So, me and a friend are planning to go on a road trip to the Shetlands this summer! Weāre into things like knitting, ponies and dramatic sceneries so Iām sure weāll have a blast.
Any tips for things like where to stay and/or eat, activities to check out etc? Budget friendly, and vegetarian friendly where applicable.
Thanks!
Can I join?
Seconded
We were there two years ago (almost to the day) and it was lovely. We booked a stay in Lerwick to coincide with Up Helly Ah - the fire festival. Unfortunately it didnāt go ahead because of covid but we decided to spend a few days touring.
The scenery is pretty stunning. Would recommend a visit to the tombolo at St Ninians, and the cliffs at Esha Ness. In the summer I would expect there will be opportunities to go on organised trip to see wildlife- we happened to catch seals and whales as we were touring.
The islands are very sparsely populated once out lside of Lerwick, with a few small towns, and food/drinks options were few and far between. Even in Lerwick itself there were few pubs and bars but itās possible that things were still recovering after covid. The Douglas Arms is worth a visit - when we were there they had a decent local band playing.
Definitely hire a car if you arenāt taking one with you - otherwise it will be buses.
As a film buff, if I were going in summer I would check to see if Mark Kermode is still doing his film festival: think itās in August, mainly in Lerwick
Hellooooo!!!
My favourite place!
Top tip before actual tip: itās only ever Shetland or the Shetland islands, never Shetlands (people can get quite worked up over this!).
Shetland isnāt the best tourist set up in terms of accommodation, there are a few hotels and guest houses but theyāre of mixed quality and can be very expensive. I think thereās a hostel in Lerwick if youāre looking for budget and donāt mind sharing.
Are you planning to stay only on Mainland or go to some of the other islands? We stayed a few nights on Mainland and a few nights on Yell. So long as you have a car Yell is a great place and itās convenient for a day trip to Unst which I would highly recommend - I had an amazing time swimming in the sea in Unst, so unspoiled and birds everywhere.
We stayed here in Yell - itās fairly basic but very convenient for the ferry and we loved spending evenings sitting in the chairs watching the ferry come and go with the lights as it starts to get dark. It was so atmospheric.
Hermaness on Unst is the best place for birds but there was bad bird flu when I was there so you couldnāt get through (and you wouldnāt want to - what we saw elsewhere in Shetland was pretty grim sadly, dead birds everywhere). Thereās also the gin distillery on Unst - I donāt know if they do tours or anything like that?
Most of the historical sites / galleries we visited werenāt especially impressive but we absolutely loved Jarlshof. Definitely get the audio guide if you go - itās extremely well done and provides fascinating insight.
I take it from āroad tripā youāll have a car? Public transport to more remote places is very limited.
Iāll see if I can find some of the walks we did - although Scotland has right to roam it can be a bit tricky to find ways through sometimes so would recommend sticking to written walks rather than trying to make your own way.
The beaches on Burra (Meal beach I think?) are probably the best ones - theyāre still very quiet although youāre more likely to encounter other people than you are on Unst. Brilliant for swimming - expect seals! - and bird watching.
Looking now and thereās so much we didnāt see - and so many beaches! We really wanted to visit Mousa but couldnāt because of the bird flu. Would like to visit some of the other islands too. Definitely plan to go back within the next few years and still like the idea of moving out there if I go freelance.
Thereās a Tesco and a Co-Op in Lerwick - although there are a couple of small community shops elsewhere I would definitely recommend getting everything for your trip there if youāre planning on staying outside of Lerwick. Thereās very limited options for eating out in the more remote parts and other islands.
Oh, and there were some super adorable and friendly Shetland ponies right next to Jarlshof but Iām guessing they move around - youāll definitely come across lots though!
Ah bugger 
Duly noted.
We want to roam around as much as we can I think! My friend is bringing her car via a ferry so weāll be pretty flexible.
Thank you for all your tips!
Thereās this though:
Itās such an amazing place - I hope you get as lucky with the weather as we did, but bring lots of knitting just in case! Thereās a big wool/knitting shop in Lerwick.
Thank you!!
Shetland knitting (Fair Isle) is legendary so Iām pretty excited about that!
And thereās a cinema/arts centre in Lerwick that you can check the programme for. Oh, and thatās next to the general Shetland museum which you can spend a couple of hours in too if the rain is bad.
Really funny that Iām from Norway and there seems to be more easily accessible viking stuff on Shetland than most places here.
The two of us are from Norway and North Wales respectively so I reckon weāll feel right at home on Shetland 
Thereās this guy at the museum who is basically generic DiSer in their slightly younger years
Just been looking at all my pictures and ugh I am desperate to go back. Some of the beach pictures look like they could be from a tropical paradise
Yeah I wanna go Shetland
Also this.
DiS Getaway 2025 
Wish it wasnāt so expensive 
