- Circular walk: 3.85 miles
- what3words address for parking: ///paints.attaching.zealous
- GPX File
This is a short but seriously rewarding walk around the coast of St Ninian’s Isle. The views from the cliff tops are just stunning. It’s also a popular walk, but on the day we visited we almost had the island to ourselves in bright sunshine.
There’s a place to park through Bigton and close to the tombolo and this is where the what3words address will take you.
From here it’s a short stroll onto the sand and the tombolo that links St Ninian’s Isle to the mainland. A tombolo is formed when a sand spit connects the mainland coast to an island. This is one of the classic images from Shetland.
Having traversed the sand we climbed up a sandy track onto the island and turned left to follow the coast. Fantastic views opened out ahead of us; and be sure to turn and look behind you. The route is simple – if the sea is on your left you’re on the right track! A wall and a wire fence cut across the island from north to south, but there are stiles at either end.
It may not be a long walk but it took us longer than we thought. We stopped several times to enjoy the view and watch the many gulls that wheeled in the sky and perched on rocky ledges (herring gulls and common gulls).
Shortly before we got back to the tombolo we stopped a little while at the ruins of St Ninian’s church. The view over to the mainland and tombolo behind the church was well worth enjoying. From here it’s an easy walk back down to the beach through a pair of stone gateposts and back across the tombolo.
A terrific walk.
Download file for GPS
