9 Scottish island locations you must visit before you die

The Quiraing on the Isle of Skye. Picture: Luis Ascenso

1. The Quiraing, Isle of Skye

Great for photographers, not so wonderful for drivers. The Quiraing is a landslip in Trotternish, and derives its name from the Old Norse Kvi Rand, meaning Round Fold. Offering a stunning view of the Skye landscape, the landslip is actually still moving - the road near Flodigarry needs repair works carried out on a yearly basis.

2. St Blane’s Church, Isle of Bute

Found on Bute’s southernmost tip, St Blane’s Church is a ruined chapel but its location offers truly spectacular views over to the Isle of Arran and the Holy Isle.

3. Kallin, Isle of Grimsay

You might not have heard of Grimsay, but it’s a picturesque island nestled between Benbecula and North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Kallin is one of just two villages on the island (thge other is Baymore) but the single track road allows for wonderful views of the uninhabited island of Ronay.

4. Mainland Orkney

Home to Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar, the Standing Stones of Stenness and Maes Howe. Need we say any more?

5. Portnahaven, Isle of Islay

A picturesque village on the western tip of the island of Islay, Portnahaven can be found at the southern end of the Rinns. Built during the 19th century, Portnahaven is home to a pattern of small crofting fields. There is also a shared church with the village of Port Wemyss, with one door for the people of Portnahaven and another for Port Wemyss parishioners.

6. Pierowall, Isle of Westray

Not only can you take the world’s shortest scheduled flight from Westray, Pierowall has a wide range of historical remains dating back to the Neolithic, Iron and Middle Ages as well as a large pagan Norse cemetery. It is also home to two ruined churches as well as the remains of Noltland Castle, built in the 1500s by Gilbert Balfour.

7. Isle of Eriskay

Easily missed by tourists catching the ferry to Barra from South Uist, Eriskay is one of the jewels of the Hebridean islands. It was just off Eriskay that the SS Politician ran aground in the 1940s, inspiring Whisky Galore! while the Jacobite Rising was established by Bonnie Prince Charlie and his ‘seven men of Moidart’ on the island in 1745.

8. Craighouse, Isle of Jura

The main settlement on the Isle of Jura in the Inner Hebrides, Craighouse is home to the Jura Distillery as well as, somewhat unusually, palm trees. The Paps of Jura are also worth a visit.

9. Fetlar, North Isles of Shetland

The fourth-largest island of Shetland, Fetlar’s most prominent feature is the Finnigirt Dyke; a wall that separates the island thought to date from Mesolithic times. As well as hosting the Fetlar sheepdog trials, the island is also the birthplace of Sir William Watson Cheyne, one of the pioneers of antiseptic. In 2012, a message in a bottle written in 1914 was found by the skipper of a fishing boat, and there are numerous shipwrecks off the island with Danish, Dutch, Germany and Soviet vessels among the wrecks.