From the Shetland mainland you take the ferry to Yell, drive across it and catch a second boat from Gutcher to Hamars Ness on Fetlar; there are also sailings from Belmont on Unst. Two ferries work out of Gutcher, so check with the crew that yours is going to Fetlar, and in summer book your car on both crossings; there’s no fuel on the island. Fetlar’s fertile soil is why it’s called the Garden of Shetland. Red-necked phalaropes, among Britain’s rarest breeding birds, nest here: the Loch of Funzie at the east end is their most important breeding site in the UK. From late May to July you may see them feeding along the loch’s roadside shore, or from the RSPB hide at the Mires of Funzie. At Houbie on the south coast, the Fetlar Interpretive Centre has displays on island history, folklore and wildlife, with films back to the 1930s and photographs back to the 1860s. Vord Hill, the highest point, has Neolithic cairns.
