These Scottish islands celebrate midsummer like nowhere else—here's how to visit

Sprinkled across the wave-ruffled Atlantic and North Sea, the Shetland Islands drift midway between Scotland and Norway like stepping stones to a wilder world. Prehistoric settlements, Iron Age brochs and turf-roofed Viking longhouses map out the archipelago’s rich and mysterious past in lichen-mottled stone. Its white cliffs and loch-bejewelled glens are at their most radiant during the months of da simmer dim, a period around the June solstice when the sun barely dips below the horizon, bathing everything in dreamlike pastels.

Where’s good for an adventure?

Most visitors base themselves on Mainland, the largest island in the archipelago, but be sure to catch a ferry to the sky-high isle of Unst, Britain’s most northerly inhabited island and home of the Hermaness Circular. Heading over blanket bog and cliffs of pink granite, this six-mile stomp peers out across the North Atlantic, where Viking longships once dashed over mighty waves. Bring binoculars to spot puffins, guillemots and dive-bombing skuas. The drama peaks at the island’s northern tip, with views of rocky islets like Muckle Flugga — home to a 19th-century lighthouse built by the father of Treasure Island author Robert Louis Stevenson.

Otherwise, create a tailored itinerary with Sea Kayak Shetland on Mainland and paddle in and out of caves, stacks and voes (narrow bays), keeping an eye out for grey seals and sea otters as they cut through the pewter sea. If you’re game for a multi-day voyage, sign up for a hands-on adventure aboard The Swan, a 126-year-old tall ship that runs a fishing trip to the far-flung North Isles of Yell, Unst and Fetlar.

Where should I stay on the islands?

Vikings, smugglers and fishermen have all shaped Lerwick, Shetland’s fetching capital on Mainland, from its Old Norse names to its lodberries (stone homes and warehouses with private piers). Hidden behind 18th-century fortified walls, Fort Charlotte Guest House has smart rooms with warming wool blankets, not to mention Shetland smoked salmon for breakfast. From £170, B&B.

Edging west brings you to the village of Scalloway, with a castle to explore and beaches where salt-white sands slide into waters of pure turquoise. Glamp at the loch-side campground or ramp up the romance with a night at the waterfront Scalloway Hotel, where rooms are kitted out in Shetland tweed, local art and wool carpets. The restaurant serves winningly fresh seafood. Glamping from £59. Double rooms from £159, B&B.

What’s the food scene like?

Booming, with chefs putting a lot of emphasis on fished and foraged ingredients. Local oysters, scallops, salmon, mackerel and juicy mussels land on menus, as do meltingly tender seaweed-fed lamb and reestit (smoke-dried) mutton.

In Lerwick, stop for lunch at Scandi-cool bar and kitchen The Dowry and enjoy produce-laden sharing platters and moules frites cooked in harissa and coconut milk. A stone-skim west of town, in a sleek glass and wood building perched on the rocks, Fjarå Cafe Bar pairs front-row views of sea and sky with freshly ground coffee, Shetland beers and hearty lunch specials such as haddock fishcakes with slaw. Then there’s Frankie’s on the northwest coast of Mainland, the UK’s northernmost chippy. Snag a table on the deck and dig in to sustainably sourced langoustine-tail scampi and garlicky mussels.

On midsummer nights, little beats a beach picnic to the backbeat of trilling seabirds. You can pick up takeaway pies, pastries and cakes at Peerie Shop Cafe in Lerwick.