Our Taste of Shetland tour is sold out for 2026. If you would like to be added to the waiting list for 2027, please email info@islandvista.co.uk
Dates
Sunday 23rd to Friday 28th August 2026
Overview
Shetland has a wide range of fantastic local food and drink producers, which we want to highlight in this tour, the first of its kind for Shetland. We have teamed up with Taste of Shetland and will feature many of their members.
Join us for this unique experience, which will be based at the historic Voe House in the north of Shetland, where will have exclusive use of Voe House.
Your local qualified guides will take you to where items are caught, grown, reared and made during the day. In the evening, you will have the opportunity to sample the items you have just seen.
Local chefs and cooks will either cook for us at Voe House or we will eat out in some of Shetland's restaurants, which showcase local produce.
What Is Included
- Transfers from Lerwick or Sumburgh on the day of arrival/departure
- All tours with a fully qualified STGA tourist guide and experienced driver
- 7 nights accommodation at the grand 19th century Voe House
- Breakfast every day at the guesthouse made by private cooks
- All lunches
- All dinners many of which will be cooked for you privately by professional cooks and chefs
- Wine and beer with every dinner.
- All refreshments as described in the itinerary
- Trips to Yell and Unst, Shetland’s most northerly islands
- Coffee and cake at the Old Haa, Yell
- Trip in a mussel boat to see a working mussel farm
- Gin tasting at the UK's most Northerly distellery
- Visit to Uradale Farm
- Beer tasting at Lerwick Brewery
- Whisky tasting at Lerwick Distillery
- Visit to Eshaness Cliffs
- Tour at Hensington Palace, Sullom
- Free time to explore Lerwick
* Guests will be required to make their own way to Shetland to begin the tour.
Itinerary
Day 1
If you arrive on this day, you will be met at Sumburgh Airport or Lerwick Ferry Terminal and taken to Voe House in time for the afternoon check in. If you have arrived into Shetland a day or two early, we will collect you from an agreed location in Lerwick.
Please note: there is no elevator in Voe House and there is only one room on the ground floor. The house is arranged over three levels. There is limited assistance with luggage.
At 6pm that evening, there will be a welcome dinner and an overview of the days ahead. This will be your first official event and you should aim to be in Shetland in time for this. This will give you the opportunity to get to know your hosts and fellow participants.
Day 2
Today, we will depart for the island of Yell, where we will have morning coffee in Old Haa, which is home to a small museum full of local history and a lovely garden out back.
We then head to Basta, where we will be met by the Thompson brothers, who run a mussel farm there. Weather permitting, we will board the mussel harvest boat and we will be taken to see a mussel farm, while hearing all about mussel production.
Lunch will be provided by Brian and his team at the Hilltop Cafe in Yell, before returning to Voe House.
That evening, we will have someone cook mussels as part of our evening meal.
Day 3
Today, we make the trip to Scalloway and head to the award winning, organic farm at Uradale, where manager Jakob Eunson will talk to us about the meat production at Uradale Farm. We will see their Shetland sheep and Shetland cattle while we are there. Lunch will be provided.
After that, we head to Lerwick, where we will visit the Lerwick Brewery and sample some of the beers that are produced there, while hearing about the beer making process.
You will have some free time for exploring Lerwick or doing a spot of retail therapy, before we head to visit the home of Akshay Borges, one of our local chefs. Akshay enjoys growing many of his own herbs and will be happy to show guests his garden. He will give a cooking demonstration and will be including Uradale Farm produce in our dinner that evening.
Day 4
Today, we head even further north, heading to the very north of Shetland (and the UK) to the island of Unst. The journey will involve a lot of time in the bus and requires two ferries there and two ferries back.
As we have previously spent time in Yell, we will head straight through Yell to catch the ferry to Unst.
Once in Unst, we will have time to visit the Viking Unst project before lunch. Viking Unst includes a Viking longship and example of a Viking longhouse.
Lunch will be at the quaint Victoria’s Vintage Tearoom, where there are also craft items for sale. This is also the UK's most Northerly tearoom.
After lunch, we will make our way to Shetland Distillery and sample the range of Shetland Reel gins, while hearing about the inspiration for each gin and hearing about the process.
We will head to the historic Busta House Hotel for dinner and then back to Voe House late evening to relax.
Day 5
We head to to iconic Eshaness cliffs to stretch our legs and take in the stunning view. We will grab monring coffee at Braewick Cafe before heading to Sullom.
In Sullom, you will get to see Shetland's largest collection of hens and chickens, over 70 breeds including the Shetland Hen.
We will return to Lerwick to visit the newly opened Lerwick Distillery, which specialises in whisky. Here we will get to sample some of the whiskies, which are ready and hear all about the business.
Have some free time in the town centre before heading to a Lerwick restaurant, which endeavours to use as much local produce as possible.
Day 6
We leave Voe House today early in the morning and make our way back to Lerwick or Sumburgh Airport, depending on your travel plans.
Please note: Itinerary may happen in a different order as advertised, subject to availability. Should an activitiy be unavailable, a suitable alternative will be provided.
Price
£3,960 per person
£1,000 non-refundable deposit payable at the time of booking.
Remaining balance payable by 31st May 2026. An invoice will be sent to you 7 days prior to the deadline, which will contain a link to a secure website to make payment by credit card.
Travel Insurance
We strongly advise that you purchase suitable travel insurance before the trip.
Island Vista Assurance
The above holiday is covered by The Package Travel, Package Tours Regulations 1992. Island Vista also have public liability insurance and professional indemnity cover.
Covid Restrictions
There are currently no Covid restrictions in Scotland, however, we will follow any regulations that are in place at the time of the tours.
Physical Requirements
This tour will require a good level of physical fitness. Guests must be capable of carrying their own luggage up one or two flights of stairs (assistance may be available upon request). Some of the activities will require walking over uneven, rough and potentially slippery ground. Guests will also be required to board/disembark the mussel boat and stand for the duration (approx. 1 hour) of the boat trip.
Dietary Requirements
Island Vista try where possible to accommodate dietary requirements on all their tours, but to do so on this tour would most likely mean using produce that isn't grown here and that goes against the ethos of this tour.
If you decide to book on this tour, we cannot guarentee that dietary requirements will be met and accept no liability if they are not met.
Please note that most meals will be based around local meat, fish and shellfish.
Shared Rooms
Prices are based on single occupancy of rooms. However, if you and a friend/partner are willing to share one of a limited number of double/twin occupancy rooms, there will be a £100 per person discount.
Cancellation Policy
Once the final payment has been made, should you wish to cancel, there is no refund unless the spot is sold to someone else. This would be the final payment minus a £300 admin fee. The £1,000 deposit is non-refundable.
Should you cancel within 2 weeks of the tour starting, there is no refund available.
Minimum Numbers
This tour requires a minimum of 5 guests. If this is not met by early December, we may look to cancel it. Please don't book your travel until we have confirmed the tour will definitely run.