An epic road-trip from Ireland to Shetland

A road-trip From Ireland to Shetland may seem like a far-flung ambition – particularly when setting off from the southern town of Cork. But with great roads, favourable ferry connections and our car loaded up with our body weight in snacks, the conditions were ideal for a northbound adventure.

Joined by friend and co-pilot, Crona, we first ventured off to Co. Antrim; catching the ferry from Larne to Stranraer before driving across Scotland to arriving at the Port of Aberdeen, right on schedule on a chilly November night.

The crossing to Lerwick with NorthLink Ferries was pleasantly calm and our cosy cabin along with fantastic food (not least some Orkney ice-cream) all added to the ceremony of our journey. Following a super night’s sleep, we awoke the next morning at dawn and after emerging onto the deck, our first sight of Shetland’s spectacularly moody coast came into view.

Shetland’s largest town made for a wind-kissed yet charming first port of call. At times, Lerwick’s stony streetscapes offered a vibey medieval air…at others, colourful architecture along the harbourside gave more of a Nordic nudge.

The Shetland Museum, set in a restored 16^th Century boathouse, offered us the perfect intro to the archipelago with engaging exhibits tracking the islands’ rich Scandi-Scottish history.

Heritage lesson in the bag, we wandered Lerwick’s charming streets picking up everything from artisan coffee at The Dowry café to, que a quintessential tourist move, the perfect Shetland sweater at Jamieson’s woollen mills.

For lunch, Fjara offered a dramatic coastal backdrop for delicious gluten-free panko haddock and chips…which was a pure indulgent novelty for this coeliac.

Culturally and culinarily sated, that afternoon we journeyed north across Shetland’s Mainland to our accommodation. After trawling for the perfect spot, we’d cherry-picked Orwick Lodge, a charming two bedroom self-catering cabin located on Muckle Roe Island, just 20 miles from the capital.

Our main criteria for a base in Shetland was dreamy views – and we got those in abundance – with the property overlooking a hill-flanked inlet, known in Shetland as a voe, as well as small loch humming with birdlife. For provisions, a Co-Op supermarket along with an incredible seafood takeaway, Frankie’s, were just minutes down the road in Brae.

Plus, with our hosts (local shellfish farmers) stocking us with buckets of fresh mussels, too, we certainly weren’t going to feel peckish on Shetland.

Exploring Shetland made for epic road-tripping. In the southern shores of the Mainland, we explored Sumburgh Head lighthouse, walked across the deserted sands of St. Ninian’s Beach and later, met some friendly equine locals at Gue Stud, Carole Laignel’s Shetland pony farm in Dunrossness.

Shetland is also known for its resident orca pods, so after a little tracking on some pretty active local Facebook groups, we made tracks for Gulberwick Beach, just south of Lerwick, in search of them.

Wrapped up in our winter woollies while basking in the November sun made the ideal conditions for spotting the mammals, but we soon get a notification that’d they’d moved north to Yell… the orca search would go on!

Shetland’s wildlife rich shores would become a common theme of our trip.

We also embarked on a full day wildlife watching tour with Shetland Nature, with our guide James Rogerson, bringing us in search of the islands’ most characterful residents, otters. James led us to a number of otter populations in serene, coastal locations across the Mainland where we observed the animals fishing, interacting and even playing.

I’ve seen humpbacks, wolves and even polar bears in the wild, but there was a true intimacy about our tour with Shetland Nature and minimal intrusiveness with the fauna made our otter encounters all the more special.

Discover more about otter watching in Shetland.

Shetland’s North Isles made for another day’s adventuring. We availed of the islands’ excellent inter-island ferry service; driving and island-hopping first to Yell and then to the island of Unst.

Here, we laced up for the UK’s northernmost nature reserve at Hermaness where a three hour loop walk took us across dramatic peatlands, moors and hillsides until we reached a wave-crashing crescendo at the spectacular cliffs.

If we thought our highlights were going to end there, Mother Nature had other plans. That evening, back at our cottage, we were treated to one of Shetland’s greatest spectacles, the Northern Lights.

Known as the Mirrie Dancers to islanders, the Northern Lights, (as I would learn in the most spectacular fashion), are not just the preserve of photo-shopped Instagram images, but a mercurial reality on Shetland and Crona and I marvelled at various different colour hues, not least a lusciously luminous green arc bowing over our lodge.

Aurora capped a four days which had been so loaded with experiences, it felt like a two week trip.

And while we lucked out with the winter highlights of, the appeal for me was knowing I could readily return in summer for a reimagined seasonal itinerary; perhaps puffing watching on Hermaness, catching da summer dim over the island and maybe even seeing those elusive orcas.

You do, afterall, always need a reason to come back to a spot. Fortunately for Shetland, we have many.

Read Thom's Irish Examiner article about his winter road trip to Shetland.