The picture says it all – the tombolo beach leading to St Ninian’s Isle in the south of the Shetland Islands. Picture sun. fine sand, glittering sea (on two sides of the beach), and not a soul about. And there, centre frame, a pair of large grey commercial rubbish bins. A supremely practical, if ugly solution, in the midst of a stunning view. This picture says it all about the Shetlands for me.

I mean no criticism. A group of us had a wonderful trip on motorcycles to the islands in May 2025. The sea was blue, even the sky was blue – not a drop of rain during our 10-day stay. We could not fault the views or the weather. And I had visited before, so I know how rare are such conditions so far north.

And it is the prevailing weather in the Shetlands that explains the photo. For 90% of the year bad weather rules, and islanders are acclimatised to grey skies, rain and unceasing wind. The constant wind brings both blessings and a curse – few midges, because they cannot cope with the wind, yet few trees, for similar reasons (although the thin soil may also contribute). So solutions need to be practical, especially during the seasons when it is not pleasant to be outside.

So why the title Norseland? Because for me the Shetlands conjure up an image of the far north, of snow, ice, and hardy Viking types eking out a living in a tough environment. This is an image of the past however – the islanders no longer raid the mainland seeking slaves, jewellery and buried gold. Fishing is now the key occupation, and North Sea oil has also aided the economy.

But the past is why Shetlanders see themselves as special. For historical reasons (and ancient history is all around you here), the islanders do not feel themselves Scottish. They may accept being part of the United Kingdom, but have not forgotten their Norwegian heritage (even if a couple of centuries have elapsed since).

Our visit coincided with the 80th Anniversary of VE Day (the 1945 celebration of the end of the Second World War in Europe), consequently I learnt much more about Shetland history than on my previous trip. We attended a moving open-air service outside Lerwick town hall, and heard about the important role played by the islands during WWII, in particular the hosting of the Shetland Bus operation (which deserves a book in itself, and indeed has one) during the conflict.

The Shetland Bus was a shuttle service of old trawlers and other small boats that operated during WWII between Norway and the islands. At first it carried refugees from the German invasion; later on the cargo became saboteurs, weaponry and assistance for the Norwegian resistance. Several of those old wooden trawlers are still in existence, and were present on the quayside in Lerwick. They had crossed the North Sea under, quite literally, their own steam – a testament to the seagoing abilities of these small ships and their sailors.

After that first day immersed in Shetland history, our group spent the rest of our stay touring the ‘mainland’ (the main island) and outlying isles. We visited Sumberg Head and lighthouse in the south, where riding across the airport runway, truly a level-crossing with a difference, was part of the attraction. We also crossed the longest tombolo beach in the UK to St Ninian’s Isle to view the ruins of an ancient 12th century church and graveyard there, where a buried hoard of 8th century silver was discovered in 1958.

St Ninian is venerated as the patron saint of the Shetlands, and the church here is believed to have been part of a chain of early Christian monastic communities. Yet the island’s history predates Christianity, with Neolithic graves found within the church walls.

Many of Shetland’s ancient churches and graveyards are located in beautiful, open settings on the coastline. As well as being places of worship perhaps they say something about respect for your ancestors, when from their burial places they can enjoy outstanding views over the sea.

As a largish group we were not always together – individuals or groups of four or five riders toured the smaller islands at different times. Northernmost Unst for example saw some of us visiting Skaw beach in the north, St Olaf’s Kirk in the west and the famous (or infamous) Unst weather rock on Uyea Sound.

One of our intrepid band even managed to play a game of golf at Britain’s northernmost golf course on Whalsay island – where I’m told the winds are strong enough to blow your ball right off the green. He’d brought his clubs along strapped to the bike’s nearside!

The Eshaness cliffs on the north-west of the mainland offer spectacular views – this is first landfall for eastbound combers as they roll in all the way from Greenland to strike the base of the cliffs. Further south I went to West Burra, spending time on Meal Beach, reputedly the best beach in the islands.

With the sun that day beating down, once I found a place out of the omnipresent wind I could imagine myself in the south of France, even managing to fall asleep on the sand and gaining an impressive sunburn. The water was ice-cold though – just dipping your toes felt as if you could suffer frostbite!

But visiting the Shetlands is not really about the usual tourist stuff. The islands are not geared up to host it and I don’t feel the islanders would want that. In fact there are very few facilities near to the main points of interest, which means visiting the old-fashioned way – bringing a thermos and your own sandwiches – you won’t find a handy Costa here.

Indeed for most of the year the weather is an active discouragement to tourism – we were incredibly lucky to have the conditions we did. Trying to do the same thing in poor weather would not be the same – the last time I visited I’d experienced 3 degrees, a Force 8 gale and sleet – not much fun on two wheels.

The real attraction is the coastline – on a rare fine day the views are spectacular. And of course the wildlife – the seas are very clean here, which means you can find otters, a wide range of seabirds and at the right time of year, even Orca.

What also makes the islands attractive for bikers are the usually excellent road surfaces, even on the single-track side roads where there are only passing places for oncoming traffic. For anyone on two wheels, good road surfaces can make all the difference to a trip, and in the Shetlands I understand they are down to oil money and the importance of road transport to the industry. Certainly I found the roads to be a cut above, for example, the Outer Hebrides, where a smaller lightweight machine is preferable for the back roads.

We found the islanders to be almost universally friendly, and wonderfully courteous on the roads, especially to a group of bikers who were obviously new to the islands. You had to be cautious at all tiimes however – while you would find sheep wandering the mountain roads, the ewes were usually experienced enough to stay away as vehicles passed. The lambs however were another story, and we were there just after lambing time – they were liable to panic and run under your wheels, as I so nearly found out.

But ten days came to an end all too soon, and it was time to catch the overnight ferry back to Aberdeen. Goodbye Shetland, I had a great time, but hope to be back.

© Philip Hunt 2025

More info

The Shetland Bus, by David Howarth RNVR – published by The Shetland Times and available £8-99 from their bookshop – https://shop.shetlandtimes.co.uk/

St Ninian’s Isle – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Ninian’s_Isle

Saxavord Space Centre – would be space port being constructed at the north end of Unst island, https://saxavord.com