Overview

Jarlshof Prehistoric and Norse Settlement is a prehistoric archaeological site that lies near the southern tip of the Shetland Mainland. It has been in Shetland for over 4,000 years of human history. We visited out of season, so it was very quiet, only a few children running around. The signage wasn’t very good to know where you could pay for entry so we just wandered through. There is also a hotel called ‘Sumburgh Hotel’ is on the grounds of Jarlshof Prehistoric and Norse Settlement.

Transport & Parking

With there being a hotel here to there is a car park that you can easily park in with easy access to the settlement. Unfortunately, there is no designated disabled parking spaces, although there are no lines separating parking spaces at all so cars didn’t seem to park too close together. The car park surface was very even excluding a couple of pot holes.

Access

The ramp to get down from the car park to the settlement was rather steep, I did manage to get down however with my helper supporting my chest. I was very surprised, due to how long the settlement has been there, that mostly all the pathways were very smooth, and I was able to easily drive about in my powerchair. Some of the pathways were slightly narrower than others and I had to turn around and go back the way I came a couple of times. Of course, I wasn’t shocked that I couldn’t get to certain parts of the settlement, but I was happy with what I was able to see.

Toilets

I didn’t see a toilet when we visited, however I’m sure there would be a standard accessible toilet in the hotel beside the car park that you’d be able to use. There was no Changing Places toilet on site or anywhere nearby.

Staff

I did not encounter any staff when we visited.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

If you are in the area I would definitely recommend going to visit the Jarlshof Prehistoric and Norse Settlement. If I visit Shetland again I would like to try the tour recording as you don’t get many rural historical sites that are so accessible.

Photos