Shetland Islands Sightseeing, Attractions & Activities Guide

recommended places to visit and things to do on the Shetland Isles


  • nature reserve
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  • family-friendly
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  • open year round
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  • nature
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  • walking
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  • wildlife

a 4.5 mile walk round will encounter, fulmars, guillemots, numerous puffins and great skuas

  • museum
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  • family-friendly
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  • seasonal opening
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  • café
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  • shop
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  • archeology
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  • history
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  • military history
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  • World War II

excellent display on local life, with prehistoric finds, witch-burnings and local folklore and a fun area for children

  • museum
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  • family-friendly
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  • seasonal opening
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  • café
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  • guided tours
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  • shop
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  • visitor centre
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  • history
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  • maritime heritage

set across several buildings with displays explaining about the lighthouse, foghorn and radar station that once operated here, as well as marine and bird life

  • archeological site
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  • family-friendly
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  • seasonal opening
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  • guided tours
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  • archeology
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  • history
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  • local history

bringing Shetland's prehistory vividly to life, providing important clues on the Viking takeover and a reconstruction with peat fire and working loom

  • family-friendly
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  • all-weather attraction
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  • free admission
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  • open year round
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  • café
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  • guided tours
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  • shop
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  • antiques
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  • art
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  • geology
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  • jewellery
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  • literature

an impressive collection of 5000 years worth of culture, people and their myths with a working lighthouse mechanism, boat building workshop and archive for tracing Shetland ancestry

  • nature reserve
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  • family-friendly
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  • seasonal opening
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  • pre-booking advised
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  • visitor centre
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  • nature
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  • walking
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  • wildlife

the high sea cliffs are home to 100,000 pairs of breeding sea birds whilst inland the heath supports hundreds of pairs of great skua

  • something different!
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  • family-friendly
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  • free admission
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  • transport
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  • buses

the locals, tired of waiting in discomfort, have smartened up their bus stop with posh seating, novels, fun decor and a visitors' book