Orkney Island Holidays
Special Holidays
The Shetland Islands Rover Tour
A comprehensive exploration of all aspects of Shetland.
This includes its wildlife, seals, otters, whales, birds, flowers, history, archaeology, geology and spectacular scenery.
Download your illustrated Shetland Brochure for full details.
Costs include
Full board ensuite accommodation, Transport within Shetland, Daily excursions as per itinerary, Comprehensive Guiding, Entrance fees.
Extra costs
Return travel to Shetland, Tips to Hotel staff at your discretion, Personal insurance, Extras for packed lunch top ups as you require, Things of a purely personal nature.
Shetland highlights
Red-throated divers, whimbrels, stormie petrels, red-necked phalaropes, otters, orcas, seals, huge sea bird cliffs, carpets of wild flowers, spectacular rock formations, Jarlshoff, Mousa Broch, the simmer dim, peace & tranquility.
Shetland Rover holiday
In summer all of Shetland's special birds are in residence, and the flowers are abundant. Shetland's history and archaeology show the same influences as those of Orkney with subtle yet significant differences. There will be a little walking, but nothing too arduous. Bring your walking pole!
The approach and mix will be the same as our Orkney Holidays: friendly groups of like-minded individuals, interesting days, peaceful nights, long evenings, both of us on hand. We use good quality hotel accommodation, all with ensuite facilities and each chosen because it has some character within its local setting and is located within easy reach of the sites we plan to visit in that part of Shetland.
Louise has been a lifelong fan of Shetland - from the age of ten anyway & Paul thinks Shetland is the nearest thing to paradise on earth, and we have been running tours every year there since 1999. We have a superb itinerary and accommodation worked out, so that we can share this fantastic place with you.
The Islands are quite spread-out, and we have created a programme which uses three different bases for exploration from South to North. The Holiday is for nine nights with eight full days guiding, plus bits of the first and last days. This allows us to visit many Shetland specialities and get a really good feel for the islands.
Specimen Itinerary
(Please note that the itinerary is flexible and may be altered to make best use of weather and other conditions each day. It also gives folk the chance to opt for more or less exercise on some days, as we can split into two smaller groups.)| Day 1 | - | Travel to Shetland and meet in the Sumburgh hotel for a short walk before dinner. Night Sumburgh Hotel |
| Day 2 | - | Sumburgh Head RSPB Bird Cliffs; Jarlshoff; Catpund Soapstone Quarry and wild flowers. We will attempt to visit the island of Mousa on either Saturday, Sunday or Monday night depending on weather, to see the World famous Broch and its breeding stormie petrels, aka alamootie, or oily squirts! Night Sumburgh Hotel |
| Day 3 | - | An options day. Either a day out on the Isle of Noss National Nature Reserve, seeing spectacular sea cliffs stuffed with sea birds. Or a mystery tour of special sites in West Mainland. Night Sumburgh Hotel |
| Day 4 | - | Exploring many interesting sites for archaeology and wildlife in South Shetland, such as Scatness dig; Dunrossness Croft House Museum; St. Ninian's Isle; Spiggie Loch & Peerie Voe. Night Sumburgh Hotel |
| Day 5 | - | Shetland Bus day visiting Scalloway and Lunna. Scord viewpoint. Scalloway Shetland Bus Memorial. Scalloway museum. Also we will visit Tingwall Loch and Ting site. Lunna Kirk and Shetland Bus Base. Explore Lunna peninsular for otters and birds. Night Baltasound Hotel, Unst. |
| Day 6 | - | Exploring Unst. Options include a short or longer walk around Hermaness National Nature Reserve & Visitor Centre, Unst Boat Haven & Unst Heritage Centre, Skaw and Norwick scenic beaches, Saxa Vord, current archaeological digs such as Underhoull or Hamar, Sandwick, Norrova café & knitwear & Muness Castle. Night Baltasound Hotel. |
| Day 7 | - | A day trip to explore the Isle of Fetlar, home of specialist breeding birds such as red-necked phalaropes, whimbrel, red-throated divers and a great place to find otters. We also visit the Heritage Centre to discover the island's history & way of life, and enjoy the abundant wild flowers and rocky beaches. Night Baltasound Hotel. |
| Day 8 | - | Keen of Hamar "Moonscape Flora" National Nature Reserve on Unst. Ferry from Belmont to arrive at Gutcher on Yell. Visit Southladie Voe & West Sandwick in Yell for otters, birds and wonderful deserted beaches. Ferry from Ulsta North Yell to Toft on Mainland Shetland. Sullom Voe Oil terminal and Otters & Wildlife. Night Busta House Hotel. |
| Day 9 | - | A day exploring North Mavine. Options include Eshaness volcanic rocks, a good walk to the Grind o'da Navir, Collafirth Hill, North Roe Giants Stones, Sand Voe deserted sandy beach, scenic Ronas Voe drive looking for divers & otters, Hillswick Booth, Urafirth, Tangwick Haa, Mavis Grind. Night Busta House Hotel. |
| Day 10 | - | Departure. Drive South after breakfast to Sumburgh via Lerwick for ferries and flights as necessary. |
Please see our Guestbook for visitor comments from this Holiday