Shetland Isles Accommodation

A warm welcome for all visiting Lerwick

Lerwick looks grand with its turrets and castellated towers

Lerwick town centre has all amenities - shops, tourist information, pubs, cafes

Lerwick's oldest buildings - the lodberries with smugglers passageways beneath

Lerwick harbour and boat club welcomes seafaring visitors

Indpendent shops line Lerwick's shopping centre - Commerical Street

The grand Town Hall in Lerwick towring above the town

A fishy guardian of the town hall

Bressay Ferry and ferries to an from the Shetland Islands dock at Lerwick

Lerwick Airport Shetland Isles Websites Scottish Island hopping

Lerwick is the main centre for the Shetlands having long been the commercial hub for the islands as well as being the only town. If you're looking for a bustling social scene, and let's face it, not many who come to Shetland are, Lerwick is the place to be. The old waterfront and harbour is often busy with visiting yachts and fishing boats and the ferry terminal is often busy with passenger ferries and cruise liners. Consequently there are plenty of bars and restaurants dotted around the town.

Lerwick is also the main port for ferries to and from the islands as well as the smaller ferry to the Isle of Bressay. Lerwick is seeing much regeneration currently around Hay's Dock where the fantastic new Shetland Museum & Archives is based.

Lerwick Mainland Shetland Tourist Information

Today Lerwick is a mix of old seaport with intriguing narrow streets and individual shops and a busy modern international working port housing the terminus for Northlink Ferries. Ferries travel on to Kirkwall on Orkney and Aberdeen in Scotland as well as Scandanavian cruise ships that journey from Shetland to Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. For more information on ferry travel check our page, link right. It is also one of the main ports in the north Atlantic for the fishing and oil industries.

The Tourist Office is right in the centre of town at the Market Cross on Commercial Street. VisitShetland, Market Cross, Lerwick, Shetland, ZE1 0LU. Tel: 08701 999 440. Fax: 01595 695807. Email: info@visitshetland.com. Open: 1 Apr-31 Oct Mon-Fri: 8am-6pm, Sat-Sun: 8am-4pm; 1 Nov-31 Mar Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm. There are also Information Points that are updated regularly at all the inter-ferry terminals.

The main concentration of holiday accommodation on Shetland Mainland is centred in and around Lerwick and with Lerwick airport nearby with flights to the other Shetland Islands, Lerwick is a great base from which to explore the Shetlands. There is ample parking in the centre of Lerwick in the Pay and Display car park at the old harbour or street parking, some of which requires a disc, available from the Tourist Information Office.

Lerwick is also the main centre for visiting yachts from all over the world. As such the town has all the essential services you'd expect including Customs, Coastguard and Lifeboat station and Lerwick Port Authority. It's the best stop-off for refuelling in Shetland with chandlers, grocers, shipyard, pubs, cafes and hotels dotted around the harbour. Lerwick Boating Club welcomes visiting crews where you can take a hot shower, sort out your laundry and relax with a drink at the bar. Check their website which has useful information for visiting yachts.

Lerwick History & Archaeology

Ler Vik, Dutch for muddy bay, was founded as an unofficial marketplace with temporary huts to service the 17th century Dutch herring fleets, but with the gathering of the sailors and fishermen leading to drunkenness and immorality it was burnt down on two occasions in the 17th century by the disapproving islanders of what was then the capital, Scalloway, and again in the 1702 by the French fleet. Lerwick gradually became more permanent and its possession more hotly contested between the Dutch and British in the 17th century. A fort was built during this time but wasn't well defended and ended up being overtaken by the Dutch. The pentagonal fort that is still present today was built in the 18th century and named Fort Charlotte after the wife of George III. The fort overlooks Bressay Sound, the natural harbour between Shetland Mainland and Bressay, and canons still watch out to sea although the land around it has been reclaimed so that it is no longer lapping around its base.

The town gradually grew up around the fort with Commercial Street being the main being the heart of the town. A few old buildings remain such as the low grey buildings, the Lodberries, behind the Queens Hotel which has changed very little since the 18th century. Lodberries were where the main business of the day was carried out as well as more illicit earnings from smuggling; secret tunnels connected the lodberries to their secret stashes - some apparently still exist today. Lerwick grew and prospered from fishing and whaling. Consequently grander buildings were built like the 19th century Town Hall built on the highest point of the town and still a prominent landmark of the town. With more administrative power coming to the Shetlands and breaking away from the Orkneys as its own county of Zetland (hence the ZE in the postcodes) a new town sprung up.

Earlier evidence of settlement is clear on the south west side of Lerwick at the Broch of Clickimin that dates back 3000 years. A broch is an iron age tower that would have been a fortified refuge for several families. The site was first settled by a Bronze Age family who built a farmhouse on the site and its remains are still visible on the north west side of the broch. The broch is a thick dry stone walled structure that was originally about 15 metres high. Another feature to look out for on the causeway leading to the broch is the stone slab in which two footprints were carved. No-one really knows how or why these came about.

Traditional Shetland Life - Bod of Gremista

At the north end of Lerwick's port, past the power station, is The Bod of Gremista, a fishing booth that has been restored to show what traditional Shetland life would have been like. It is an 18th century booth that was the birthplace of Arthur Anderson, the co-founder of P&O Ferries. The Bod is furnished in basic Shetland style and would have provided family accommodation and store for fish drying.

The Bod of Gremista opens: 1 May to 30 September, Wednesdays to Sundays 10am-1pm and 2pm-5pm. Admission is free but donations are welcomed. There is a large car park and wheelchair access is limited to the ground floor; car access is available to the front of the building. Ring the custodian to arrange on Tel: 01595 694386 or 01595 695057.

Shetland Museum & Archives Lerwick

The recently opened Shetland Museum is the centre for Shetland heritage and culture. Officially opened by the Prince of Wales and Queen Sonja of Norway and costing 10m, it's an important, state-of-the-art contemporary museum that is a delight to visit. It aims to fulfil the long awaited need to showcase Shetland's varied culture and it certainly manages to do that in an interesting and captivating way. It's not just the exhibits that detail Shetland's heritage, the whole design of the building exudes Shetlandness from the reception desk built from a 19th century keel discovered buried in the mud in Hay's Dock to the variety of reclaimed flagstones reflecting the geology of the islands and the locally made wrought iron handles and fixtures.

Through twelve themed zones exhibits and artefacts together tell the story of the Shetland Islands from its creation and geology, human habitation from 5000 BC right through Pictish, Viking and medieval periods to the present day. Themes include Environment, Early People, Customs and Folklore, Home and Land, Food from the Sea, Boats, Shetland and the World and Trade and Industry. Exhibits have been artistically placed so that iconic artefacts introduce the visitor to a particular period of Shetland history. The lower floor has been designed around a wheelhouse design like the old Neolithic houses that have been discovered at Jarlshof. Traditional boats are well displayed by being hung from the ceiling in the timber-clad building at the end.

The Museum provides locals with a museum and educational resource to be proud of and many of the artefacts have been donated by locals. It is also a fantastic hub from which visitors can be introduced to Shetland and inform their onward travels. The Archives section should be a valuable resource for anyone researching Shetland Isles genealogy or history. It also has a comprehensive photographic archive containing over 60,000 images of all aspects of Shetland life. Shetland Museum and Archives is situated on the recently refurbished Hay's Dock, the last remaining original dock on the Lerwick Waterfront; three miles north of Sumburgh and 22 miles south of Lerwick on the A970. Shetland Museum and Archives, Hay's Dock, Lerwick, Shetland ZE1 0WP. Tel: 01595 695057. Fax: 01595 696729. Email: info@shetlandmuseumandarchives.org.uk. Museum opening times: Mon-Wed, Fri, Sat: 10am-5pm, Thu: 10am-7pm, Sun: 12pm-5pm. Archives opening times: Mon-Wed, Fri: 9.30am-4.30pm, Thu: 10am-7pm, Sat: 10am-1pm.

The museum also offers a programme of events including films, talks and lectures, art exhibitions, workshops, storytelling and music evenings. Events include a range specifically aimed at children. There is a gift shop and contemporary cafe on the site serving local produce. Wheelchair access is available throughout the museum with lifts to all floors. An induction loop is in the auditorium.

Lerwick Ferries - Scottish Island Hopping

NorthLink Ferries operate regular ferries to and from Lerwick-Aberdeen with less regular sailings stopping off at Kirkwall on Orkney. The ferry terminal is situated in the north harbour, about a mile from Lerwick town centre. Lerwick to Aberdeen is a twelve hour journey that you can take overnight on a cruise-style ferry. You can take vehicles or just travel as a foot passenger. Cabins are also available. NorthLink also offer cruise packages to and from Shetland and Orkney. Check the NorthLink Ferries website for up-to-date information on timetables and fares.

Ferries to Bressay also depart from Lerwick harbour near Fort Charlotte. The journey takes just seven minutes and can't be booked in advance - just turn up and get on! Ferries also leave Lerwick for Out Skerries but this is less regular service. Check the Inter-Island Ferry Service website, weblink right, for the up-to-date timetables and fares (there are downloadable files and a map showing the ferry routes). Different timetables run in summer than winter. Fares are very reasonable or you can buy multi-journey tickets if you're planning to do a bit of Scottish island hopping.

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