Travelling around Shetland by bus

You’ll find up-to-date bus routes and timetables on the Shetland Travel Information website and you can download the travel app to your smartphone.

Bus payments and multi-trip passes

Buses offer an economical way to travel around Shetland. All accept cash, credit or debit card (excluding American Express) and Apple/Google Pay. If you plan on using several buses during your trip, it’s worth buying a multi-trip bus pass which gives you a 20% discount on bus fares. You can buy a pass on any of the mainline service buses and top it up between £5-£50.

Bus routes in Shetland

The mainline bus services in Shetland are:

• Service 1: Lerwick Town Service
• Service 4: Scalloway
• Service 6: Sumburgh (South Mainland)
• Service 9: Walls (West Mainland)
• Service 19: Vidlin (East Mainland)
• Service 21: Hillswick (North Mainland)

Feeder buses run from these mainline services, which meet the buses at designated points and transport passengers on to different areas. An example is Service 7 to Bigton, which meets the mainline Service 6 Sumburgh bus at Channerwick Junction to take passengers to Bigton (the stop for visitors to St Ninian’s Isle).

For less frequently used bus routes, you may have to book a Dial-A-Ride service to take you to your destination. For example, the service from Lerwick to Tingwall is a Dial-A-Ride service and is available to anyone and much cheaper than getting a taxi. Anyone can use the Dial-A-Ride service, including visitors, but these must be booked 24 hours in advance by calling +44 (0)1595 745745. If your destination requires a Dial-A-Ride bus service, this will be marked on the timetable.

Shetland’s bus network serves the island populations and therefore tends to run to and from areas where people live and work rather than tourist attractions. You can obviously use them to get around the isles but be aware that if you are using the bus network for sightseeing purposes you will usually have to walk to specific sites of interest from the bus stops.

The North Isles – Yell and Unst

This bus travels with passengers on the Yell Sound ferry crossing, between Shetland Mainland and the island of Yell. It proceeds through Yell and drops passengers at the Gutcher Ferry Terminal at the north of the island for onward travel to Unst on Service 28. Please note that this is an afternoon service only and therefore unsuitable for a day trip to Unst.

South Mainland

Service 6 to Sumburgh Airport operates daily and you can hop off at Sumburgh Hotel to visit Jarlshof Prehistoric and Norse Settlement. If you plan to visit Sumburgh Head Lighthouse, please note that this is a 2-mile walk from the hotel. To visit Old Scatness Broch, get off the bus at Scatness Junction. The Ness of Burgi Iron Age settlement is a 1-mile walk from Scatness Junction.

Scalloway

There is a regular bus service from Lerwick to the pretty port village of Scalloway, which departs from the Viking Bus Station. If you want to visit Scalloway Museum in the summer, make sure you coincide your buses with the museum’s opening times.

Eshaness

The dramatic sea cliffs at Eshaness in Shetland’s North Mainland are popular with tourists year-round, however, there is no direct bus service to Eshaness Lighthouse. You must get Service 21 from Lerwick to Hillswick and then the 21F feeder service from Hillswick to Eshaness (Braewick Cafe). The walk to the lighthouse is approximately 2.7 miles (5.4-mile round trip). This service operates Monday to Thursday only.

Lerwick

Most of Lerwick’s attractions are within walking distance of each other, but there is a regular bus that does a circular route around town (Service 1). Stop off at Sea Road to visit Clickimin Broch; King Harald Street for the Town Hall, Shetland Library, Islesburgh House Hostel and Jubilee Flower Park; and Commercial Road for Shetland Museum and Archives and Mareel.