THERE’S a tiny Scottish island that’s home to just one pub, three shops, a lone bus route and the UK’s most northerly sandy beach.
Located in the Shetland Islands, Unst is roughly 178 miles away from the Scottish mainland.
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There are thought to be just 600 people living on the tiny island, making it the most northerly inhabited place in the UK.
Visit Unst wrote: “Unst is not only the UK’s most northerly island, but is also one of Europe’s best hidden treasures.”
Unst is said to have just one pub, one hotel, one school, three shops and a lone bus route.
While the island doesn’t have a police station or a hospital, it just have the most northerly sandy beach in the UK.
Skaw Beach is packed with golden sand, and it’s backed by a meadow that’s home to an array of wild flowers in the spring and summer.
Because of its shape, the beach is fairly sheltered from the winds.
There are limited facilities at the beach, so holidaymakers should aim to pack everything they need before visiting.
Despite its remote location, around 100 people have reviewed the beach on Google, with one person writing: “Wild and wooly, with nobody around. The water was freezing, as you would expect.”
Another added: “Wow what a beautiful beach, you won’t be disappointed.”
Someone else wrote: “One of my favourite beaches in the world.”
Holidaymakers who want something even more remote should visit Inner Skaw Beach.
The island is also home to one of the richest Viking heritage sites in Europe, with more than 60 longhouse boats uncovered by archaeologists.
Visitors to the island will be able to see recreations of the Viking longhouse boats.
There are other attractions on the island too, including Muness Castle – Britain’s most northerly castle.
Muness Castle was built in the 16th century for Laurence Bruce of Cultmalindie, a prominent figure in Shetland.
The ruins of the castle can be found on the south-easterly tip of the island, just a seven-minute drive from the village of Uyeasound.
There’s also Unst Heritage Centre where visitors can learn more what life was like on the island over the last few centuries.
Unst Boat Haven is another attraction on the Scottish island, this time providing visitors with information and history into the island’s maritime heritage.
A Scottish island wouldn’t be complete unless it was home to a whisky distillery, which Unst certainly has.
Housed inside the former RAF Base, the Shetland Distillery Company produces Shetland Reel gin and whisky, with tours also in operation.
There are other abandoned military buildings on the island, including the Cold War radar dome on Saxa Vord and a radar station from the Second World War.
There are also two nature reserves on the island.
Hermaness Nature Reserve is Unst’s most northerly headland, and it is home to an important seabird colony.
From Hermaness, visitors will also be able to spot a cluster of offshore rocks called the Da Waithing Skerries.
The most prominent rock is called Muckle Flugga, which is well-known thanks to the lighthouse that sits atop the rock.
Keen of Hamar Nature Reserve is the the second nature reserve on Unst and is home to tiny, rare, plants.
Holidaymakers wishing to travel to Unst will need to board a ferry on Yell – another one of the Shetland Islands.
Ferry journeys between mainland Scotland and the Shetland Islands take 12 hours, with Sun Online Travel finding tickets for £39.50.
Fascinating Facts about Unst
AS the UK’s most northerly inhabited island, there are plenty of interesting facts about Unst.
- Unst is located further north than Moscow
- Sheep outnumber local residents on the island
- The nearest train station is in Bergen, Norway
- The island’s most northerly headland (Hermaness) was once said to have been home to a giant named Herman, who fought with another giant named Saxa
- Author Robert Louis Stevenson has ties to the island, as his father and uncle were the main design engineers for the lighthouse on Muckle Flugga.
A Brit is the leader of a remote island in the middle of the ocean – and claims it’s the smallest country in the world.
Michael Bates became the leader of “Sealand”, a platform 7.5 miles off the Suffolk coast, when his dad Roy died in 1991.
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