Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SANDWICK & AROUND
Opposite scattered Sandwick, where you cross the 60-degree latitude line, is the small isle
of Mousa, an RSPB reserve protecting some 7000 breeding pairs of storm petrels. It's also
home to rock-basking seals and impressive
Mousa Broch
, the best preserved of the north-
ern fortifications. Rising to 13m, it's an imposing structure, typically double-walled, and
with a spiral staircase to access a 2nd floor. It features in Viking sagas as a hideout for
eloping couples.
Sights & Activities
Mousa Boat Trips
(
07901-872339;
www.mousa.co.uk
)
From April to mid-September, this operator runs
daily boat trips to Mousa (adult/child return £15.50/7, 15 minutes) from Sandwick, allow-
ing three hours ashore on the island. It also offers night trips to view the petrels (see web-
site for dates).
BOAT TOURS
Getting There & Away
There are buses between Lerwick and Sandwick (25 minutes, four to eleven daily).
BIGTON & AROUND
Three buses from Lerwick (not Sunday) stop in Bigton on the west coast, but it's another
couple of miles to the largest shell-and-sand tombolo (narrow isthmus) in Britain. Walk
across the tombolo to beautiful, emerald-capped
St Ninian's Isle
, where you'll find the
ruins of a 12th-century church, beneath which are traces of an earlier Pictish church. Dur-
ing excavations in 1958, Pictish treasure, consisting of 27 silver objects probably dating
from AD800, was found. They're now kept in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, with
replicas in Lerwick's Shetland Museum.
BODDAM & SCOUSBURGH
From small Boddam a side road leads to the
Shetland Crofthouse Museum
(
01950-460557;
www.shetlandheritageassociation.com
;
admission free; 10am-1pm &
2-5pm May-Sep)
. Built in 1870, this former dwelling has been restored, thatched and fur-
nished with 19th-century furniture and utensils. The Lerwick-Sumburgh bus stops right
outside.
West of Boddam, Scousburgh sits placidly above Shetland's best beach, gloriously
white
Scousburgh Sands
. Nearby is the
Spiggie Hotel
(
01950-460409;
