The Northern Highlands and the Western Isles: Places to Explore

Achiltibuie is a small farming community set in magnificent mountain and coastal scenery. Offshore are the attractive Summer Isles, whose history dates back to Viking raids. Cruises from Ullapool visit... Read more

A town of sandstone houses, tiny rose-filled gardens, and a 13th-century cathedral with stunning traditional and modern stained-glass windows, Dornoch is well worth a visit. It's noted for its links: you... Read more

A tiny coast village, Dunbeath is bordered by moors on one side, the sea on the other. A few interesting museums make it worth a stop.... Read more

The sudden patches of green surrounding the village of Durness, on the north coast, are caused by the richer limestone outcrops among the acid moorlands. Here you'll find the country's highest peak, Clo... Read more

Aside from its restaurants and lodgings, peaceful Gairloch has one further advantage: lying just a short way from the mountains of the interior, this small oasis often escapes the rain clouds that can... Read more

The little coastal town of Golspie is worth a stop if you're heading for Dunrobin Castle. It has a number of shops and accommodations.... Read more

Helmsdale is a fascinating fishing village with a checkered past. It was a busy Viking settlement and then the scene of an aristocratic poisoning plot before it was transformed into a 19th-century village... Read more

The misty isle, Skye is full of romance and myth, lovely gardens and steep, magnetic mountains (a compass is useless in the Cuillin Mountains). It ranks near the top of most visitors' must-see lists: the... Read more

The windswept little outpost of John o'Groats is usually taken to be the most northern community on the Scottish mainland, though that is not strictly accurate, as an exploration of the network of roads... Read more

This little town is the mainland gateway to Skye. Opened in 1995, the bridge transformed not only travel to Skye but the very seascape itself. The most noticeable attraction, though (in fact, almost a... Read more

Strung along the shore, the village of Lochcarron has some attractive croft buildings, a couple of churches (one an 18th-century ruin set in a graveyard), a golf club, and some handy shops.... Read more

Lochinver is a quiet shoreside community of whitewashed cottages, with a harbor used by the west-coast-fishing fleet, and a couple of dining and lodging options. Behind the town the mountain Suilven rises... Read more

The Outer Hebrides—the Western Isles in common parlance—stretch about 130 mi from end to end and lie about 50 mi from the Scottish mainland. This splintered archipelago extends from the Butt... Read more

Scourie is a small settlement catering to visitors—fisherfolk especially—with a range of accommodations. The bayside town makes a good base for a trip to the bird sanctuary on the island of... Read more

Just west of the southern coast of Upper Loch Torridon is Shieldaig, a village that sits in an attractive crescent overlooking a loch of its own, Loch Shieldaig. For an atmospheric evening foray, walk... Read more

At the spa town of Strathpeffer you can take a walk to admire Victorian "holiday houses" and the Eagle Stone, a boulder carved with Pictish signs in the 7th century, now perched on a hill just outside... Read more

The town of Thurso is quite substantial for a community so far north. In town are the Thurso Heritage Museum and Old St. Peter's Kirk, which dates back to the 12th century. There are also fine beaches... Read more

By the shores of salty Loch Broom, Ullapool was founded in 1788 as a fishing station to exploit the local herring stocks. There's still a smattering of fishing vessels, as well as visiting yachts and foreign... Read more

Wick is a substantial town that was built on its fishing industry. The town itself is not very appealing, but it does have the gaunt, bleak ruins of Castle Sinclair and Castle Girnigoe teetering on a cliff... Read more