Lerwick/Shetland

Are you looking for multiday tours or one day tours?

I was in Shetland in August 2023 and will return again this July. I am traveling with Seymour Travels for a multiday tour. Mark is a former Rick Steves guide who has his own small group tour company. His Shetland tour is 8 nights.

I have the guidebook for Shetland written by this local guide, Laurie Goodlad, but I am not sure if she is still doing day tours or not, if that is what you are after.

https://shetlandwithlaurie.com/

Friends of a forum friend did Shetland in January with this company and enjoyed themselves. They did the Up Helly AA festival of fire with Kate Humble who is a British television presenter.

https://www.shetlandnature.net/

https://www.shetlandnature.net/holidays/shetlands-up-helly-aa-with-kate-humble/

I haven't been yet but will also be going this summer (I expect t run into Pam there!). The Laurie Goodlad guidebook is excellent.

I've made several trips to Shetland over the years and have never used a private guide. The Undiscovered Scotland website is a good place to start. Follow the links on the map page to text pages with lots of information and pictures. The islands are compact and easy to get around (you can't get lost...) and there are so many places to discover for yourself.

They did the Up Helly AA festival of fire

To be exact they did the Lerwick Up Helly Aa. The 'fire season' is about two months long, during which time there are Up Helly Aa festivals throughout the Isles.

Nor, staying out of town, did they truly immerse themselves in the Lerwick Up Helly Aa, just doing the photo op/instagram bits of it. The day starts with the posting of The Bill at the Market Cross at 6am (a ceremony in itself) and ends at 6am or later the next morning after the events in 'The Halls'. The Halls is a totally integral part of all the Up Helly Aa festivals, but there is no guaranteed way to get into most of them.
Even the Northlink Ferry Terminal is now a 'hall' for the night.
Many, not all the halls, have more than a nod to the Total Abstinence roots of Up Helly Aa in the 1870's [Up Helly Aa is a Victorian confection of Viking History,] - a lot of alcohol is consumed during the night, but is usually invisible.
I was lucky, going on my own and using a Bed and Breakfast where the hosts could get me Halls Tickets as an invited guest- essentially a friend of a friend.
It is all huge fun and not to be missed, even if not quite what it seems. The roots of Up Helly Aa are not even Viking at all- more the ending of the Christmas season. The torchlight procession (replacing tar barrelling) came a good ten years before the Galley and all the Viking add ons.

just looking for a 1 day tour as we are arriving on a cruise ship.
thanks