Visit Us / Book

Shetland Museum & Archives is open. Drop in and visit us, no booking is necessary.

Free to visit - As always, entry to the Museum and Archives is free but now more than ever we need your support - please consider making a donation.

View our full opening times

Inside Visit Us / Book

Hay's Dock by the Dowry

Café/restaurant at Shetland Museum’s historic Hay’s Dock.

Read more

Crofthouse Museum

The Shetland Crofthouse Museum will reopen in May 2024.

Read more

Galleries

Visit our Museum Galleries

Read more

Archives Searchroom

Visit the Archives searchroom

Read more

Tours

Make the most of your visit with us and join us on a tour to ensure you see the highlights of our museum and our Recognised Collections.

Read more

Gift Shop

Our gift shop offers a range of products which are inspired by the Museum and Archive collections, and reflect and celebrate Shetland's unique culture and heritage.

Read more

Activities

Whatever your reason for visiting us at Shetland Museum and Archives, there are a range of activities on offer to ensure you can make the most of your time with us.

Read more

Hay's Dock

Shetland Museum and Archives sits on Hay’s Dock; the last remaining area of original dock on the Lerwick waterfront, which is now category B listed. This is a perfect setting to highlight the strong heritage connection with the sea, and display just some of the traditional Shetland boats in the collection.

Read more

Public Art

Shetland Amenity Trust commissioned over 60 individual artworks as part of its Shetland Museum and Archives Public Art Project. These are on show throughout the building and dock, some even appearing alongside the artefacts and documents in the galleries and Archives.

Read more

Accessibility

We want to make sure we continue to offer an excellent experience for all visitors with additional needs .

Read more

Visit Us / Book Blog Posts

Shetland Ponies: Choosing the best from the rest

The Shetland Pony is iconic around the world and will be the focus of a week long celebration of the breed this July culminating in ...

Read more

Shetland Nature Festival

The annual Shetland Nature Festival starts on Saturday 6th of July until Sunday 14th July and has events throughout Shetland. There ...

Read more

The Eagle's Last Stronghold

An exhibition opens at the Shetland Museum and Archives next week highlighting the story of the white-tailed ‘sea’ eagle in ...

Read more

‘The Arthurs’

A feature exhibition exploring Shetland surnames Arthur and Arthurson is now on display at the Shetland Museum and Archives. The ...

Read more

Emma Louise's Coffee Shop opening at Hay's Dock

The Shetland Amenity Trust are delighted to announce the re-opening of the café at Shetland Museum and Archives. Emma Louise and Joe ...

Read more

Getting ready for the Summer Season

The Shetland Amenity Trust have been busy over the past month getting ready to open key sites for the 2019 visitor season. Sumburgh ...

Read more

From this Day Forward – Wedding Exhibition

Shetland Museum and Archives is proud to present our latest exhibition, ‘From This Day Forward’ a celebration of Shetland Weddings ...

Read more

Welcoming tenders for Hay’s Dock Café

Do you have what it takes to deliver a great café offering in a 5 star Visitor Attraction? We work hard to feed the imagination of ...

Read more

The National Gallery Masterpiece Tour 2018

Five hundred years after the dazzling genius of Hans Holbein, a painting by one of the greatest portraitists of all time can now be ...

Read more

Holbein Comes to Shetland

The countdown has begun! We are delighted to say that today marks one week until the public opening of 'A Lady with a Squirrel and a ...

Read more

The BIG Takeover - Shetland 2018

Shetland Museum and Archives is working with other local agencies and young people as part of the Year of Young People in 2018.

Read more

Boats on the Move

The Shetland Museum Boat Shed has had a transformation with the departure of the Oceanic Lifeboat - a long term resident during her ...

Read more

Aith Junior High Pupils curate new exhibition at Shetland Museum and Archives

A new exhibition has been unveiled telling the story of the whaling ship, Diana. The display has been curated by pupils from P4/5 and ...

Read more

10th Birthday Celebrations

To celebrate the milestone 10th birthday, Shetland Museum and Archives staff are hosting a day of birthday celebrations on Saturday ...

Read more

Mathewson Lecture

Eileen Brooke-Freeman will deliver a talk about the life of her ancestor Andrew Dishington Mathewson of East Yell (1799-1887) from her ...

Read more