"Daytrip 3, Lerwick to St Ninian Isle and Scalloway" Shetland Favorite Tip by call_me_rhia

Favorite thing: This is a trip that takes you both to the southern and the the western mainland. It provides you a sort but intense day trip. In the morning, at 9 o‘ clock you can take a bus to Scalloway, which is only 15 minutes away. Scalloway is now a sleepy village but in the past it used to be much more important, as it was the ancient capital of the Shetland Islands. There is a small castle there, which was built in 1600 by Earl Patrick Steward, and an interestingcrafts museum: the Scalloway Museum – mainly focusing on local life (famring and fishing) and on the important role played by the islands in support of Norway when it was occupied by the German forces in WWII. If you have some spare time you can even take a quick look at the Shetland Woollen Company, a factory that produces and sells traditional shetlander woollen products, in particular nice heavy jumpers. The bus back to Lerwick is at 11, arriving at 11.15, which gives you the time to buy a few snacks and drinks before getting onto the 12 o‘clock to go to St Ninians Isle. This bus trip takes about 40 minutes, and you should get off at Bigton; sometimes you have to transfer to another bus at Channerwick Junction, so ask the driver. Bigton is a small village near St Ninians Isle – it takes about 10 minutes to walk there. The island is actually not a real island: in fact it‘s attached to the mainland by a perfect shell-sand tombolo: this sight alone is worth your trip here. There‘s also some ruins of a 12th century church on the island, but it‘s the tombolo that attracts most people… Once you are walking along its fine sand you‘ll never really want to go any further to the ruins of the church. The bus back to Lerwick, the only one of the day, leaves from Bigton at 13.50, so it‘s imperative that you don‘t miss it. You should be back in Lerwick at 14.30, which leaves you enough time to explore the present capital of the islands.

Fondest memory: the shell tombolo is unreal - a real perfect natural creation