Brae (Old Norse Breiðeið, "the wide isthmus") is on Mainland of the Shetland Islands. It was tiny fishing village then grew rapidly in the 1970s with the construction of Sullom Voe oil terminal. In Scots and Old English a "brae" means a hill or slope, but Shetland was Norse so here it means "broad". A relative term: the isthmus here is a quarter-mile across, but a mile west it's pinched to the 100-yard wide Mavis Grind by which the Northmavine peninsula clings onto the Mainland.

Get in

• 23 miles by road north of Lerwick.
• ZetTrans 21 & 23 connect Lerwick and Toft/Mossbank via Voe and Brae.

Get around

The village is cycle-friendly, so using a bike is a good way to get around. Every few hours, a bus arrives from Lerwick and stops in Brae, before continuing on to Mossbank, northeast of Brae.

See

• 1 Mavis Grind. The narrow isthmus connecting Northmavine Peninsula to Mainland. (updated Jul 2019)

Do

• 1 North Mainland Leisure Centre, ☏ +44 1595 807710. With swimming pool, fitness suite, squash court, pool table. (updated Feb 2017)

Eat

Brae has the most northly fish and chip shop and Indian takeaway in the United Kingdom.

• 1 Frankie's Fish & Chips, ☏ +44 1806 522700. (updated Dec 2016)
• 2 Taste of China Takeaway, ☏ +44 1806 522500. (updated Mar 2020)

Drink

Try the hotels.

Sleep

• 1 Busta House Hotel, Busta, ☏ +44 1806 522506. (updated Dec 2016)
• 2 Moorfield Hotel, ☏ +44 1806 520010. (updated Feb 2017)
• 3 Brae Hotel, ☏ +44 1806 522456. (updated Feb 2017)

Go next

Back to Lerwick, or onto the peninsula, where the main village is Hillswick.