Duration: 8hrs
We start exploring Shetland's past in the island's capital: Lerwick. Once a small fishing village built to service Dutch herring fleets, Lerwick is now the largest settlement and only town in Shetland. We'll visit Fort Charlotte, built to protect the islands during the first Anglo-Dutch war in 1652/3.
Next, spend some time wandering through 'the Lanes', a series of narrow passageways built between the 17th & 19th centuries and which are now a
conservation area.
We conclude our Lerwick walk at the Town Hall with its impressive stained glass windows.
Moving onwards we see, sitting on a small promontory in Clickimin Loch, the 2000 year old Clickimin Broch which is one of the best preserved Iron Age brochs in Scotland.
We travel out of Lerwick and down to the very southern tip of the Shetland mainland to visit Jarlshof. This archaeological settlement dating from the Bronze Age has been classed as one of the most remarkable sites ever excavated in the British Isles.
The Crofthouse Museum is a traditional 19th century thatched crofthouse and is presented as it would have looked in the 1870s. Smell the peat fire, discover the box beds and try to set the traditional Shetland mouse trap or wander through the lovely garden. Hear the knowledgeable custodians tell stories about how life would have been in a typical croft house and how families made a living from the land and the sea.
Travelling on to Scalloway we see the ancient capital and its famous castle which was built around 1600 by the notorious Earl Patrick Stewart.
Visit the Scalloway Museum which features intriguing displays on ancient Shetland; and the Shetland Bus - a WW2 resistance movement where local fishing boats undertook a dangerous operation transporting troops and civilians across the sea between Shetland and German-occupied Norway from 1941-1945. There will also be some free time to explore Scalloway and get lunch from one of the local shops or cafés (lunch not included).
Travelling onwards to the far north of Shetland, through the dramatic Northmavine scenery (with photo stops en-route), we arrive at Tangwick Haa. This fascinating museum is housed in a traditional Böd, built around 1690, and has an informative display on local life through the centuries.
We'll pause for a photo stop on the windswept cliffs, overlooked by Eshaness Lighthouse - built by David Stevenson in 1925. Continuing our drive through the remote Eshaness peninsula, we stop for a photo at Johnnie Notion's Böd - a self-taught physician, credited with developing an innoculation for smallpox, he spent his entire life (1730-1803) in Eshaness.
As we near the end of our historical trip, back in Lerwick, we make one final stop at the Böd of Gremista. Now a textile museum (no admission on this tour) the Böd was built in 1780 and birth place of Arthur Anderson, co-founder of the Peninsula & Oriental Steam Navigation company, now known as P&O.
Price when booked direct - Tourneo (max. 6) £995 - Transit (max.15) £1285
Includes Guide