- Ship
- 1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner
Fair Isle is a haven for bird enthusiasts and lovers of traditional knitwear. Owned by the National Trust for Scotland, this tiny island is home to a close-knit community of about 70 people. The landscape is etched with remnants of ancient stone houses, turf, and stone walls, revealing evidence of Neolithic settlements dating back up to 5,000 years. Between April and August, the cliffs echo with the symphony of Northern Fulmars, Black-Legged Kittiwakes, Razorbills, Common Guillemots, Black Guillemots, and Atlantic Puffins. Skuas and Arctic Terns fiercely guard their nests on the moorlands, while a small colony of Northern Gannets can also be spotted. The Fair Isle Bird Observatory has been conducting scientific research on bird migration and seabird colonies for over 55 years. The island's marine life includes grey and common seals, harbor porpoises, and occasionally dolphins, killer whales, and minke whales.
Included Shore Excursion on Expedition Voyages
A Visit to the Community of Fair Isle
Embark on an adventure with the Expedition Team as you Zodiac ashore to explore Fair Isle's unique community. Discover the skillful Fair Isle knitwork at the Community Center, meet the friendly locals, and immerse yourself in the vibrant bird cliffs teeming with nesting gannets, guillemots, and puffins.
*Experiences subject to change
This tiny island, set just off Scotland’s southeast coast, is dominated by its eponymous broch, one of the country’s best-preserved prehistoric monuments. A unique Scottish phenomenon, brochs, or fortified round towers, represent the apex of Iron Age dry-stone wall construction. Hundreds of these windowless towers once peppered northwest Scotland; of those that remain, the Mousa broch stands as the finest and most famous, mentioned twice in Norse sagas. Built around 300 BC and boasting 16-foot-thick walls, the 43-foot-high broch offers commanding views across Mousa Sound. Today the island is uninhabited—except, that is, for some 12,000 pairs of breeding storm petrels, one of the United Kingdom’s largest colonies. (Many nest inside the broch.) It also offers a refuge for great skuas, Arctic terns, black guillemots, and other seabirds, as well as seals and otters.