Scotland: Up Helly Aa - 7 day 689

We depart from our designated departure points and travel to Aberdeen where we will join the Serco Northlink ferry for our overnight sailing to Lerwick. Once on board we shall check-in to our comfortable cabins which all have en-suite facilities. The ship has a delightful restaurant, where dinner is served this evening, together with a bar and lounges where you can relax. There is also a well-stocked gift shop for souvenir shopping or essential items.

We arrive early this morning into Lerwick and after breakfast on board we disembark and depart on a scenic excursion to the north mainland of Shetland. Our route will take us over the Mavis Grind, an isthmus just 100 yards wide, and through a stark landscape of hills, moors and lochans. We will stop for a walk (weather permitting) along the spectacular sea cliffs at Eshaness, which offer spectacular views over the many skerries, islets and offshore rocks. There are also many caverns and sea caves, one of which was recently declared the largest in the Britain. Look out too for the lighthouse which was built by David Alan Stevenson, one of the famous ‘lighthouse’ Stevensons, between 1925 and 1929.
Later this afternoon we will check-in to our accommodation, where dinner will be served in the evening.

This morning following breakfast, we enjoy another scenic excursion to the west mainland of Shetland, which will take us to Walls, terminus for the ferry service to the island of Foula, and the headland at Sandness, overlooking the island of Papa Stour.
In the afternoon we will return to our hotel, where dinner will be served in the evening.

After breakfast this morning we depart for Lerwick, where the day is free to explore at your leisure and view the various activities associated with the Up Helly Aa festival which takes place today. Keep an eye out for the various ‘squads’ of ‘guizers’ – groups of about 20 men who choose a theme and dress up as whatever takes their fancy each year. Only one squad, a different one every year, is allowed to dress up as Vikings and are known as ‘jarls’, the Viking term for Earl. As darkness falls (mid-afternoon at this time of year) the squads begin to assemble for the torchlight parade and eventually a procession of 1,000 men snakes its way through the streets carrying aloft flaming brands of paraffin-soaked hessian and carrying the superbly crafted galley which will then be ceremoniously burned in the spectacular finale to the day’s events.
Dinner this evening will be served in a local restaurant and at an agreed time, we will be transferred back to our hotels after the evening procession.

After breakfast this morning we depart for a full day tour which, weather permitting, will take us to the northern isles of Yell and Unst. We travel north through Tingwall and Girlsta and past the oil terminal at Sullom Voe, which has transformed life in Shetland over the last 25 years, before arriving at Toft, where the ferry departs for the island of Yell. After a 15-minute crossing we travel across Yell to Gutcher at the north end of the island. We then take another short ferry crossing to the island of Unst, where we shall drive north to Baltasound for a lunch stop. After lunch (not included) we continue northwards again, (about as far north as it is possible to travel by coach in the British Isles) and enjoy the marvellous views from Saxavord Hill. Our return route takes us via East Yell and Burravoe.
Upon return to mainland Shetland we will transfer back to our hotel, where dinner will be served in the evening.
 

This morning after breakfast we will check out of our hotel and our day begins with a visit to Scalloway, the original capital of Shetland. The castle built by Earl Patrick Stewart (not a man you would want to have crossed) still dominates the skyline. More recently Scalloway was the secret base for the heroes of the Norwegian Resistance and the wartime exploits of the ‘Shetland Bus’ form a courageous memoir. Here we will have the opportunity to visit the Shetland Museum (entry not included) which tells the story of Scalloway and its people from the earliest settlers right up to Scalloway’s position in the present day.
Later we head for the south of mainland Shetland, where we visit the outstanding Prehistoric and Norse Settlement of Jarlshof, with over 3 acres of remains, spanning 3000 years since the days of the Stone Age, including oval shaped bronze age houses, iron age broch and wheel houses, Viking long houses and medieval farmhouses. We will also visit Sumburgh Head, the southern tip of mainland Shetland, which is an RSPB reserve and site of a lighthouse that is still functioning remotely, but incorporates museum aspects of its earlier operation as a manned station. In season, thousands of puffins, kittiwakes and razorbills nest here, but in January they will still be out at sea.
Later this afternoon we will re-join the Northlink ferry for our overnight sailing back to Aberdeen. Dinner will be served on board.

After breakfast on board, we will disembark in Aberdeen.  We will then return to the original pick-up points, where we anticipate arriving late morning/early afternoon.