Sumburgh - Sumburgh

Sumburgh is a small village near the southern tip of Mainland in the Shetland Islands. Its main attraction is Jarlshof, continuously inhabited for 4000 years. For convenience other visitor sights and amenities in the bottom ten miles of Mainland are also described here, up as far as Sandwick which is the access for Mousa Broch.

Get in

By plane: See Shetland#By plane for flight connections.

59.8776-1.28911 Sumburgh Airport (LSI ^IATA). This the main airport serving Shetland. Car hire is available. (updated Jul 2019)

By bus:Bus #6 runs to & from Lerwick daily every 90 min - 2 hours, stopping at the airport, Jarlshof and hotel, adult single fare £2.90.

By boat: a ferry sails between Fair Isle and 59.874176-1.2779552 Grutness. May to Sept it sails once on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, taking 2 hr 40 min; a day trip is not possible. Every two weeks, one sailing is from Lerwick instead of Grutness.

Get around

The airport, hotel and Jarlshof are a short walk apart. You need a car to reach the further sights.

The main road crosses the airport perimeter and is briefly closed when commercial flights are landing or taking off.

See

• 59.8688-1.292851 Jarlshof, Sumburgh ZE3 9JN, ☏ 44 1950 460112. Apr-Sept daily 09:30-17:30. A prehistoric site with over 4000 years of human habitation. It has structures from the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Viking and Medieval eras. Not routinely open in winter but enquire at the hotel to see if access is possible. Adult £6, conc £4.80, child £3.60. (updated Jul 2019)
• 59.8539-1.27472 Sumburgh Head. Apr-Sep: daily 11:00-17:30. Oct-Mar: access by prior arrangement only (call 44 1595 694688). Lighthouse, visitor centre and Nature Reserve. Season ticket (valid from Apr-Sep): £6 adults, £4 concessions. (updated Jan 2016)
• 59.8786-1.30513 Old Scatness (Near the airport). mid-May - Aug. An Iron Age Broch and Village, discovered when the main road was built in the Seventies. (updated Nov 2015)
• 59.9025-1.33784 Quendale Watermill, Dunrossness, ZE2 9JD (4 miles north of airport), ☏ 44 1950 460969 (when open), 44 1950 460550 (at all other times). Mid-April - mid-Oct daily 10:00-17:00. (updated Nov 2015)
• 59.915-1.2895 Crofthouse Museum, Boddam, Dunrossness ZE2 9JG (5 miles north of Sumburgh, in lane off main road), ☏ 44 1595 695057. May-Sept Tu-Su 10:00-13:00, 14:00-16:00. Small museum in restored traditional croft house. Free (donation). (updated Jul 2019)
• 59.933-1.3376 Spiggie Loch and the smaller Brow Loch just south are freshwater lochs with an RSPB reserve.
• 60-1.1757 Mousa is an uninhabited island on the east coast ten miles north of Sumburgh, with a broch - an Iron Age tower, the best preserved in Britain. You clamber in along a passage through the thick stone wall. In summer a boat runs to Mousa from Leebitton, near Sandwick off the main road to Lerwick.

Do

See Shetland ponies.

Buy

Souvenirs are available at Jarlshof and the hotel.

Eat

Sumburgh Hotel's West Voe restaurant.

Drink

Sumburgh Hotel has a small public bar independent of the dining room. They have local beers available in bottles.

Sleep

• 59.86934-1.287281 Sumburgh Hotel, ZE3 9JN, ☏ 44 1950 460201, fax: 44 1950 460394, ✉[email protected]. Baronial-style small hotel with decent bar and restaurant. Near Jarlshof and airport. B&B double from £110. (updated Jul 2019)

Connect

Good mobile signal here because of the airport.

Go next

• Go north by road to Lerwick and the rest of Mainland Shetland.
• Take the ferry to Fair Isle, but you'll have to sail back here.