Shetland Hop on Hop Off Bus Tour from Lerwick: Explore Shetland's Scenic Routes at Your Pace

Experience the stunning beauty of Shetland on a Hop on Hop Off Bus Tour from Lerwick. Explore at your own pace, with the freedom to jump off at the places that interest you most.

Duration:
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights

Lerwick’s summer hop-on-hop-off tour runs every Sunday from April to September.

Buses leave from Holmsgarth Ferry Terminal, Viking Bus Station, and Lerwick Esplanade four times daily at 0900, 1130, 1330, and 1600 (departures from Viking Bus Station are 3 minutes later and from the Esplanade 10 minutes later).

The entire tour lasts 95 minutes, and you can hop on and off the bus as much as you like or complete the loop in one go.

Key attractions along the route include:

  • Clickimin Broch
  • Sound Beach
  • Scalloway
  • Meal Beach
  • Hamnavoe
  • Tingwall Loch
  • Shetland Textile Museum
  • Shetland Museum
What's Included
  • Unlimited travel for the entire day on the chosen date.
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

See Shetland’s beauty from the roadside with the opportunity to jump off at the places of interest which suit you most.

With four departures every Sunday, you’ll have the chance to spend the day how you want to.

Be it soaking up the rays on Sound Beach, discovering history in Scalloway Museum, taking a hike on Burra or exploring the exposed Tingwall Valley, you choose where you want to hop off to make the most of your visit to Shetland.

Location
Esplanade
Bus Stop, Esplanade, Lerwick- opposite Thule Bar.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
3.5
(22 Ratings)
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Marjo_s
Sep 16, 2024
Worth going! - Most beautiful scenery along the road and lots of information. George was a top driver with his humorous stories and facts 👍
Review provided by Viator
Janice_s
Sep 9, 2024
Great way to see Shetland - I was glad to see that priority was given to people like me who had booked, after reading previous reviews I was a little concerned we would not get on. Perhaps there should be a sign up to indicate this and/or separate queues? The tour was really good and took us around the whole island, our bus driver was very informative and extremely funny.
Review provided by Viator
Derek_j
Sep 3, 2024
Enjoyed. Would recommend the tour. - The scenery and a knowledgeable bus driver. Very lucky with the weather. Good value for 1 and half hours tour.
Review provided by Viator
Vicky_f
Jul 15, 2024
Excellent - This was excellent. I was concerned reading previous reviews that it would be crowded and we might struggle to get on, so opted for booking tickets in advance. In the end the service was really quiet, so quiet that I hope they promote it more and it gets the business to keep it going. The driver was friendly, patient and committed to ensuring we enjoyed the tour and his commentary on sights we were passing was enjoyable and interesting. There were a couple of photo stops on the tour and we took an extended break at Scalloway- one tip I would give is to do Scalloway in the afternoon as everything is closed on a Sunday morning, including the superb museum. We did the whole loop twice in the end, making use of our all day tickets. The route is stunning. We even got lucky with spotting seals in Hamnavoe Harbour! An excellent experience, highly recommended and I hope it gets the support to continue and develop the service.
Review provided by Viator
Vickyfc6203og
Jul 14, 2024
Excellent - This was excellent. I was a bit concerned reading the reviews about crowding, so opted to purchase tickets in advance online. The service turned out to be very quiet, the driver was friendly and patient and gave a good commentary on what we were passing, which was interesting and enjoyable. The service stops a couple of times to let you take photos and we opted to get out for a longer stop a couple of times too. The bus was punctual each time when we reboarded. We visited Scalloway Museum, which is excellent, just be aware that it is only open on Sunday afternoons. We made a whole day hopping on and off this service, completing our day with seal viewings in the harbour at Hamnavoe, where the bus stops for 10 minutes to let you take pictures! I hope this service takes off and continues. The journey is stunning and the driver's commitment to helping you get the most of it makes this well worth doing.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Z6555nmdenisem
Sep 9, 2024
Shetland hop on hop off bus tour - Bus driver gave verbal commentary on points of interest throughout the trip. This he undertook in a cheerful, knowledgeable manner. This means of communication was not problematic as there were only a few people on board, but I could foresee problems if the bus was busy or people did not speak English.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Darcy_s
Jun 19, 2024
A Nice Drive Around the Island - Planning can help and hurt you. In planning ahead, I was in contact with the bus company, so I knew the route and timetable. This is why we RUSHED to get off the ship in order to make the first stop at the port. We nearly missed it and would have to wait 1.5 hours before we saw it again. On the other hand, if we had booked directly or waited until we got to the bus to buy tickets, we would have saved a little bit of money. But the assurance of having the ticket was preferred, so we didn't mind paying a bit more. It was not your typical hop on hop off in that there was not commentary, but the driver tried to slow down in areas for us to take pictures and give us a little info along the way, though I don't think that is a part of his job. We preferred it as we did not get off, but rather rode it from start to finish. It was a picturesque and enjoyable ride. True to the schedule, it was only 1.5 hours around the island. We did see Shetland ponies and lots of sheep (apparently there are 250,000 on the island). Afterwards, we wandered around the Main Street areas with shops and cafes, climbed to the fort then headed back to the tender to the ship. There didn't seem to be much to do at this stop and many of the shops were not open in the morning, so this was a low cost tour that did not disappoint.
Review provided by Viator
Renate
Aug 5, 2024
Short round trip - On time, clean bus. Driver nice and effortful, unfortunately acoustically difficult to understand (regardless of language). Unfortunately, many things are closed or non-existent everywhere on Sunday, e.g. cafes or places where you can sometimes sit comfortably. All in all a round trip, which you can also take with the public buses.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Susannec_b
Sep 4, 2024
Not worth the money! - Sadly I cannot recommend this activity. It was very poor value for money. The small bus had a minimum of 2 hours between pickups, so if you 'hopped off' at a spot which took a short time to look at (eg 15-30mins maximum at Clickimin Broch), the wait at least 90 minutes for the next bus. It only runs on Sundays, another drawback. The day I caught it, it had only 1 seat left because cruise boat people had booked it. They weren't gane to get off at any stop in case they couldn't get back on. The driver did his best with commentary but there was no microphone for him, so he was just shouting from the front. Much cheaper and more convenient to catch a local bus!!
Review provided by Viator
Roving25962898104
Sep 2, 2024
Not recommend - The view were amazing the drive was great but didn't go far and to long between pick ups The drive had no microphone to communicate with passengers.Over all was a big rip off. Don't recommend
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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September 2024
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