The village of Haroldswick, a couple of miles north of Baltasound, is home to the Unst Boat Haven - a unique collection of traditional Shetland fishing craft and the fascinating Unst Heritage Centre, where the permanent displays include geology, geneaology and the island's famous fine lace knitting and spinning. Both centres are open daily, 2.00pm to 5.00pm, May to September.

Next door to the boat haven, the Haroldswick shop has a do-it-yourself cafe, while just around the corner you can have your postcards franked at Britain's most northerly post office. On the eastern side of the village, Britain's only working talc mine is at Clibberswick, known also for its Viking soapstone quarry.

North-east of Haroldswick, a single-track road leads to the beach and dunes of Norwick and on to Britain's northernmost inhabited house, at Skaw. On the nearby head land of Lamba Ness are the ruins of a wartime radar station, forerunner of modern RAF scanners up on Saxa Vord, Unst's highest hill. Saxa Vord looks out over the fjord of Burrafirth, the stacks of Muckle Flugga Lighthouse and the Out Stack - the full stop at the end of Britain.

The side road from Haroldswick to Burrafirth opens a panorama of dramatic cliffs, the wide, sandy links at the head of the inlet, and the dark waters of the Loch of Cliff The SNH visitor centre based in the lighthouse shore station at Burrafirth provides a great opportunity for the who are unable to make the walk to the cliffs to learn about the seabirds of Hermaness. The world-famous reserve covers the Muckle Flugga rocks and Out Stack as well as the seabird cliffs and moorland of Hermaness.