying on clothes lines. ‘Reestit mutton’ is meat smoked, salted and dried over a peat fire, giving a distinctive taste. The ‘reest’ is the area in the rafters where peat smoke gathers and where ‘tees’ (legs) hang to cure after soaking in brine. Once dry, reestit mutton can keep for up to four years if kept in the right conditions. It forms the basis to a hearty tattie (potato) soup, best served with Shetland bannocks. Local breweries and distilleries produce craft beer, whisky and gin.
Need to Know
Safety
You’d be very unlucky indeed to be robbed or mugged in the Shetland Islands, however, as is the case anywhere, it’s still sensible to keep your wits about you. This is especially true if you find yourself in areas frequented by the seabirds known as ‘Bonxies’ (great skuas). Go near their nests in breeding season at your peril!
Best time to go
Shetland has a temperate maritime climate and winters, although often wildly windy, are mild. From June to mid-August experience 'simmer dim', a summer twilight when the sun dips below the horizon for only a few hours. This means 18 or 19 hours of daylight, so you can play midnight golf if you are so inclined! Winter is payback time though, with fewer than six daylight hours. September / October is when to witness dramatic sunsets, while on cold, clear nights between October and mid-March, you may see the glorious Merry Dancers. You’ll know them better as the Northern Lights.
Closures
Shops and attractions are open either daily, or from Monday-Saturday. Many shops close on Sundays.
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