Scalloway

Scalloway (Old Norse Skálavágr, "bay with the large house") is a fishing village in the Shetland Islands. It was the capital of these islands until 1708 when Lerwick supplanted it. The population in 2011 was 900.

Get in
Scalloway is six miles from Lerwick by a good road, so 10 min by car or 30 min by bike should do it.

Andrews Bus 4 runs from Lerwick to Scalloway hourly M-Sa, taking 25 min and continuing along the shore to Port Arthur. This connects four times a day with Bus 5 from Scalloway to Trondra, Hamnavoe and Papil on West Burra, and Houss on East Burra.

Get around
Inksters Taxis are based at Port Arthur, +44 7770 611646. Otherwise call one of the Lerwick taxi firms.

See

 * stands on Main Street.
 * , 2 km north on B9074, is a freshwater loch with bird life, including mute swans. The little promontory at its north end, "Law Ting Holm", was an islet and the site of Shetland's parliament (Thing) until the 16th century, but there's little to see there now. The Murder Stone is a 2-m granite slab by the roadside at the south end of the loch. There's various legends about the murder, but in the parliament of those days it might not even have got you rebuked.
 * are a chain of little islands linked to the mainland by road. Follow B9074 south, crossing first onto Trondra which is just farmland, then to West Burra which has the village of Hamnavoe (a common place name meaning "sheltered harbour"). There's a B&B here and a couple of self-catering cottages. The lane continues south for a mile then one fork crosses to East Burra to end at Houss, where The Outpost cafe is well-named. The other fork stays on West Burra to end at Papil. Both forks end in spits, with paths but no road to extensions of the peninsula: Houss Ness on East Burra beyond Houss, and Kettla Ness on West Burra beyond Papil.
 * Yet(i) more islands: the Scalloway archipelago includes a scattering of others, nowadays uninhabited. South Havra and Little Havra are the pair south of the Burras. Oxna, Papa, Hildasay, Langa and Linga are the group seen west of Trondra and Ness of Westshore. They've been likened to a yeti's footprint.
 * are a chain of little islands linked to the mainland by road. Follow B9074 south, crossing first onto Trondra which is just farmland, then to West Burra which has the village of Hamnavoe (a common place name meaning "sheltered harbour"). There's a B&B here and a couple of self-catering cottages. The lane continues south for a mile then one fork crosses to East Burra to end at Houss, where The Outpost cafe is well-named. The other fork stays on West Burra to end at Papil. Both forks end in spits, with paths but no road to extensions of the peninsula: Houss Ness on East Burra beyond Houss, and Kettla Ness on West Burra beyond Papil.
 * Yet(i) more islands: the Scalloway archipelago includes a scattering of others, nowadays uninhabited. South Havra and Little Havra are the pair south of the Burras. Oxna, Papa, Hildasay, Langa and Linga are the group seen west of Trondra and Ness of Westshore. They've been likened to a yeti's footprint.

Do

 * Ness of Westshore is the headland west of town, an easy hike via the coast road and track.
 * Golf: Shetland GC is three miles north on A970, see Lerwick.
 * Sailing: visitor boats should use the pontoon at Scalloway Boat Club, there are no visitor moorings within the marina. The pontoon is sheltered from all winds and has 4 m depth at all tides. The club has toilets showers and laundry and is open till late.
 * Sailing: visitor boats should use the pontoon at Scalloway Boat Club, there are no visitor moorings within the marina. The pontoon is sheltered from all winds and has 4 m depth at all tides. The club has toilets showers and laundry and is open till late.

Buy

 * The Checkout is the convenience store, open M-F 8AM-10PM, Sa 9AM-10PM, Su 10AM-10PM.
 * Villagers head to Tesco in Lerwick for their big shop.

Drink

 * The town pub is Kiln Bar on Main St, open daily 11AM-1AM.

Sleep

 * Other B&Bs only opened for self-catering in 2021, if at all. They include Shieling (below) and New Easterhoull..
 * Other B&Bs only opened for self-catering in 2021, if at all. They include Shieling (below) and New Easterhoull..

Connect
As of Nov 2021, Scalloway has 4G from EE but no signal from other carriers. There's patchy coverage along the road from Lerwick but nothing down the lane to the Scalloway Islands.

Go next
You don't have to go back to Lerwick to reach other parts of the Shetland Islands, but it's the obvious route.