Up Helly Aa

We arrive early in the morning at Lerwick and after our full Scottish breakfast on board we will depart on a full day tour which begins with a visit to Scalloway, the original capital of Shetland. The castle built by Earl Patrick Stewart (not a man you would want to have crossed) still dominates the skyline. More recently Scalloway was the secret base for the heroes of the Norwegian Resistance and the wartime exploits of the ‘Shetland Bus’ form a courageous memoir. Later we head for the south of Mainland Shetland, where we visit the outstanding Prehistoric and Norse Settlement of Jarlshof, with over three acres of remains, spanning 3000 years since the days of the Stone Age, including oval shaped bronze age houses, iron age broch and wheel houses, Viking long houses and medieval farmhouses. We continue to Sumburgh Head, the southern tip of mainland Shetland, which is an RSPB reserve and site of a lighthouse that is still functioning remotely, but incorporates museum aspects of its earlier operation as a manned station.  In season, thousands of puffins, kittiwakes and razorbills nest here, but in January they will still be out at sea.

From here we transfer to our accommodation. Dinner is served in the evening.

After breakfast this morning we depart for Lerwick, which you are free to explore at your leisure and view the various activities associated with the Up Helly Aa festival which takes place today. Keep an eye out for the various ‘squads’ of ‘guizers’ – groups of about 20 men who choose a theme and dress up as whatever takes their fancy each year. Only one squad, a different one every year, is allowed to dress up as Vikings and are known as ‘jarls’, the Viking term for Earl. As darkness falls (mid-afternoon at this time of year) the squads begin to assemble for the torchlight parade and eventually a procession of 1,000 men snakes its way through the streets carrying aloft flaming brands of paraffin-soaked hessian and carrying the superbly crafted galley which will then be ceremoniously burned in the spectacular finale to the day’s events.

Dinner this evening will be served in a local restaurant. At an agreed time we will be transferred back to our hotels in the evening.

After a leisurely breakfast we depart for a full day tour which, weather permitting, will take us to the northern isles of Yell and Unst. We travel north through Tingwall and Girlsta and past the oil terminal at Sullom Voe, which has transformed life in Shetland over the last 25 years, before arriving at Toft, where the ferry departs for the island of Yell. After a 15-minute crossing we travel across Yell to Gutcher at the north end of the island. We then make another short ferry crossing to the island of Unst and drive north (about as far north as it is possible to travel by coach in the British Isles) and enjoy the marvellous views from Saxa Vord Hill. Our return route takes us via East Yell and Burravoe. Back at Lerwick we will re-join our ship, which sails at 1730 hrs for Aberdeen.  Dinner is served on board.

After breakfast on board we will disembark in Aberdeen at around 0900 hours.  We will then return to the original pick up points, where we anticipate arriving late morning/early afternoon.