Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye

A great pinnacle of rock standing on the Trotternish peninsula of the Isle of Skye, part of a huge landslip. The path up from the car park takes about an hour, steep and rough in places, to the base of the rocks with views across the Sound of Raasay.

Go early to avoid crowds. Further along the peninsula, the Quiraing is another extraordinary landscape of rock towers and cliffs, and the Fairy Pools in Glen Brittle are clear blue pools beneath waterfalls. Skye is reached by a bridge from the mainland at Kyle of Lochalsh.