Lerwick is the capital of Shetland and feels like it: small by mainland standards, but clearly the harbour, shopping street, museum town, and ferry gateway for the islands. The name comes from Old Norse, and the north-facing weather still gives the place a hard maritime edge.
The town is best walked slowly. Commercial Street sits just behind the waterfront, Fort Charlotte looks over the harbour from a position now hemmed in by later buildings, and the Shetland Museum explains why these islands are neither quite Scottish mainland nor simply Scandinavian.
Lerwick also has one of Britain's best prehistoric sites within town limits: Clickimin Broch, an Iron Age tower complex by the loch. Add Up Helly Aa, when a Viking-style longship is burned in January, and the town has a stronger identity than many larger ports.