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Voykit pocket guide · United Kingdom
Yell
Cross Yell in 30 min by car if you're heading to Unst; give it a full day only if you want the east-coast B-road, beaches and the Old Haa Museum.
Yell is one of Shetland's North Isles, about 32 km long and 8 km wide, with roughly 1,000 residents. There is no airport: you arrive by ro-ro ferry from Toft on Mainland Shetland and leave by ferry to Unst or Fetlar. Most travellers cross it in half an hour to catch the onward boat; the slower east-coast road through Burravoe, Otterswick and Cullivoe is the reason to linger.
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Best months
- May–Sep
- Avoid
- Nov–Feb (short days, wind and rain)
- Stay
- 1 night
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- GBP
- Money
- Currency is the pound sterling (GBP, £). Cards and contactless work almost everywhere; some places are card-only.
- Daily spend
- Budget £40–70 excl. bed · Mid £70–120 excl. bed · High £120+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- EE, Vodafone (merged with Three in 2025) and O2 run the networks; prepaid SIMs sell in supermarkets, phone shops and airport vending machines, no registration needed.
- Emergency
- Police, fire, ambulance, coastguard 999 · Police non-urgent 101 · NHS non-urgent 111
- Plugs
- Types G · 230 V · 50 Hz · Three-pin Type G only; European, US and Australian plugs need an adapter. Bathrooms have two-pin shaver sockets only.
- Tipping
- Restaurant with table service: 10–12.5% if no service charge is on the bill; check before adding more.; Pub or bar: Not expected; 'and one for yourself' offers the bartender a drink.; Taxi: Round up or 10%.; Hotel porter: £1–2 per bag.; Tour guide: £5–10 per person for a day tour; free walking tours expect £10–15.
- Water
- Tap water is safe everywhere. Free refills are common; restaurants will bring tap water if you ask.
- Toilets
- Public toilets are scarce and some charge 50p–£1 or are card-only. Stations, museums, department stores and pubs (if you buy a drink) are the fallback.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Coffee or tea in a café | £3–4.50 |
| Burger or pizza at the Mid Yell diner | £10–16 |
| Groceries for a picnic lunch | £5–8 |
| Campsite pitch per night | £7 tent / £15 caravan |
| eSIM or data SIM, about a week | £6–12 |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- LSI · Sumburgh Airport (Mainland Shetland)
- No airport on Yell; fly to Sumburgh then drive about 1 h 15 min north to Toft for the Ulsta ferry.
Typical fares
- Toft → Ulsta ferry, adult
- about £2.80 single, 20 min
- Toft → Ulsta ferry, car
- about £16.50 single
- Gutcher → Belmont (Unst) ferry
- covered by the same ticket if travelled the same day, 10 min
Show 7 more sections and the pocket cardHideGet around, See and do, Sleep, Phrase card, Etiquette, safety and scams, One and two days, Sources, Pocket card
Get around
The A968 runs up the west side from Ulsta to Mid Yell and Gutcher; the B9081/B9082 loop along the east coast via Burravoe and Otterswick and north to Cullivoe. Roads are single-track with passing places in places. Bus 24/24Y runs on weekdays only and is timed around the ferries, so a car or bike is the practical way to see the island.
See and do
Known for
- Old Haa Museum at Burravoe
- Gloup and its 1881 fishing disaster memorial
- West Sandwick and Breckon Sands beaches
- Otters, seals and seabirds on the east coast
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Unst | Bluemull ferry from Gutcher to Belmont, about 10 min | About 30 min from Gutcher pier |
| Fetlar | Bluemull ferry from Gutcher to Hamar's Ness, about 20 min, on the triangle sailings | About 40 min from Gutcher pier |
| Lerwick | Drive the A968 south to Toft, then the ferry to Ulsta and the A970 to Lerwick | About 2 h |
Sleep
- Burravoe
- South-east coast near the Ulsta ferry; Old Haa Museum, a small shop and the caravan site are here.
- West Sandwick
- West coast on the A968; a B&B and one of the island's better beaches.
- Mid Yell
- The largest settlement, roughly central; shop and a seasonal diner.
- Gutcher and Cullivoe
- North end, next to the Unst and Fetlar ferries; basic waiting rooms only.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Hello | Hellohel-LO |
| Thank you | Thank youTHANK yoo |
| Please | Pleasepleez |
| Where is the ferry pier? | Where is the ferry pier?wair iz thuh FEH-ree peer |
| How much is it? | How much is it?how much iz it |
| Sorry | SorrySOR-ee |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Handshake at first meeting; 'hi' and first names quickly; avoid: Cheek kisses with strangers
- Conversation: Weather is a safe opener; understatement and self-deprecating humour; avoid: Asking about salary or class
- Queues: Join at the back; avoid: Pushing onto buses or trains before others get off
- Apologies: 'Sorry' is said constantly, even when not at fault; avoid: Taking it as an admission of blame
- Pubs: Buy rounds in a group; wait at the bar without waving money; avoid: Clicking fingers at staff
- Nations: Call Scots Scottish and Welsh Welsh; avoid: Calling the whole UK 'England'
Scams and watch-outs
- No airport: the only way in or out is the ferry.
- Bus 24 runs weekdays only and cannot support a day trip out from Lerwick.
- Mobile signal is unreliable across the island; download timetables and maps before you sail.
- Single-track roads with passing places and stray sheep: allow extra time.
- Fuel and shops are limited; fill up and buy food on Mainland Shetland before crossing.
A remote rural island with few man-made hazards. The real risks are weather, cliff edges and getting stranded by a missed ferry: dress for wind and rain and keep an eye on the timetable.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Yell yet. Suggested stay: 1 night. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- Old Haa Museum at Burravoe
- Gloup and its 1881 fishing disaster memorial
- West Sandwick and Breckon Sands beaches
- Otters, seals and seabirds on the east coast
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- ZetTrans — public transport: www.zettrans.org.uk/travel/public-transport/bus
- Old Haa Museum: www.oldhaa.com
- Wikivoyage: Yell, revision 5314978 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5314978
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
Yell
To this address, please
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
No embassies or consulates on Yell; the nearest are in Edinburgh or London. US citizens: the consulate general is in Edinburgh (check).
English is spoken throughout; there is no separate local language to learn.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/yell). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.