Silwick & Westerwick – a Coastal Walk

A walk along the dramatic coastline of Silwick and Westerwick, on the west side of Shetland, is one of my favourite places to go to get away from it all.

As the daylight begins to dwindle and the winter storms appear with more frequency, I believe it’s important, while living on the wild edge of the earth, to take advantage of the fine weather when we’ve got it. 

We had a day of utterly glorious weather recently, so we* packed an unplanned picnic, put on our layers and headed out in the van for an Autumn hike to one of my favourite scenic spots here in Shetland: the Silwick & Westerwick coastline.

Silwick & Westerwick Coastline

The coastline around Silwick and Westerwick is one of my go-to places to escape from the hustle and bustle of work and home life; to sit on the very edge of the world and recharge in the incredible landscape around me.

Silwick and Westerwick are two small villages on the west side of Shetland, at the very end(s) of the road once you go past Skeld – keep going straight for Silwick, or make a turn for Westerwick.

It’s a short walk from the car park in front of the crofters shed at the end of the Silwick road (note, there are no dogs permitted in this area because it’s working farmland with grazing animals and please take care not to obstruct shed access) to get to the coastline, and from there, you can follow the edge of the clifftops for a good few miles. Alternatively, park at the turning point in Westerwick and follow the Access Shetland signs by the fence stiles.

This walk follows the southern coastline of the west mainland of Shetland. Looking due south you’ll see Fitful Head at Sumburgh while looking west will give you a glimpse of the island of Foula (barely visible on the horizon in the photo above). 

The whole area is punctuated by dramatic sea cliffs, sea stacks, sea arches and the most stunning scenery. It really is (was?!) one of Shetland’s best-kept secrets.

If you’re lucky you might see a minke whale swim by in the sea below, as I did on the day I took these photos.