August 21st, 2026

This is our first time to the Shetland Islands. It was on our itinerary a few years ago but it was too windy to anchor so we did not get to go. There was some talk that this time might also be too windy but we did not have any issues. The day started off very early because UK immigration came on board at 6:30 and we all had to present passports prior to going on shore. This was our only tender port but the tender ride was very short.

The map shows where the Shetland islands are. The blue dot is where we are and you can see that we are north enough to be equal with Greenland. The weather shows how cold it is. Overcast at 51 degrees but feels like 38. We had multiple layers on but the wind was fierce.

Our view of Lerwick from the balcony. Most of the homes are made of stone. There are very few trees on the island due to the high winds so wood is very costly.

We had an early morning tour so we tendered in at 7 and got on the bus to go to the south part of the island. The Shetland islands are the most northerly of the British Islands and consist of over 100 islands of which only 16 are inhabited. Lerwick was largely developed by the Dutch herring fisherman in the 17th century. Most of their money today comes from oil from the North Sea and wool. There are over 200,000 sheep on the island.

Our guide was excellent and quite funny. He explained that it rains on Lerwick 200 plus days a year and that it never gets higher than 57 degrees. They get very little snow. The weather is cloudy a lot and that was what we had today with the sun occasionally breaking through. On the right we have a seal in the crystal clear water.

Our tour took us to the southern most lighthouse for some bird watching. To get to the lighthouse you have to cross over the airport landing strip, a lot like Gibraltar.

You can see the airport runway in the left hand picture and on the right we have the lighthouse in the parking lot and then the larger lighthouse up on the hill that you walk to from the parking lot. The wind was making it even colder than it was. I was hoping to see some puffins but per our guide they have mostly left the island for the season. It is a bit late for them.

The Northern fulmar nesting and in flight. We saw a lot of these from the lighthouse looking down on the cliffs.

The island is very green due to all the rain. They raise sheep and cows. They are also known for Shetland ponies. The Shetland Pony did originate here.

On the left we have bricks of Peat moss that they cut from the hill side and let them dry out and sell them for fireplace fuel. On the right we have some grazing Shetlands.

We spent 90 minutes up at the light house where they had a small museum and also a coffee shop.

Our guide explained that on an island the size of Lerwick everyone knows everyone’s business. You depend a lot on your community and there are lots of social events. He also explained to us about the “cake fridge”. It is based on honesty and local bakers will bake cakes and put them in the “cake fridges” which exist across the island and whoever takes the cake leaves however much money they feel it is worth in the cake fridge. We passed by one but it was on the wrong side of the bus so I could not get a picture of it.

After our tour we got dropped back where we started and we walked around town for a bit. There were lots of shops with home made crafts and some very nice jewelry. Linda and Michael got me a hand knitted shetland pony ornament for our Christmas tree since I had said I wanted a Shetland pony from the Shetlands. It was a nice surprise and we did not see them where we were.

Some of the buildings in Lerwick. Every house had tons of chimneys.

While we were out on our excursions this 3 masted schooner sailed in and tied up. It is Norway’s oldest and largest square-rigged sailing ship. It was built in 1914 and now operates as a sailing school and research vessel.

We headed back to the boat after a while wandering town.

Some nice wall painting on the side of a building in town and Kathy all bundled up as we rode on the top deck on the short tender ride back to the boat.

Some of the views as we rode back to the boat.

The sun came out briefly and you can see the beautiful beach close to downtown with crystal clear water and a Viking boat in front of it.

Across from Lerwick is Bressay. You can only get there by a short ferry ride. It is very green farm land with lots of sheep grazing.

The town is so dark we decided to see what it would look like as a black and white picture.

I am glad we finally got to Shetland and saw an actual pony. It was very picturesque but would hate to live there. The weather really is very harsh.

We are now headed to Stornaway, which is also part of the UK. We were in Stornaway a couple of years ago and we did a boat safari trip and saw lots of puffins that July. We tried to take the same tour this year but they sold all their spots to Princess cruises and we did not want to book through the cruise line since the rate is almost double. Plus our tour was 4 hours and the tours they re advertising for Princess are 2 hours so even if booked through Princess we would not have enough time to make it out to the Puffin breeding ground.

I also wanted to add that yesterday, on our sea day, I did find some Mah Jongg players so that will be great for the 5 day Atlantic crossing.