Portree (Port Righ)
On the southern edge of Portree, the Aros Centre is a combined visitor centre, book and gift shop, restaurant, theatre and cinema. The St Kilda Exhibition…
Must-see attractions in Northern Highlands & Islands
East Coast
Located on Tain’s northern outskirts, Glenmorangie (emphasis on the second syllable) produces a fine lightish malt, subjected to a number of different…
North & West Coast
Five miles southeast of Kylesku, in wild, remote country, lies 213m-high Eas a’Chual Aluinn, Britain’s highest waterfall. You can hike to the top of the…
North & West Coast
A mile east of the centre of Durness is a path down to Smoo Cave. From the vast main chamber, you can head through to a smaller flooded cavern where a…
East Coast
Set in the grounds of St Duthus Church is Tain Through Time, an entertaining heritage centre with a colourful and educational display on St Duthac, King…
Outer Hebrides
Birdwatchers flock to this Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) nature reserve, 18 miles west of Lochmaddy, in the hope of spotting the rare…
Outer Hebrides
The Campbell family has been making Harris tweed for 90 years, and this exhibition (behind the family shop) celebrates the history of the fabric known in…
Caithness
Just west of the Dunnet headland, the sweeping curve of Dunnet Bay offers one of Scotland’s finest beaches, backed by high dunes and a campsite. Rangers…
East Coast
Strathpeffer's former train station houses a wide range of social-history displays about childhood and also has activities for children, including a…
Caithness
Though it can no longer claim to be the most northerly whisky distillery on mainland Scotland (that goes to the upstart Wolfburn in Thurso), friendly…
Outer Hebrides
A waymarked path from a car park off the A867, 6 miles southwest of Lochmaddy, leads to the chambered Neolithic burial tomb of Bharpa Langass and the…
Ullapool to Kyle of Lochalsh
This museum has interesting displays on life in the West Highlands from Pictish times to the present, including locally built fishing boats and a faithful…
Caithness
This museum, just over a mile north of Dunbeath, recreates crofting life from the mid-1800s to WWII. It's in an 18th-century Caithness longhouse with a…
East Coast
The Eagle Stone is well worth a look. It’s a pre-7th-century Pictish stone connected to a figure from local history – the Brahan Seer, who predicted many…
Ullapool
Housed in a converted Telford church, this museum relates the prehistoric, natural and social history of the town and Lochbroom area, with a particular…
Outer Hebrides
Taigh Chearsabhagh is a museum and arts centre that preserves and displays the history and culture of the Uists, and is also a thriving community centre,…
Outer Hebrides
This visitor centre near the Callanish Standing Stones is a tour de force of discreet design. Inside is a small exhibition that speculates on the origins…
Outer Hebrides
The modern, purpose-built An Lanntair (Gaelic for 'lighthouse'), complete with art gallery, theatre, cinema and restaurant, is the centre of the town’s…
Skye
From the end of the minor road beyond Dunvegan Castle entrance, an easy 1-mile walk leads to the Coral Beaches – a pair of blindingly white beaches…
East Coast
Historylinks is a child-friendly museum focusing on local history. Displays cover geology, the Picts, the building of the cathedral and the development of…
Outer Hebrides
On a sunny day, it’s worth making the long detour to Great Bernera's northern tip for a picnic at the perfect little sandy beach of Bosta. As an…
East Coast
From Ardgay, a single-track road leads 10 miles up Strathcarron to Croick, the scene of notorious evictions during the 1845 Clearances. You can still see…
Caithness
Six miles to the northwest of Lybster and a mile off the A9, these 30 standing stones date from around 2000 BC. The crumbling monuments still capture the…
Outer Hebrides
From the westernmost point of the road that runs around North Uist, a minor, drivable track leads for 1.5 miles to the summit of Clettraval hill where a…
Caithness
Two miles beyond the Camster turn-off on the A99 is a curious, fan-shaped arrangement of 22 rows of small stones, probably dating to around 2000 BC…
Trotternish
In an old stone barn by the roadside, this museum houses an interesting collection of dinosaur footprints, ammonites and other fossils discovered in the…
Caithness
Two miles east of John O'Groats, Duncansby Head has a small lighthouse and 60m-high cliffs sheltering nesting fulmars. A 15-minute walk through a sheep…
Trotternish
Just south of Uig, a minor road (signposted ‘Sheader and Balnaknock’) leads a mile or so to the Fairy Glen, a strange and enchanting natural landscape of…
Skye
Raasay's first ever (legal!) distillery opened in 2017, and comes with a twist – you can stay the night here, in one of the six designer bedrooms in the…
Caithness
Mary-Ann lived in this 19th-century croft, on the headland near the main road, for nigh on a century. In-depth guided tours take you round her humble but…
Outer Hebrides
Opened in 2017 as a community enterprise, this beautiful modern building houses several artists' studios and an exhibition space that displays works…
Caithness
At the picturesque harbour in Lybster, this museum has a downstairs cafe, and an exhibition on the town's fishing heritage above. There's a smokehouse…
Outer Hebrides
This small community museum, housed in the local school, has lots of info on the Lewis chess pieces (discovered nearby in 1831) and on other historic…
Skye
A converted farm steading overlooking the sea houses Skye's second distillery, opened in 2017. There's a visitor centre and cafe; tours are best booked in…
Skye
Skye's oldest distillery (established 1830) produces smooth, sweet and smoky Talisker single malt whisky. The guided tour includes a free dram.
Skye
This gallery exhibits the works of artists who have been inspired by Scottish landscapes, wildlife and culture.
Outer Hebrides
There's not much to see on Eriskay, but you'll pass through it on the way to the car ferry that crosses to Ardmhor at the northern end of Barra; Eriskay…
Outer Hebrides
Gallan Head, 3 miles north of Uig, was once an RAF radar station and surveillance post until it was abandoned in the 1960s. The old military camp, ringed…
North & West Coast
Enterprising local volunteers have put together this likeable museum at the end of Kyle's railway station platform, with train memorabilia, a model…
Outer Hebrides
The northern part of South Uist is mostly occupied by the watery expanses of Loch Bee and Loch Druidibeg. The area is a Site of Special Scientific…
