Depart from Edinburgh: 9am Sunday Return to Edinburgh: 2-3pm Saturday
Being at 60 degrees north, the summer brings long days when the sun only dips below the northern horizon for a few hours. We plan to make the most of the "summer dim" that provides almost 19 hours of sunshine a day! Detailed Itinerary Day 1 (Sunday): Departing Edinburgh at 09.00am, we amble our way up the east coast to Aberdeen, stopping for a warm-up hike in the Angus Glens en route. We take the overnight ferry to Lerwick via Orkney arriving Monday morning. Accommodation in twin or double berth cabins.
Day 2 (Monday): On arrival on Shetland, we head down to Sumbrough Head, the southern tip of Mainland. We take a three hour clifftop hike from the lighthouse, with its clear day views over to isolated Fair Isle over to the Jarlshof prehistoric site, before heading over to our accommodation in Lerwick.
Day 3 (Tuesday): On Day 3 we travel up to Fethaland at the northern tip of Mainland and spend the day walking the cliff tops with archeological sites; Brochs, monastic ruins and abandonned fishing stations.
Day 4 (Wednesday): We start early and take the short local flight from Lerwick airport to the spectacularly isolated island of Foula. The main aim of the day is to climb the 400m Sneug and to view the Kame, there are only about 40 permanent inhabitants on the island and no pub or cafe but this does not detract from being an absolute highlight.
Day 5 (Thursday): We head north to the islands of Yell and Unst to walk the hill of Hermaness and view Out Stack, the northernmost point of the British Isles. Day 6: (Friday): In the morning we hike the sub-arctic majesty of Rona’s Hill, at 450m, the highest point in the islands. We head back to Lerwick in time for food and drinks before embarking on the overnight ferry. Day 7 (Saturday): We head back from Aberdeen, arriving back in Edinburgh early afternoon.
Accommodation Your accommodation for the week is in personally selected hotels and guesthouses on Shetland Mainland and Unst. We only use places we have personally visited and approved and you will be warmly received by your host. Please note that single rooms are increasingly hard to obtain in this more remote area and that en-suite facilities for singles may not always be available. Check with us when you book. Evening meals for the whole group on this trip are normally taken at a local inn or restaurant. On all our tours we make a special effort to ensure that your evening meals are a highlight of the trip and seafood is a particular speciality on this trip. Specific dietary requirements can normally be catered for if we know in advance. Packed lunches are not included. Transport Return transport from Edinburgh will be by minibus, ferry transfer included. Grading of Walks The walking throughout this tour we class as “easy” – suitable for people of reasonable fitness who enjoy walking or the outdoors but who needn’t necessarily have any previous hiking experience. Most of the walks are on easy trails and tracks with some gentle ascents - however the distances involved means that there is a reasonable challenge involved. If you have any doubts about your suitability for the trip please just ask! Please read our grading guide here.
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