Shetland Islands

Hi, Kris, you might want to look at some of the recent trip reports and threads about Shetland on this forum. There is a wealth of information there. Here are a few to start you off.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/from-skye-to-shetland-part-one
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/from-skye-to-shetland-part-two-the-island-above-all-others
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/shetland-wool-week-and-york-balloch-edinburgh-bath-and-london

It’s been several years, but we arrived in Shetland by plane, at the Sumburgh Airport at the southern tip of the main island. We rented a car from Bolts Car Hire at the airport. We didn’t venture as far north as Unst. After our pretty short Shetland stay, we turned the car in at the port in Lerwick, before boarding the afternoon/evening ferry bound for Kirkwall, Orkney, our next stay. Fair Isle was an impressive sight as our ferry passed it, but we didn’t visit it.

We didn’t use any bus or taxi in Shetland, either.

I was in Shetland last year and flew into and out of Sumburgh. We rented a car there and drove it to Unst for a day trip. Our trip was arranged by McKinlay Kidd, and they made the rental car arrangements. It was all satisfactory. We generally do not rent cars, but it’s pretty useful if not necessary on Shetland. The driving is easy as there is hardly any traffic. It is also gorgeous. We loved Shetland.

We did not go to Fair Isle, but I would have loved to. In our four weeks in Shetland and Orkney, we took planes and ferries to the smaller islands. We had no issues with either. Of course bad weather can cause problems with either. We were lucky.

Caveat: Haven't been yet, we're going in July, so all with a grain of salt (all my "experience" has been in planning, not actually doing). That said...

Transport to Fair Isle: The plane goes mostly from the Tingwall airstrip (which is actually much closer and more convenient to the "big city" of Lerwick), not the main airport in Sumburgh (which is quite a ways to the south). There MAY be one flight a week from Sumburgh. The short hop to Fair Isle goes daily during summer season, 1, 2 or 3 times per day (varies by day). Of course, highly dependent on weather conditions. See Airtask for details. The flight is short, and probably more dramatic than most folks are used to (very small plane, you will feel plenty of bouncing).

Ferry goes 3 times/week in high season, also very weather-dependent, but probably/usually more weather-resistant than the plane, but subject to different conditions (the plane will be grounded by fog, maybe major storms with wind/rain/low ceilings). The ferry will go in worse weather but has its own limits if seas are extremely rough (and that does happen). Ferry details here. Ferry takes 2.5 hours and on most crossings you will experience lots of movement.

If you are subject to motion sickness, you are likely to be hit with it pretty strongly on either the plane or the ferry. If you're in the plane, it'll be over pretty quickly (though it's intensity might be worse). On the ferry that 2.5 hours might seem a lifetime. According to one character in the TV show, the plane is much better (as long as it's an option) since the duration is so much shorter. YMMV.

I had hoped to get out to either Foula or Fair Isle, but we will only have 8 days on the ground, and with that limited time, I could not find a way to justify cutting a minimum of three full days out from our other plans - it'll take a day to get there and a day to get back, and that's if everything goes perfectly well...weather and other random events often require a change of plans in places like this, so for me, I think Fair Isle/Foula will be a bridge too far. Consider carefully what impact there might be on the rest of your trip if the plane or ferry doesn't go on the day you need it.

Car rentals: AFAICT there are no major rental agencies on the islands (my connection for Europecar says they have no agents there). I did find an Avis UK agency here that will rent me a car there. Otherwise, it's local mom 'n pop places.

Accommodations are limited (FWIW I've found this to be the limiting factor in many places in the far north). Best to book far in advance so as not to be disappointed with the slim pickings left over. I booked our place for July weeks ago and was glad to have that nailed down. Given the location and limited options, you might need to be more flexible than usual in your accommodation requirements.

Hope some of that is helpful. Cheers.

I visited Shetland in August 2023 with a small group tour company. I was so amazed that I am going back with them in July 2025. I can't wait. They rented vans from Bolts on Shetland.

One day we did go up to Unst. It's a very cool place...Northernmost is definitely the theme there! Northernmost Bus shelter (Bobby's), Northernmost Tea Room, etc. We had a late lunch at the tea room and also visited the boat museum which is directly behind it as well as stopping at the Viking recreated longhouse and ship.

IF you have any interest and the weather is good, consider taking the boat out to Mousa Broch, the tallest broch still standing. The boat dock is located South of Lerwick about halfway down to Sumburgh - Airport and Head.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broch_of_Mousa

It is near the village of Hoswick in where there is a good Visitor Center if you or anyone in your party is interested in the local knitting culture. The crafts are all locally sourced and the ladies that run it make many of the items, if not they know the person that did, lol. There are also a couple of professional knitwear shops there as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoswick

There is a monument to the Shetland Bus (are you familiar with this covert WWII operation using fishing boats and fisherman to take arms/ammo/people to Nazi occupied Norway?) in Scalloway as well as a small but interesting museum a few blocks from the memorial site.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shetland_bus

Weather can be so iffy in the islands that I would have a Plan B in place for Fair Isle in case the flights are cancelled.

For your flight back to the mainland, also give yourself a day or two of grace before any onward travel from Scotland to either home or your next destination. I follow a FB page for cancellations and delays of plane flights to Orkney and Shetland and there are many. Some due to weather. Some seemingly due to the fact that LoganAir is a small company and when one plane has a mechanical issue it can screw things up down the line.

I have not been to Fair Isle and have also not taken a taxi on Shetland. I did take a taxi on Orkney and realized too late I should have booked ahead for one to meet my plane. I only had to wait about 10 minutes after a taxi came to get other passengers and he said he would radio for one for me. Lesson learned. It may be that way on Shetland. I'd be especially careful on days when a cruise ship is docked. In fact, that would be the day I would plan to go to Unst, lol.

The Wikipedia article on the Shetland Bus Memorials is incomplete (no surprise there).

There is a second memorial further along the Main Street at Scalloway- at the Prince Olav Slipway (also known as Williamson's Building)- where the boats were launched. The replica launching cradle there has just been reconstructed during the last eighteen months.

Also unmentioned is that there is another memorial at Burghead near Elgin on the Scottish mainland- another of the operating bases.

The cairn memorial contains stones from each of the 44 villages in Norway which the 44 who died in the operation came from.

The flights to the Scottish mainland can be delayed due to high winds and to poor visibility at Sumburgh. Yesterday no fights ran due to wind. The big ferries to Aberdeen can also be cancelled- again yesterday it failed to run and tonight is running several hours late.

The internal flights to Fair Isle are very susceptible to cancellation and retiming due to the nature of the airstrips at Tingwall and Fair Isle- that is why uniquely you only pay on the day when the flight is confirmed (not in advance).
The ferry is a very small vessel- the nature of the seas there is shown by the fact that it is hauled out of the water on Fair Isle when not on service.

The two ferry routes to Unst (mainland to Yell, and Yell to Unst) are more resilient, but can still be cancelled in severe weather. It is possible (if not common) to get stranded on Unst.
There used to be internal flights to Unst (and Whalsay and Skerries) airstrips but those ceased a number of years ago.
Always allow at least one days grace if heading off the Shetland mainland (in each direction) and at least one spare day on Fair Isle.

Sumburgh airport has a bus connecting with all flights, and actually the rest of Shetland has quite a good network- including a daily integrated service to Unst- bus to the first ferry, second bus meets the ferry on Yell to the other ferry, 3rd bus meets that ferry on Unst. Taxis are always at Sumburgh when flights are due.

There is also a bus to the Mousay boat and also a service to Vidlin/Laxo for the Isle of Whalsay.

There are a number of local car hire businesses on the island- and in fact the Avis Agency is one of the so called mom and pop car hire companies. No national or international car hire company has a direct presence on Shetland.

Bobby's Bus Shelter on Unst is currently not there- it is to be rebuilt following a car accident this fall. (that is not on Wikipedia either).
Even Fetlar has a dial a ride bus which meets many ferry arrivals.

There is a taxi rank at the Victoria Pier (opposite the Market Cross) in central Lerwick. From Sumburgh to Lerwick a taxi is about £50, and from the Holmsgarth Ferry Terminal into central Lerwick is about £5, although the latter really is very walkable.