A Scottish content creator stayed overnight at The Fair Isle Bird Observatory during a visit to the UK’s most remote inhabited island that is just five kilometres by three kilometres
Fair Isle is the southernmost part of the Shetland Islands (Image: Ruth Aisling/Youtube)
A Scottish travel vlogger stayed in the most remote accommodation in the whole of the UK – and said it was nothing like people could imagine.
Ruth Aisling has been exploring her home country on YouTube after living overseas for 12 years. She recently stayed on Fair Isle which is the UK’s most remote inhabited island and is situated between Orkney and Shetland.
Despite being just three miles long, it is home to around 50 people, and it is famously one of the best places in Europe to see migrating birds who travel from Scandinavia and Iceland down to the UK and Africa.
However, as of last year, tourists can now stay overnight inside the The Fair Isle Bird Observatory, and Ruth said there was so much more to it than just birds.
Speaking from the stunning island, which she said might be her favourite in Scotland, she said: “Getting here isn’t always straightforward as the weather decides everything.
“But once you arrive it feels very different from what you might imagine. From cosy rooms and delicious food to a real sense of community, it plays a much bigger role than just somewhere to sleep.”
The accommodation opens from May until October and this year a single room cost £169 per night which included all meals.
And speaking of the food, Ruth raved: “The food here has been absolutely incredible. I have some dietary requirements and they’ve catered for that absolutely no problem.”
She explained that there were no other restaurants on Fair Isle and during her stay she ate things like homemade soups with bread, macaroni cheese, lasagne and dishes made with fish caught by a local fisherman.
In her YouTube video, which you can watch in full here, she gave a guided tour throughout the observatory, and even went into the bar, which again is the only one on the island, and so is also a hit with locals.
She said there was a wide range of drinks available with a huge selection of Orkney beers.
You can get to the island via ferry or flight and arriving by the latter, like Aisling did, means you can only have 15kg of luggage with you.
She said rooms come with a private bathroom and shower where shampoo and body wash is provided.
However, as for the best thing about staying in the observatory, she showed her 224,000 subscribers the spectacular views from her window.
She said: “The star of the show is the view. Let me show you the view out of my window. Look at that. That is incredible. Every morning, been waking up and looking at this.
“Even though it’s called the Fair Isle Bird Observatory, you don’t need to be a bird watcher to stay here.”
This sentiment was shared by Steve Holgate, who is the manager of the observatory. He spoke to Aisling about the accommodation that has 20 ensuite rooms for guests.
He said: “It’s amazing. The community is amazing. The island itself is beautiful. You can just go on and on and on. There’s so much here to do. You think it’s going to be a small place and there’s not much to do. You’ve never got time. It’s just busy all the time here.
“It’s open to all guests, general tourists, wildlife enthusiasts, birders obviously, knitters, anybody who’s got an interest in Fair Isle. All the transport links are obviously subjected to weather, but we rarely get people stuck here for very long.”
You may have heard of Fair Isle Knitting and during Ruth’s stay, she took part in knitting workshops in a room in the observatory.
Over 350 bird species have been recorded on Fair Isle and birdlife includes Puffins, Kititwakes and Gannets.
The Good Shepherd IV ferry can take 12 people to Fair Isle in two-and-a-half hours but there is also a daily flight from Tingwall airport that takes less than 30 minutes.
And commenting under Ruth’s latest video, one fan wrote: “I love the idea of getting away from all the noise of the city to somewhere quiet and relaxing like that. It would be so good.”
A second said: “What a beautiful place, I would love to see all those puffins in person.”
Another added: “Thanks for the tour around your accommodation, I guess this place is the center of the world for everyone on the island.”
