The Shetland Islands (or Shetland) are a group of rugged, yet
very varied, islands 100 miles north of Scotland and 200 miles west of Norway -
lying across the Line of Latitude of 60 degrees North.
Although we're so far North we have a temperate climate, kept
above freezing in winter by a little leftover warmth from the North Atlantic
currents.
The
weather can be boisterous but never boring, and some days it feels as if we
experience all four seasons within 24 hours.
There are more than 100 islands. Only 16 are
inhabited, by a total of 22,500 people, most of them on the biggest island -
called 'Mainland' - and some smaller isles connected to it by bridges. About
4,000 live on the outer isles, served by ferries.
Shetland industries include oil, fishing, fish farming, fish processing,
tourism, livestock rearing, knitwear, crafts, quarrying, windpower and
recycling.
The land area is only 567 square miles but the shape of this ancient range of
drowned hills is so convoluted that Shetland has an amazing 900 miles (1500 km)
of coastline. It's incredibly varied, with everything from sand dunes and salt
marshes to sheltered inlets (known as 'voes') and some of Europe's highest
cliffs.
Top of the wildlife attractions are the spectacular cliffs with their huge
colonies of birds. One of the biggest and most accessible 'seabird cities' is on
the 700-acre island of Noss, where as many as 80,000 birds crowd a mile of
cliffs up to 600 feet (181m) high.
Shetland also has large colonies of Grey and Common Seals, an estimated
900-1,000 otters, some unusual botany, about 200 square miles of kelp forest and
thousands of beautiful caves. You don't have to get wet to see Shetland's
underwater wildlife - just join a Seabirds-and-Seals cruise and we'll show it to
you with a colour video camera mounted on our remotely-controlled
mini-submarine.
The county town is Lerwick (pop. 8,000), on the east coast, half way between
Fair Isle and Muckle Flugga. Lerwick is the departure point for our Noss and
Bressay cruises. Lerwick is Shetland's commercial
centre and the port for
Northlink's nightly passenger and car ferries from
Aberdeen and Orkney.
Lerwick is also the international hub of
Smyril Line's weekly sailings from
Hanstholm in Denmark, Bergen in Norway, Torshavn in Faroe and Seydisfjordur in
Iceland.
There are daily Loganair/British Airways flights to Shetland from Orkney,
Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, with same-day connections from
London and major European cities. In summer Shetland has a twice-weekly air
service from London Stansted by
Atlantic Airways
(flying onwards from Shetland to Faroe). Summer flights direct from Oslo are
operated by the Norwegian airline,
Wideroe
Shetland has over 500 miles of excellent roads and a network of inter-island
vehicle ferries serving all the inhabited islands.
Accommodation for visitors is generally of a high standard and reasonably priced,
ranging from serviced campsites and camping barns (or böds) to self-catering
cottages, guest houses and hotels. In the peak season of mid-June to mid-August
it's wise to book ahead - more details from
Visit Shetland.
