Must-see attractions in The Highlands & Islands

  • Viking settlement at Skara Brae, Orkney islands, Scotland, Uk

    Skara Brae

    Orkney

    Predating Stonehenge and the pyramids of Giza, extraordinary Skara Brae is one of the world's most evocative prehistoric sites, and northern Europe’s best…

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    Maeshowe

    Orkney

    Constructed about 5000 years ago, Maeshowe is an extraordinary place, a Stone Age tomb built from enormous sandstone blocks, some of which weighed many…

  • Highland Wildlife Park

    The Cairngorms

    This place features a drive-through safari park as well as animal enclosures offering the chance to view rarely seen native wildlife, such as wildcats,…

  • Herma Ness is the northernmost headland of Unst. It is a National Nature Reserve.

    Hermaness National Nature Reserve

    Shetland

    At marvellous Hermaness headland, a 4.5-mile round walk takes you to cliffs where gannets, fulmars and guillemots nest, and numerous puffins frolic. You…

  • In geography and geology, a cliff is a vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually formed by rock that is resistant to erosion and weathering. Sedimentary rocks most likely to form cliffs include sandstone, limestone, chalk, and dolomite. Igneous rocks such as granite and basalt also often form cliffs.

    Isle of Noss

    Shetland

    Little Noss, 1.5 miles wide, lies just east of Bressay. High seacliffs harbour over 100,000 pairs of breeding seabirds, while inland heath supports…

  • Turquoise waters of Luskentyre Beach on the Isle of Harris.

    Luskentyre

    Outer Hebrides

    Luskentyre is one of the biggest and most beautiful beaches in Scotland, famed for its acres of low-tide white sands and turquoise waters. A minor road…

  • Sumburgh Head Visitor Centre

    Shetland

    High on the cliffs at Sumburgh Head, this excellent attraction is set across several buildings. Displays explain about the lighthouse, foghorn and radar…

  • Unst Bus Shelter

    Shetland

    At the turn-off to Littlehamar, just past Baltasound, is Britain's most impressive bus stop. Enterprising locals, tired of waiting in discomfort, decided…

  • Sunrise at Quiraing on the Isle of Skye, Scotland.

    Quiraing

    Trotternish

    Staffin Bay is dominated by the dramatic basalt escarpment of the Quiraing: its impressive land-slipped cliffs and pinnacles constitute one of Skye’s most…

  • Blair Castle

    Highland Perthshire

    One of the most popular tourist attractions in Scotland, magnificent Blair Castle – and its surrounding estates – is the seat of the Duke of Atholl, head…

  • Mount Stuart

    Southern Highlands & Islands

    The family seat of the Stuart Earls of Bute is one of Britain's more magnificent 19th-century stately homes, the first to have a telephone, underfloor…

  • Kinloch Castle

    Central Highlands

    When George Bullough, a dashing, Harrow-educated cavalry officer, inherited Rum along with half his father’s fortune in 1891, he became one of the…

  • Kilchurn Castle

    Southern Highlands & Islands

    At the northern end of Loch Awe are the scenic ruins of the strategically situated and much-photographed Kilchurn Castle. Built in 1440, it enjoys one of…

  • Rothiemurchus Estate

    The Cairngorms

    The Rothiemurchus Estate, which extends from the River Spey at Aviemore to the Cairngorm summit plateau, is famous for having one of Scotland’s largest…

  • Tomb of the Eagles

    Orkney

    Two significant archaeological sites were found here by a farmer on his land. The first is a Bronze Age stone building with a firepit, indoor well and…

  • St Magnus Cathedral

    Kirkwall

    Constructed from local red sandstone, Kirkwall's centrepiece, dating from the early 12th century, is among Scotland's most interesting cathedrals. The…

  • Jacobite Steam Train

    Fort William

    The Jacobite Steam Train, hauled by a former LNER K1 or LMS Class 5MT locomotive, travels the scenic two-hour run between Fort William and Mallaig…

  • Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park

    Loch Lomond

    Two areas of great natural beauty, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, became the heart of Scotland's first national park, created in 2002. The park extends…

  • Oronsay Priory

    Southern Highlands & Islands

    If the tide is right, don't miss walking across the half-mile of cockleshell-strewn sand linking Colonsay to smaller Oronsay. Here you can explore the…

  • Midhowe Cairn & Broch

    Orkney

    Six miles from the ferry on Rousay, mighty Midhowe Cairn has been dubbed the 'Great Ship of Death'. Built around 3500 BC and enormous, it's divided into…

  • Bonawe Iron Furnace

    Southern Highlands & Islands

    Bonawe Iron Furnace is one of the region’s most unusual historical sights. Near Taynuilt (not Bonawe), and dating from 1753, it was built by an iron…

  • Knap of Howar

    Orkney

    By the seashore, this sturdy stone-built farmhouse and storeroom are solidly built testimony to crofting life on Papa Westray island…5500 years ago. An…

  • Highland Park Distillery

    Kirkwall

    This distillery, South of Kirkwall's centre, is great to visit. Despite a dodgy Viking rebrand, it's a serious distillery that malts its own barley; see…

  • Northwest Highlands Geopark

    North & West Coast

    As you head south from Durness, heather gradually gives way to a rockier landscape of Lewisian gneiss pockmarked with hundreds of small lochans. This is…

  • Stromness Museum

    Orkney

    This superb museum, run with great passion, is full of knick-knacks from maritime and natural-history exhibitions covering whaling, the Hudson's Bay…

  • Sandwood Bay

    North & West Coast

    South of Cape Wrath, Sandwood Bay boasts one of Scotland’s best and most isolated beaches, guarded at one end by the spectacular rock pinnacle Am…

  • Fossil & Heritage Centre

    Orkney

    This eclectic museum is a great visit, combining some excellent 360-million-year-old Devonian fish fossils found locally with a well-designed exhibition…

  • Islands walk, River Ness,  Inverness

    Ness Islands

    Inverness

    The main attraction in Inverness is a leisurely stroll along the river to the Ness Islands. Planted with mature Scots pine, fir, beech and sycamore, and…

  • Noltland Castle

    Orkney

    A half-mile west of Pierowall stands this sturdy ruined tower house, built in the 16th century by Gilbert Balfour, aide to Mary, Queen of Scots. The…

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    Old Man of Hoy

    Orkney

    Hoy’s best-known sight is this 137m-high rock stack jutting from the ocean off the tip of an eroded headland. It's a tough ascent and for experienced…

  • Arnol Black House restored thatched old cottage Isle of Lewis; Shutterstock ID 49442545; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; Project no. or GL code: 56530; Network activity no. or Cost Centre: Online-Design; Product or Project: 65050/7529/Josh Vogel/LP.com Destination Galleries

    Arnol Blackhouse

    Outer Hebrides

    One of Scotland’s most evocative historic buildings, the Arnol Blackhouse is not so much a museum as a perfectly preserved fragment of a lost world. Built…

  • Eilean Donan Castle

    North & West Coast

    Photogenically sited at the entrance to Loch Duich, Eilean Donan is one of Scotland’s most evocative castles and must now be represented in millions of…

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    Callanish Standing Stones

    Outer Hebrides

    The Callanish Standing Stones, 15 miles west of Stornoway on the A858 road, form one of the most complete stone circles in Britain. It is one of the most…

  • Jarlshof

    Shetland

    Old and new collide here, with Sumburgh airport right by this picturesque, instructive archaeological site. Various periods of occupation from 2500 BC to…

  • Sandbar, known as a tombolo, connecting St Ninian's Isle with the mainland of the Shetland Islands off the north of Scotland.

    St Ninian's Isle

    Shetland

    A couple of miles beyond Bigton is the largest shell-and-sand tombolo (sand or gravel isthmus) in Britain. Walk across to beautiful, emerald-capped St…

  • Broch of Gurness

    Orkney

    Here is a fine example of the drystone fortified towers that were both a status symbol for powerful farmers and useful protection from raiders some 2200…

  • Brough of Birsay

    Orkney

    At low tide – check tide times at any Historic Environment Scotland site – you can walk out to this windswept island, the site of extensive Norse ruins,…

  • Earl's Palace

    Kirkwall

    The intriguing Earl’s Palace was once known as the finest example of French Renaissance architecture in Scotland. One room features an interesting history…

  • Kilmartin House Museum

    Southern Highlands & Islands

    This museum, in Kilmartin village, is a fascinating interpretive centre that provides a context for the ancient monuments you can go on to explore,…

  • Castle Stalker

    Southern Highlands & Islands

    One of Scotland's most spectacularly sited castles, Castle Stalker perches on a tiny offshore island – Monty Python buffs will recognise it as the castle…