Shetland mainland & Isle Yell & Unst (including Hermaness seabird cliffs national nature reserve) – 5 day tour

Shetland

19 hours of midsummer sun

1697 miles of coastline

6000 years of history

138 sandy beaches

1 million seabirds

200,000 puffins

22,000 people

Map of the Shetland Isles

Geopark Shetland

Shetland Isles – videos – February/March 2024

Basic route:

– Pick up

– from most locations on the Scottish mainland

– Aberdeen – ferry – Lerwick    Northlink ferry

– Tour of the Shetland Isles (Mainland, Unst & Yell)

(The Shetland mainland with 967 square kms & being 76 km long is Scotland’s 3rd largest island.

With so many peninsulas and such a jagged, convoluted coastline –

altogether with its many islands Shetland has over 2700 kms of coastline and

no where in Shetland are you more than 5 miles away from the sea!)

– return

Price for a 5 day tour

5 day tour prices – Unicorn Tours

(Peak season, based on a group of 8, price per person starts from £180 / standard season, based on a group of 8, price per person starts from £150 for 5 days for the tour)

plus

ferries

(Northlink ferry from Aberdeen to Lerwick return + inexpensive Shetland Isles internal ferry from Toft/Shetland mainland via the Isle of Yell to Unst)

accommodation (option of low budget to 5*), food, entrance fees & your personal expenses

• Departures/pick ups & drop offs from anywhere in Scotland

• Stops and route along the way on day 1 and day 5 on the Scottish mainland, but also once on the Shetland Isles are flexible and personalised depending on your preferences, interests & the weather

Itinerary

Day 1

We travel to Aberdeen to catch the 5pm or 7pm Shetland-bound Northlink ferry

(this could be non-stop or include one or more of the scenic stops along the way, such as

coastal, towns, beaches, cliffs walks, Dunnottar castle, etc. or a visit of Aberdeen)

Time spent on Shetland:

from the morning of Day 2 / arrival into Lerwick at 7am 

until the evening of Day 4 / departure from Lerwick at either 5pm or 7pm

(depending on the day of the week/ferry-schedule – direct Lerwick to Aberdeen sailing or slightly longer with a stop in Kirkwall/Orkney)

= 3 full days on Shetland (day 2, day 3 and day 4) :

Shetland mainland + Unst via Yell

Unst day tour from the Shetland mainland

From Toft on the Shetland mainland we take the Shetland internal ferries

to the Isle of Yell and from there to the Isle of Unst – it is a stunning ferry ride and we have regularly spotted whales

Unst

Unst – Shetland North Isles – 11th June 2022 – Unicorn Tours

Unst Highlights:

Unst – Shetland North Isles – 01 March 2024

• Hermaness national nature reserve – stunning seabird cliff walk with views of Muckle Flugga, its lighthouse, the UK/Scotland’s most northerly island
• Stunning cliff top views @ the Hermaness national nature reserve on Unst – Shetland – Unicorn Tours – June 2022
• Muckle Flugga & the lighthouse views in the distance from Hermaness
• Hermaness national nature reserve – Unst/Shetland – 11th June 2022 – Unicorn Tours
• Puffins, gannets & many seabirds at Hermaness – Unst, Shetland
• Haroldswick, Unst heritage centre & boat museum
• Baltasound
• Uyeasound

Yell

1. Mid-Yell
2. Burravoe
3. The Gloup & Fishermen’s memorial
4. Yell – 12th June 2022 – Unicorn Tours

Fetlar

Fetlar – Shetland

Just a very few of the many highlights and countless sights, beaches, cliffs, sea inlets & views of the Shetland mainland:

Central Mainland

• Lerwick, harbour, Shetland museum, Clickimin broch, Fort Charlotte & views from the Knap
• Lerwick Town Hall – Shetland Isles
• Shetland Isles museum – Lerwick
• Scalloway, harbour, castle & museum
• Scalloway castle
• Scalloway
• Burra, Trondra & Hamnavoe
• Whiteness
• Voe
• Brae
• Sullom Voe
• Lunna & Hamnavoe with views of Whalsay & Yell

&

Bressay – take the hourly ferry from Lerwick harbour

(also to then connect via Bressay to Noss & its seabird cliffs)

Bressay

South Mainland

• RSBP Sumburgh head lighthouse and cliffs
• Sumburgh head – 14th April 2024
• Jarlshof
• Jarlshof – Shetland south mainland
• Jarlshof

• St. Ninian’s Isle
• St. Ninian’s Isle beach

St. Ninian’s Isle & beach walk – Shetland South mainland – June 2022 – Unicorn Tours

• Ferry from Sandwick – Mousa broch

West Mainland

• Aith & the “Shetland Alps”
• Walls
• Sandness and coastal walk with views of Papa Stour & Foula

• Westerwick to Culswick cliff walk
• Shetland Isles – 10 June 2022 – Westerwick cliff walk + West Burra + South mainland

North Mainland

• Mavis Grind
• Eshaness cliffs
• Hillswick
• Rona’s Voe
• North Roe with views of Yell and Unst

Shetland heritage & culture

Shetland info

Shetland (Visit Scotland)

Day 4

departure from Lerwick at either 5pm or 7pm

Day 5

arrival into Aberdeen at 7am

Non-stop journey back home south again

or if so requested include some of the scenic sights along the Northeast, as in our Northeastcoast tour

In each of Shetland’s regions:

• Central-, South-, West-, North-, Lunna/Delta/Nesting- of Shetland’s mainland
• Whalsay
• Papa Stour
• Fair Isle
• Foula
• Out Skerries

There is plenty to do and see to spend a whole day and longer,

plus each of the many fantastic coastal walks does take a few hours or up to a day

You could spend more than a day to just explore the many sights of Lerwick & nearby Scalloway, including the Shetland museum & archives, Lerwick Town hall, library, the textile museum, Lerwick’s shops & Scalloway museum & castle

The beautiful stunning, wild rugged coast is perfect to just relax and let your mind drift away, even on a stormy windy wild weather day, maybe especially then, as the force and power of the sea crashing into the cliffs is awesome.

There is no place like Shetland and no-where else in the UK can you have such a wild, peaceful calm nature, wildlife and coastal experience of freedom and peace

Shetland Isles

Shetland is awesome, it is a lot larger than you might think and very long and narrow from north to south with a lot of peninsulas and sealochs/fjords cutting deep inland, you are never further than 3 miles from the sea and has a coastline of over 1600 miles!!!

– a lot also depends again on what you are after and the type of weather/visibility we get

the two extremes especially. in summer, when it is a warm calm day is that “haar” / cold seafog comes in – so you could have an absolutely stunning crystal clear blue sky bright day with amazing visibility – the haar settles in and you can barely see for more than 100 metres and all is grey, or it is a rainy, broody, dark cloud day – but often it changes from one to the other within the space of 1 hour.

In June you have 19 hours of daylight and nature is at its best.

Southern mainland:

– some of the highlights are St. Ninian’s isle and beach

– Scousburgh beach, the loop around Spiggie loch, the cliffs towards Fitful head

– Jarlshof

Jarlshof – Shetland, South mainland

– one of Europe’s foremost neolithical sites &  similar to Skara Brae on Orkney

• Scatnes beach just opposite the airport is crystal clear and I love it for a walk
• Scatness iron age village & broch
• the airport bus south also stops at Sandwick, from where tourist boats take you to Moussa with the best preserved broch and home to a colony of sea petrels.

* plus of course Sumburgh head and lighthouse

Central mainland, Scalloway and East & West Burra

• On a clear sunny day, the views, the colour of the sea and beaches & beyond over to the islands over to the southern mainland and as far west as Foula
• Tingwall the ancient Viking parliament site
• the southbound views from around Whiteness and its peninsulas can be truly stunning on a clear day

West mainland

• We take a minor scenic detour via picturesque Voe and up the “Shetland Alps” with spectacular views across the fjords across the many sea inlets and over to Muckle Roe
• We have a wee stop at Aith harbour and also for the shops
• I love the drive to Sandness and Melness with the coastal walk overlooking Papa Stour and over to Foula
• around every corner on the journey to Walls, you get new unexpected beautiful impressions, new bays and islands and coastal seaviews to look at, have a wee stop in Walls go to the beach
• If you are into walking you can’t beat the spectacular seacliff walk from Westerwick

Lunnasting

* around every corner, you would like to stop, go for a wander, take in all the views and some photos

Northmavine / North mainland / North Roe

* crossing the narrows at Mavis Grind with the North Sea on the on side and the Atlantic of the other side of the road is the gateway into North mainland

* there is a number of truly stunning sealoch views, incl. Ronas Voe

* stopping for the sea stack and Dore Holm views

* The walk along Eshaness cliffs is a great highlight

Eshaness cliffs

* and the bay of Stenness and Tangwick Haa

as the internal ferries are regular, reliable, efficient and very inexpensive

Shetland Isles internal ferries – routemap

* A quick drive around Bressay especially for the Noss views

* Whalsay

is an option

Northern Isles

• Yell
• Fetlar via Yell
• Unst via Yell

Unst

but a must is a journey to iconic Unst, the UK’s most northerly isle with the Hermaness national nature reserve and the seabird cliffs overlooking the Muckle Flugga lighthouse – this is truly to me the highlight as it is so wild, untouched and you see – in early June – thousands of seabirds flying high and low – a truly very moving spectacle

* Norwick beach

* Haroldswick & Unst heritage centre & boat museum

* Baltasound and Uyeasound and beaches, bays, neolithic sites and more

Yell 

* Great views all along, Mid-Yell, the Gloup & more

Fetlar

* The garden of Shetland

* beaches, cliffs, peace and tranquility

* wild nature

* a few years ago on the ferry we counted over 20 whales and 3 species

Tips for any free day off in Shetland:

• all sights of Lerwick
• Shetland archives & museum, which are truly amazing
• short 5 mile bus ride to Shetland’s ancient capital & picturesque Scalloway, its harbour, castle & museum
• taking the ferry to Bressay from the pier in the heart of Lerwick – from Bressay you can get another ferry to the seabird cliffs on the island of Noss
• taking the airport bus south, stopping at the Jarlshof – very similar to Skara Brae on Orkney
• Scatnes beach just opposite the airport is crystal clear and I love it for a walk
• Scatness iron age village & broch
• the airport bus south also stops at Sandwick, from where tourist boats take you to Moussa with the best preserved broch and home to a colony of sea petrels.
• Public buses around Shetland are good and they also connect with most of he ferry port arrivals and departures for example to Whalsey

Facebook photos of some of our recent Shetland tours:

Shetland Isles – Day 5 of 6 – April 2024

Shetland Isles – Day 2 – 29th February 2024

Scalloway

Shetland Isles – 10th – 13th June 2022 – Unicorn Tours

Shetland – Day 3 – 12th June 2022 – Unicorn Tours

July 2019 / 9 day tour – Aberdeen – Shetland (6 days) – transit via Fair Isle/Orkney/Hoy – Northcoast (1 day) & Northwestcoast (1 day) via Black Isle & Highland Perthshire return:

Aberdeen departure to Lerwick – Unicorn Tours Shetland trip

Passing Fair Isle pre-dawn on the Aberdeen via Kirkwall/Orkney to Lerwick/Shetland overnight ferry

Unicorn Tours – Shetland Day 1 – arrival into Lerwick – ferry journey past Sumburgh head, Mousa, Bressay & Noss

Day 1 of Unicorn Shetland Tour.

Shetland has over 100 islands, 16 inhabited, from North (Unst) to South (Sumburgh head on the massively large Shetland mainland – Scotland’s 3rd largest island) is over 80 miles and with so many sea inlets and peninsulas – nowhere is further than 3 miles from the sea the coastline is a staggering 2700 km long. We are closer to Bergen than to Edinburgh and can feel the Norse heritage, culture, language & even the wild rugged coastline with 100’s of fjords/firths/voes/sea inlets & wicks (bays) is very Norwegian in character. / While on our Berwickshire/Borders & East Lothian tours we still feel the historic Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon connections – it is where Scotland feels “the most English” / While on our Southwest Scotland, Galloway, Kintyre & Islay tours we feel all the “Irishness” around us – in Shetland even more so than on Orkney after 600 years under Viking/Norwegian control in 1472 became Scottish again – the Norwegian heritage and connections are still strong.

Yell – Shetland Unicorn Tours Day 1

Hermaness national nature reserve seabird (incl. gannets & puffins) colony – Unst/Shetland – Unicorn Tours – with views of the UK’s most northerly point & the Muckle Flugga lighthouse

Cliff top seabird views from Unst – Scotland’s most northerly island

Unicorn Tours – Shetland Day 1 – Unst – Hermaness national nature reserve – cliffs with breding seabird – Scotland’s most northerly point

Unst – Day 1 Unicorn Shetland Tour & sunset

Shetland – Day 2/Unicorn Tours – Northmavine/peninsula of the northern1/3 of Shetland mainland – almost an island as only 90 m seperates the Atlantic on the westside from the Northsea in the east at Mavis Grind – incl. North Roe, Rona’s Voe, Hillswick & Eshaness – plus Muckle Roe

Eshaness – Shetland – Day 2/Unicorn Tours – Northmavine/peninsula of the northern Shetland mainland – plus Mavis Grind & Muckle Roe

Shetland day 3 – Foula day out flight excursion – optional opt-out-of tour – free day – so much to do & see something for everyone’s interests, hobbies & activities – Unicorn Tours

Foula – Shetland Isles – Unicorn Tours – Day 3

Foula – Shetland Isles – Unicorn Tours free flexible day 3

Lunnasting peninsula/Shetland – Unicorn Tours – 3rd evening

More Unicorn Tours – Shetland 2021 videos

Shetland – Day 4 – ferry to Papa Stour for 1/2 day island excursion – Shetland – Day 4 – ferry to Papa Stour – Unicorn Tours Tours

Papa Stour – Shetland/Unicorn Tours – day 4

Papa Stour – Shetland/Unicorn Tours – day 4 – island excursion from the Shetland mainland

More Unicorn Tours – Shetland 2021 photos

West mainland – Shetland day 5 – Unicorn Tours – videos

West mainland – Shetland day 5 – Unicorn Tours

Shetland central mainland, incl. Trondra, E & W Burra & Scalloway – ancient Viking Hjaltland’s capital – Day 5 Unicorn Shetland Tour

Shetland South mainland – Day 6 – Unicorn Tours

Lerwick / Shetland – Unicorn Tours

Shetland Isles – visitors’ top 10 – Unicorn Tours

Shetland Isles – visitors’ top 10 – Unicorn Tours

Final day on Shetland Isles – Unicorn Tours

Lerwick southbound departure with views of Bressay, Noss, the Southern mainland, Mousa & Sumburgh head – Unicorn Tours

Lerwick & Bressay views – Shetland – Unicorn Tours

Sunset after Fair Isle on the Nothlink ferry crossing between Shetland and Orkney – Unicorn Tours

Stormy sailing past Hoy & the Old Man of Hoy from Stromness/Orkney to Scrabster/Northcoast – Unicorn Tours

Videos of the rough crossing past Hoy & the Old Man of Hoy from Stromness/Orkney to Scrabster/Northcoast – Unicorn Tours

Northcoast – a whole day visiting only places off the beaten tourist tracks – Unicorn Tours

Undiscovered Northcoast – off the beaten track Unicorn Tours – away from the actual NC500 route – for one day – visiting the ‘must-not see places that are NOT on all the tourist bucket tick off lists

Far Northwest Highlands – Unicorn Tours – Tongue to Keoldale

Far Northwest Highlands – Unicorn Tours – Kinlochbervie to Inverkirkaig

Far Northwest Highlands – Unicorn Tours – Achiltibuie with views of the Summer Isles & across Loch Broom to An Teallach & on the southbound journey views of Coigach, Stac Polaidh, Cul Beag & Cul Mor

Far Northwest Highlands – Unicorn Tours – Achiltibuie & Coigach with views of the Summer Isles & across Loch Broom to An Teallach & on the southbound journey of Stac Polaidh, Cul Beag & Cul Mor

Far Northwest Highlands – Unicorn Tours – Ullapool & Loch Broom views

Far Northwest Highlands – Unicorn Tours – Loch Broom sunset views

Ullapool via the Black Isle & Highland Perthshire final tour day & return – ending the 6 full days Shetland Islands (via Orkney transit) + 2 days along the NC500 (Northcoast & Far Northwest) Unicorn Tour which began 9 days ago on the Aberdeen to Lerwick overnight ferry

5 day tour prices – Unicorn Tours

Personalised & private small group tours all over Scotland (100+ itineraries: ½ – 7 day tour options & discounted multi-day tours to choose from) – with a set daily tour price for our tour guide driver & 8 passenger seater mini-bus (due to the fixed same overall cost for up to 8 passengers, the cheapest per person price for a private small group tour is if 8, 7, 6 or 5 are travelling together to share the set fixed daily cost, which is the same total cost, no matter if there are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 passengers on a private mini-bus tour)

All of these private & personalised, small group tours of Scotland

are available on any available green calendar days for private tours

• Choose any private & personalised tailormade 1/2 day tour on any available green calendar day.
• Choose any private & personalised tailormade 1 day tour on any available green calendar day.
• Choose any private & personalised tailormade 2 day tour on any 2 consecutive available green calendar days. Any private 2 day tours will already show a 2.5% discount.
• Choose any private & personalised tailormade 3 day tour on any 3 consecutive available green calendar days. Any private 3 day tours will already show a 5% discount.
• Choose any private & personalised tailormade 4 day tour on any 4 consecutive available green calendar days. Any private 4 day tours will already include a 7.5% discount.
• Choose any private personalised & tailormade 5 day tour on any 5 consecutive available green calendar days. Any private 5 day tours will already include a 10% discount.
• Choose any private personalised & tailormade 6 day tour on any 6 consecutive available green calendar days. Any private 6 day tours is discounted by 12.5%.
• Choose any private personalised & tailormade 7 day tour on any 7 consecutive available green calendar days. Any private 7 day tour prices already show the 15% discount. 

Additionally from September to May there is a 12.5% student discount, which also applies to seniors over 65 and to children up to 17 travelling as part of a family group.

Northlink ferries

(from Aberdeen and Orkney on the overnight ferry to Lerwick / Shetland)

(  + your choice of accommodation ranging from a twin cabin for £110, a reclining sleeping pod for £18 or a reclining chair for £3.50 oneway / based on 2024 prices)

Northlink ferries availability calendar

List of accommodation on Shetland

We will be offering many island excursion, incl.:

• to Bressay
• to Whalsay
• to Yell
• to Unst
• to Papa Stour
• to the Out Skerries

there is a small fee of a few pounds per person for the ferries

There are also various other excursion options, incl.:

Isle of Noss – seabird boat tours

Information about tour options for a private tour in general

Private & personalised tailormade tours to suit your group’s preferences

This is your very own private tour for you and your friends and family members of up to 8 people travelling on this tour together.

Before any private tour, we always discuss with you and check for your must-see stops, interests, hobbies, activities, preferences, priorities and any special requests you might have and we ask you about your preferred pace of travel so to tailor make and personalise the tour to suit your needs.

The route, the stops and the itinerary we give on our website for any private tour are for information and guidance only, as in the end it is you, who decides, what you wish to do, where you wish to stop and what you wish to do and see.

Any private tour itinerary can be shortened, extended or amended, if you wish to do so.

Flexibility on private tours

We also like to keep things flexible as our experience is that there are places, once you arrive and see them, you just fall in love with and wish to spend more time and longer.

whereas some other times we arrive at a place and they are different from what you had expected and you are ok to have a shorter stop and to move on quicker.

Flexibility is also good as on a beautiful gorgeous blue sunny day when all colours in nature and the landscapes are sparkling and you have clear and amazing far distant visibility and the scenery and places are at their best, you probably prefer to spend more time outdoors, while on a stormy, wet, dark, grey and cold day, you are likely to prefer more indoor venues during your stops.

Travelling at your own pace on private tours

Some guests are on a whirlwind tour with little time and wish to pack as much into a short time as possible and are ok with just short photo stops,

whereas other tour guests prefer to travel at a more leisurely pace to be able to explore and discover and soak it all in and leaving the tour with a memorable and lasting experience.

All of this is possible within the constraints of your chosen route, the distances involved

and during the winter season the shorter daylight hours we have.

Lunch breaks on private tours

Some guests put a lot of emphasis on a good quality lunch in a good atmospheric restaurant and we can prebook lunch venues,

whereas other guests are ok to just stop at a supermarket for a sandwich to eat on the go

or just need a short lunch stop for some light snack to eat.

Your tour options on any private tour are unlimited and endless

Same place, same route – but one one private tour, the private tour guests would want to visit the castle, while on another tour at the same place, they want a whisky tour instead and yet again same place on the next tour the private tour guests, want to just go for a walk on the beach there, while another time at the same place, they just want to go shopping, visit the museum or stop at the golf course – so same place, but on each private tour at this very same place, we visit different places and the itinerary, stops and experience is different. 

As this is a private & personalised tour to suit your interests, preferences, hobbies and activities, it is up to you and we can either offer our normal tour itinerary for the location with all the many local highlights and sights and be flexible depending on the season, the weather, the time we have and also be fully flexible during the tour (as some places, you will love and stay longer and at other places you come to, you might wish to just take a photo and then leave, so in the end you might on the day of the tour decide to stay longer or shorter at some of the places we visit or you might still decide to add in some additional stops and places you had not thought about before)  and also partially or fully adjust it to suit your interests and preferences or entirely turn it into a specialist interest tour “a whisky tour”, “a castle, cathedral, historic sights tours”, a “walking tour”, a “nature & wildlife tour”, a “golf tour”, an “activity tour”, etc. depending on what you request (also see our full range of  Activities, special interests & tour themes.)

If it says on the tour itinerary, the tour starts in A and ends in Z and on our journey from A to Z we are travelling and can be stopping at B, C, D, E, F…… X & Y,

it might be the same route on every such private tour, but with every private tour group and individuals, it could still be an entirely & very different tour after all,

as there are so many different special interests & tour themes

so that the main focus of some private tour groups could be

• architecture & charming towns & villages
• castles, history
• child-friendly stops
• churches, abbeys & religious sites
• dining & and having a great lunch eating out
• events based, such as visiting the Highland games while on the tour with us
• family history & genealogy
• gardens, flowers & parks
• golf, football or other sports’ venues
• literature, film or movie fictional based tour, i.e. visiting filming locations of Outlander, Harry Potter, Shetland crime series, Downtown Abbey. etc.
• nature & wildlife, seabirds, puffins or whale
• watching
• the scenery, the coast & beaches
• snow and wintry landscapes
• tourist steam train in conjunction with our tour
• walking
• waterfalls
• whisky distilleries, gin and breweries
• etc.

Pick ups & drop offs anywhere on private tours

As mentioned in the pick up section, on a private tour we can pick up from anywhere and drop off anywhere and offer staggered free pick ups and drop offs, which are dependent on the distance from our Alloa home base near Stirling. Our home base is 30 miles from Edinburgh, Glasgow & Perth in the heart of the Scottish Central belt:

•  for short & half day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 15 miles of our Alloa home base (which includes Stirling, Falkirk, Dunfermline & Gleneagles)
•  for 1 day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 35 miles of our Alloa home base (which additionally includes Edinburgh, Glasgow & Perth)
•  for 2, 3 & 4 day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 50 miles of our Alloa home base (which additionally includes Dundee, St. Andrews & the entire Scottish Central belt)
• for 5, 6 & 7 day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 75 miles of our Alloa home base

Additionally as stated we sometimes offer free pick ups for places on the route to our destination, even though they might exceed the free mileage zone, so for example for a West Coast tour and we need to head westbound anyway for the tour, we could be pick up at locations west free of charge, depending on the exact route and distances involved.

(During a few weeks every year we are also Shetland, Orkney, Hebridean Isles or regionally based

and the free pick ups will then be based from that local area, such as on the Shetland, Orkney or on some of the Hebridean Isles for example.)

Accommodation on multi-day tours is your choice

Some of our guests are budget travellers, whereas others are luxurious travellers, while others chose a mid-range 3* hotel.

We are happy to give you tips, links and info about your accommodation options for the towns and villages we are staying overnight, but in the end it is up to you, where you would like to stay, at which hotel or guesthouse and for which price.

However much or however little you wish to spend for your overnight accommodation is your choice.

On a private tour we will pick you up from any accommodation in the morning and in the evening drop you off at any accommodation of your choice for your overnight tour accommodation and and chosen location.

Private 5 day tour pick ups & drop offs anywhere throughout Scotland, incl. the Shetland, Orkney & Hebridean Isles

*** for those in your private group, who can’t make it for the full 5 days Shetland tour

(& for those prefer to fly to/from the island quicker

without the need to catch the ferry and include the Scottish mainland tour part to the ferry port)***

***

• We are happy to pick you up from Lerwick ferry terminal/Shetland at 7.30 am every morning (coming off the daily overnight Northlink ferry from Aberdeen, which leaves opposite from Aberdeen railway/bus station)
• We are happy to pick you up from Sumburgh/Shetland Isles airport every day (there are direct daily flights from Aberdeen, Edinburgh & Glasgow to Shetland every day

—

• We are also happy to drop you off at Lerwick ferry terminal on any afternoon, so you can catch the daily overnight Northlink ferry back to Aberdeen
• We are also happy to drop you off at Sumburgh/Shetland Isles airport, if you have a flight back south again to either Aberdeen, Edinburgh or Glasgow

Our standard tour would start from / finish at the Scottish mainland:

Pick up / drop off points for private small group 5 Days Tours, from anywhere as it is your own private tour:

• within the Stirling/Uni area
• within the Forth Valley area
• from within the Scottish Central belt, Edinburgh & Glasgow included
• from within the Dundee, St. Andrews & Perth area
• throughout Scotland

+

• from places listed along or nearby the route and the stops of this particular 5 Days Tour

[divilifeshortcode id=”] To enquire about this tour or to book please email contact@unicorntours.co.uk

As this will be your very own tailormade, personalised, flexible private small group tour, we will discuss:

• Your preferred travel dates
• Your preferred route
• Based on your preferred route, we will give a choice of overnight locations to stay
• Once you have chosen your preferred overnight location, we would like to know about your preferred type of accommodation, any special requests or a price range and your preferred roomtypes
• Based on your choice, for example hotel with * ** *** **** ***** star rating, guesthouse/B&B, self-catering or budget hostel accommodation, etc. for each overnight location, we can then give you suggestions and also check the room availability for each night

Accommodation

• Unicorn Tours is happy to assist you with your questions regarding your accommodation & accommodation booking
• The general rule is that you should then book your accommodation yourself, let us know where you are staying during which night, as it is there that we will drop you off at the end of the tour day and pick you up on the beginning of the next tour day

• The choice of your accommodation, how much or how little you wish to spend for your overnight accommodation is unconnected and separate from your tour with Unicorn Tours throughout the daytime – for the same day and tour, we have picked up guests from 5* hotels and guests from budget hostels, but the tour experience during the daytime with Unicorn Tours remains the same.

• When ferries or any other additional costs are involved, we also want to make sure, you are happy with those

Once the tour details, including

• tour itinerary & special requests
• pick up/drop off locations & timings
• tour duration, passenger numbers and price
• etc.
• have been discussed and agreed
• and you are happy to proceed with the booking
• we send you an invoice which allows for payment by Paypal / card or by BACS bank transfer

This tour is for a private small group of up to 8 people.

We will personalise & tailor make this flexible tour itinerary to suit your preferences, interests & requirements.

This tour is available on any green calendar day

except during our Scottish Islands based tour days

for a few weeks each year.

Once you wish to book, we send you an invoice with a payment link and also allowing for a UK & international bank transfer.

Once you have paid, we send you your tour confirmation and will mark this day as “red” unavailable/booked out in our tours availability calendar

We can pick up from anywhere, but for a 5 day tour the free pick up zone is within 75 miles from our Alloa home base (which includes Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, Dundee, St. Andrews and anywhere in between, such Stirling, Falkirk, Dunfermline & Gleneagles plus places throughout the entire Scottish Central belt & beyond )

Pick ups & drop offs anywhere on private tours

As mentioned in the pick up section, on a private tour we can pick up from anywhere and drop off anywhere and offer staggered free pick ups and drop offs, which are dependent on the distance from our Alloa home base near Stirling. Our home base is 30 miles from Edinburgh, Glasgow & Perth in the heart of the Scottish Central belt:

•  for short & half day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 15 miles of our Alloa home base (which includes Stirling, Falkirk, Dunfermline & Gleneagles)
•  for 1 day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 35 miles of our Alloa home base (which additionally includes Edinburgh, Glasgow & Perth)
•  for 2, 3 & 4 day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 50 miles of our Alloa home base (which additionally includes Dundee, St. Andrews & the entire Scottish Central belt)
• for 5, 6 & 7 day tours the free pick up/drop off zone is within 75 miles of our Alloa home base

Additionally as stated we sometimes offer free pick ups for places on the route to our destination, even though they might exceed the free mileage zone, so for example for a West Coast tour and we need to head westbound anyway for the tour, we could be pick up at locations west free of charge, depending on the exact route and distances involved.

(During a few weeks every year we are also Shetland, Orkney, Hebridean Isles or regionally based

and the free pick ups will then be based from that local area, such as on the Shetland, Orkney or on some of the Hebridean Isles for example.)

Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email  contact@unicorntours.co.uk to discuss further