Bressay Explorer Crofting and Island Life Tour

Meet your driver in Lerwick Town Centre and make the short journey to the Bressay Ferry Terminal, where we join the small inter-island ferry for the 7 minute crossing to Bressay.

Arriving in Bressay, we meet our local guide who is an island resident, crofter and archaeologist.

Tours departing on Saturdays will have the chance to explore Bressay Heritage Centre which tells the story of the island's 6000 year history.

On all days, we will see a reconstruction of a Bronze Age Burnt Mound which was saved from crumbling into the sea.

Our guide, Chris, will accompany us to his island croft, a sustainable agricultural holding.

We will be able to look at the sheep – ewes, rams and lambs. White/coloured/fleckit and even katmogget! Sift through fleeces from Chris’s flock and see the principal day to day tools and equipment that are used by a Shetland crofter! Chris’s croft is mixed with woodland, pigs, turkeys, hens and vegetables alongside his beautifully coloured sheep, so there is plenty to see in an island with abundant nature, wildlife and history.

We make a short stop at Speldiburn Café where we have the chance to purchase a light lunch and refreshments (own expense).

At the southern tip of Bressay, the island's lighthouse is one of four designed by the Stevenson brothers. Constructed in 1858, the lighthouse was automated in 1998.

Note- it is not possible to enter the lighthouse, it is not open to the public.

Visit croft houses and outbuildings plus the former manse crowd the centre of the site which also includes a Neolithic turf dyke, Viking houses and the graveyard of the cross-shaped kirk of St Mary's which stands in part on the remains of a broch.

We bid farewell to Chris and re-join the ferry for the short crossing back to Lerwick. The drop off point is in the centre of town, so you'll be able to explore Shetland's capital at your own pace.

If you're traveling on a cruise ship which is berthed out of town, you can use the free shuttle bus to return to the pier when you've finished exploring.