Discover the Best Places to Visit in Scotland
Find things to do and places to visit in the Highlands of Scotland.
The Silver Sands of Morar are a series of celebrated beaches located on the Morar Peninsula, south of Mallaig.
These stunning white-sand beaches are a favourite spot for tourists due to the crystal-clear turquoise waters along this stretch of coastline, as well as the stunning views of the Small Isles.
The Bealach na Ba is a twisting mountain pass on the Applecross Peninsula in Wester Ross, Highland.
This single-track road rises over 2,000 feet (0.61 km) at its highest point and is famous for being one of the most scenic drives in the world, as well as one of the most dangerous due to its tight hairpin bends.
Ben Ledi is an 879-metre high mountain in the lower Scottish Highlands. It can be found 5 miles north-west of the popular country village of Callander in the Trossachs National Park.
The Trossachs are famous not just for their mountain ranges but also for their lochs which include the mighty Loch Lomond – one of the most scenic bodies of water in the United Kingdom.
The Muir of Dinnet is a national nature reserve located on the eastern border of the Cairngorms national park in the Scottish Highlands.
The reserve features a wealth of different habitats including heath, woodland and wetland, but it’s perhaps best known for ‘the vat’, a natural gorge formed by glaciers over 10,000 years ago.
What if I told you there’s a 12-mile stretch of road where you can see those mountains, rivers and forests in a single relatively small area, where gob-smackingly beautiful vistas open up around every corner on a secluded, frequently tourist-free single-track road?
While Scotland’s west coast islands usually take first prize for the number of amazing beaches you’ll find (hello Isle of Tiree) you shouldn’t be too quick to discount Scotland’s mainland either, especially in the far north where it’s relatively tourist-free compared to the rest of the country.
This castle (actually castles – more on that later) stands on one of the most dramatic viewpoints in Scotland (in my humble opinion) with a wild and windswept coastline that instantly brings to mind a scene from Game of Thrones rather than a tourist attraction thanks to its near-impenetrable cliff-face setting.
Wick Heritage Museum in the North Highlands aims to promote the town’s history and culture through a collection of exhibits and artefacts.
The museum is located inside a large townhouse near Wick harbour where it showcases displays of Caithness glass, exhibits from the town’s fishing industry and much more.
Kilchurn Castle can be found just off the A85 at the northernmost point of Loch Awe, more or less midway between the Trossachs National Park and the Highland coastal town of Oban.
This is a cave that’s absolutely monumental in size, and the cave entrance has the privilege of being the largest sea cave entrance in Britain – something you’ll only really appreciate once you visit the place.
It was during my last visit to Sutherland, and while exploring the nearby Kyle of Tongue, that I took a minor diversion down a single-track road just a few hundred yards north of the A838 bridge and discovered a place that I just had to share with you.
One of the great things about the north Highlands is that it’s full of little surprises, from driving to the brow of a hill and finding a stunning mountainscape stretching away into the distance to stumbling into a quaint country village with a wee cafe that sells THE best cream cakes you’ve ever tasted.
