A distinctively different experience awaits you when you holiday at the most northerly extreme of Britain – the Shetland Islands. The dramatic coastline is fascinating to explore, with imposing cliff faces, arches, caves and stacks giving way to gentle bays with swathes of white sand beaches. A natural home for an array of wildlife, sea life, bird life and native breeds of ponies and sheep.
As day dawns over Lerwick, either MV Hjaltland or MV Hrossey arrives in the busy natural harbour on the east side of Shetland. A town that developed 
along the waterfront with merchants building their houses and warehouses in the late 17th and early 18th century, today it is still a busy cosmopolitan town that takes pride in the warmth of welcome it extends to all its visitors.
The old waterfront is alive with visiting yachts, pleasure boats, and working fishing boats. Most of the sandstone buildings on the waterfront date from the 18th century when merchants built their 'lodberries'. These were houses and warehouses sitting on their own piers so that goods could be loaded and unloaded directly from the boats. What is called The Lodberries today is a group of houses and former warehouses at the southern end of Commercial Street that reminds us of the hustle and bustle of an intriguing period in the town's history.
Lerwick, from the Norse for ‘Muddy Bay’, is a home port to the Tall Ships Race, which returns in 2011. Lerwick is also an excellent place to sample Shetland's internationally celebrated musical heritage. Probably best known for fiddle music, Shetland has a wealth of talent embracing a range of styles.
The Shetland Museum and Archives is the starting point for anyone who wants to know more about Shetland heritage and culture. The newly developed museum has five times the floor space of its predecessor and can also house boats in the triple-height tower.
With over 3,000 artefacts on two floors, a wealth of easily accessible archival material, a temporary exhibition area, boat hall and sheds, public art, auditorium, shop and café serving a menu based on locally produced lamb and fish, it has something for everyone.
All this houses a collection that tells Shetland's story from the earliest times to the present day. Over two floors, the central exhibition takes us from the stone tools of the first inhabitants to the arrival of the oil industry in the 1970s.
Booking directly with NorthLink Ferries on www.northlinkferries.co.uk is cheaper than booking 
with another website and we never charge for any amendments made to your booking!
