Today we’ll explore the many fantastic sites South Mainland has to offer. 

To begin we shall visit Jarlsof, described as one of the most remarkable archaeological sites ever excavated in the British Isles. The site is comprised of a complex of dwellings from Neolithic times, the Bronze Age, Iron Age, Norse and Medieval Periods.

In the afternoon, we travel to Sandwick and board a small ferry for the 15 minute crossing to the uninhabited island of Mousa. The island is a haven for puffins, terns, arctic skuas, shags, bonxies (great skuas) and seals. About an hour of walking, with lots of stops to look at the wildflowers, views and wildlife, takes us the finest and best-preserved broch or round tower anywhere in the world. Build 2000 years ago, its 12m high walls remain intact, allowing us to explore inside and ascend to the top of the structure. A short walk at the end of the day takes us back to the ferry.

Late afternoon we visit St Ninian’s Isle, the best example of a tombolo in Europe. We take time to walk across the 500m long, sandy double beach to reach the grassy headland and the ruins of an early medieval chapel where Pictish treasure was found in 1958. 

5 miles/8km, little ascent

Papa Stour – ‘big island of the priests’ – is formed from volcanic lava and ash. Exposed to the full force of the Atlantic Ocean, some of the most impressive coast line in Shetland can be seen here with caves, arches, stacks, skerries and subterranean passages.

Only 15 people live permanently on the island, but it was an important place in Neolithic, Bronze Age and Viking times with evidence of this all over the island.

The ferry crossing is 40 minutes and we will have 6 hours on Papa Stour. Our walk will go around the wild and remote western part of the island.

Botanical Notes:  The scattald lands of Papa Stour, which form the bulk of the site, have been scalped of peat in the past leaving a thin-soiled, lichen-rich heathland. This is very exposed and shows strong maritime influence throughout. The vegetation is all prostrate, dominated by ling Calluna vulgaris, with some thyme Thymus praecox, mountain everlasting Antennaria dioica, spring squill Scilla verna, sea plantain Plantago maritima, heath spotted orchid Dactylorhiza maculata and woolly hair moss Rhacomitrium sp. 

6 miles/9.5 km, 330ft/100m of ascent

In the morning we shall check out of our accommodation and head to Burra Isle.  Connected to the mainland by bridges, it doesn’t take long to get there from Lerwick. We begin by walking along a beautiful white sand beach called Banna Minn. Beyond that we continue along cliff tops on short grass taking in lovely views of Foula, south mainland and the Westside. The profusion of sea pinks and other wildflowers give Burra a friendly and gentle feel.

4.5 miles/7km, little ascent

In the afternoon we go back to Lerwick to go on a boat trip to Bressay and Noss. The uninhabited island of Noss, meaning nose, is a National Nature Reserve important for breeding seabirds, particularly gannet. The sandstone cliffs of Noss are carved by the sea into thousands of ledges. These are ideal sites for seabirds to nest: gannets, guillemots, razerbills, puffin and kittiiwake. After the boat tour we will drive north to Brae. 

Fetlar, with Unst and Yell, are the northernmost islands in Shetland, and in Britain. We will drive to Toft and get a 30min ferry across to Yell, drive through Yell, then get a ferry to Fetlar. We will take the minibus to the island. Fetlar offers some great coastal walking, with rare serpentine and conglomerate geology and lovely beaches. It’s also a good place for birdwatching (golden plovers, dunlin, erdshank, lapwing, curlew, oystercathers, ringed plovers, whimbrel and possible the rare Red-necked Phalarope). 

Botanical Notes: In eastern Fetlar is an area of coastline called Trona Mires containing an assemblage of widely contrasting botanical habitats:

• Three areas of partially drained sedge-mire occupy the valley hollows of Upper and Lower Trona Mires and Stivla. Extensive stands of bottle sedge Carex rostrata dominate these floristically diverse marshes. Bog bean Menyanthes trifoliata, marsh cinquefoil Potentilla palustris, and ragged robin Lychnis flos-cuculi are important constituents of these communities, which also include locally restricted plant species such as the greater tussock sedge Carex paniculata. Parts of the mires were formerly cut for peat.
• Over thirty species of lichen are recorded from the site. In places there is an almost uninterrupted carpet of Cladonia species, Cetraria islandica and Sphaerophorus globosus. 
• Maritime lichen-rich heathlands grading to coastal grasslands extend throughout the remainder of the site. Vascular plants within these herb-rich communities include crowberry Empetrum nigrum, mountain everlasting Antennaria dioica and cross- leaved heath Erica tetralix on the heathland with maritime influence shown by the presence of spring squill Scilla verna, and sea plantain Plantago maritima. Other interesting species include golden rod Solidago virgaurea, St John’s wort Hypericum pulchrum and devil’s-bit scabious Succisa pratensis.

About 6 miles of walking

Our visit to Unst is a day of ‘northernmosts’; the most northerly island, village, beach and bus stop! The rare serpentine rock underlying the islands is the remnant of a lost ocean sea floor – the Lapetus ocean of 600 million years ago. The rock gives a barren and stark look to the landscape and has created habitats for rare plants and flowers.

Unst is also famous for its Norse archaeological sites – it’s said that there are more Norse longhouse sites on Unst than in the whole of Scandinavia!

There is a lot to see on Unst, one could easily spend a week exploring its beaches, coastlines and hills. We shall prioritize:

• The Keen of Hamar Nature Reserve - a serpentine debris heath with rare wildflowers. We will take a short walk in the reserve to explore the site and look for wildflowers, including the Shetland Mousear or Edmonston Chickweed.
• Hermaness Nature Reserve - a 3 hr circular walk out to 200m west-facing seacliffs with a huge gannet colony, then along the coast to view Muckle Fluga, the most northerly lighthouse in Britain. Then on up to the summit of Hemaness Hill before walking back to the start. The moorland we pass through is a great place to see Great Skua (Bonxies) and the cliff tops are an excellent spot to see puffins (Tamie Nories). 
• Unst Heritage Centre - Haroldswick is the most northerly village and it happens to be where my father is from! The village has two museums, the Unst Heritage Centre and the Unst Boat Haven, where you can learn more about the history and traditions of the island.

Botanical Notes: 

• The site contains one of the finest examples of serpentine debris vegetation in Europe and supports a number of national plant rarities. It provides an interesting contrast to the other major serpentine outcrops in Britain such as the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall and those in North-East Scotland. The unique flora is related directly to the unusual chromite-serpentine substrate and the soils derived from this, which are deficient in phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium but contain high levels of heavy metals such as chromium, magnesium and nickel. The principal vegetation types are a sparse fell-field community on bare serpentine debris and a closed swardof short heather and grasses on soil derived from glacial till.
• The debris vegetation holds an unusual mixture of montane and maritime species and uncommon forms of some of these are present. Species including nationally rare Scottish sandwort Arenaria norvegica ssp. norvegica and Shetland mouse-ear Cerastium nigrescens - endemic to this site and nearby Nikka Vord - and nationally scarce northern rock-cress Arabis petraea are found.

About 4 miles

Today we drive back up to Yell to visit Breckon. The landscape here is the most extensive calcareous shell and sand dune system in Shetland. Our walk will take us to Kirk Loch and Bena Water, nutrient-rich systems, with bog orchid, stonewart and pondweed. We shall walk around the coastline, out to the narrow Ness of Houlland which forms a natural breakwater for the village of Breckon. The area has a rich history too: there's the remains of a Neolithic or Bronze age dwelling, an iron age broch, and a C14 chapel. 

We continue west, past the Sands of Breckon, along dramatic cliff tops to Gloup Ness (Gloup means ravine). The Gloup is a voe (a flooded river valley) and was used as a base for seasonal Haaf (deep water) fishing in the nineteenth century. Haaf fishing was an especially dangerous occupation involving rowing out, in six person boats, into the Atlantic Ocean to set long lines, for Ling, Cod and Tusk. Tragically in 1881 58 fishermen from north Yell were killed by an unexpected summer storm. 

Botanical notes:    

• The dunes are dominated by marram grass Ammophila arenaria with moonwort Botrychium lunaria also occurring in this area. Part of the machair has an unusual community dominated by hogweed Heracleum sphondylium. The cliff-top vegetation includes species such as frog orchid Coeloglossum viride, field gentian Gentianella campestris, spring squill Scilla verna and the locally scarce autumn gentian Gentianella amarella. The Ness of Houlland has a sward influenced by salt spray with red fescue Festuca rubra, thrift Armeria maritima and plantains Plantago spp.
• The eutrophic Kirk Loch, highly influenced by shell sand, has other interesting plant species including two species of stonewort Chara aspera and C. virgata and the pondweeds Potamogeton berchtoldii and the nationally scarce P. filiformis. Wet areas around the shores of Bena Water and along burn sides to the north support large numbers of bog orchid Hammarbya paludosa.

About 7 miles of Walking

Today we leave Brae and head east to Lunna Ness, in the north-east corner of the mainland. This long narrow peninsula is an important site for otters, one of the best places on the island to see them. We will have a half-day walk, along the coastline, looking for otters, seals and seabirds. We may take a journey inland too, to visit a huge glacial erratic boulder called the Stanes of Stofast (geologists have discovered the stone came from Norway, across the north sea on an ice sheet). We will also visit Lunna Kirk built around 1400. Lunna is also the base, for a time, of the Shetland Bus, a clandestine WWII mission to support the Norwegian resistance.

In the afternoon we shall go to Lerwick. There's lots to see and do in Lerwick: visiting the excellent Shetland Museum, shopping in Commercial Street, exploring the narrow Lerwick 'Lanes', visiting JImmy Perez's hoose, the and checking out Jamiesons Wool Merchat. 

In the late afternoon we shall board the ferry, to take us back to Aberdeen. 

The ferry will arrive in Aberdeen at 7am, but you can stay on board til 8am to have breakfast. The train station is a short walk from the ferry terminal, for your onward travel.