Sumburgh Head

Sumburgh Head is a clifftop nature reserve at the southern tip of Shetland, topped by a Stevenson lighthouse and best known for how close you can get to its puffins. In early summer they nest in burrows just metres from the clifftop path, so you can watch them at close range without disturbing them.

Puffins are at Sumburgh Head from late April to early August, with May and June the best of it, when the birds are busiest around their burrows. They'll often sit right at the cliff edge, within arm's reach of the path. Come in the morning before the tour groups arrive for the quietest look.

Sumburgh Head is about 25 miles south of Lerwick at the very tip of Shetland. The A970 gets you there in around 40 minutes through the middle of the central mainland. Jarlshof sits at the foot of the headland, so the two are always done on the same visit.

There's plenty of seabird life beyond the puffins, with razorbills, guillemots, fulmars and great skuas all nesting on the cliffs. The lighthouse, built by Robert Stevenson in 1821, has a good visitor centre on the history of lighthouse keeping. Harbour porpoises and grey seals turn up in the water below, and minke whales pass offshore.