Bucket list: Five Scottish islands you've probably not visited yet
The Shiant Islands (Image: Robin McKelvie)
Get there – Hebrides Cruises (www.hebridescruises.co.uk) are the only small ship operator running live-aboard Hebridean cruises that offer overnights in the Shiant Islands.
Foula
The Romans declared their Ultima Thule here 20 miles west of the Shetland Mainland and this magical island retains a palpable sense of the end of the world today. It's easy to see why Foula was chosen as the doppelganger for St Kilda in the 'Edge of the World' film. There is nowhere in Scotland quite like Foula though as they run to a different calendar (the Julian) than the rest of us, celebrating Christmas on January 6. The islanders are in my experience both stoic and welcoming; the kamikaze bonxies less so when you're hiking the hills without another human in sight. I saw a minke whale on our approach the first time I flew in, then a bonxie rip apart a healthy lamb right in front of its mum. Foula is that sort of wild and untamed outpost.
Foula (Image: Robin McKelvie)
Get there – You can fly on a wee plane from Tingwall (www.airtask.com/passenger-transport) or catch the ferry (www.shetland.gov.uk/ferries). It gets so rough that the ferry is often hauled out of the water to protect it.
Fair Isle
Yes we all know about the jumpers with geometric patterns supposedly inspired by waylaid Spanish Armada sailors, but where is it? Roughly halfway between Orkney and Shetland, that's where, with administrative duties taken care of by the latter. It's brilliant for birds with an RSPB reserve and the chance to get right up to puffins on the grassy cliffs. They've spent £7.4m on rebuilding the bird observatory destroyed by far in 2019. The scenery and the sea cliffs are epic too.
Fair Isle (Image: Robin McKelvie)
Get there – You can fly from Tingwall or catch a ferry (www.fairisle.org.uk/travel.html).
Papa Westray
There is far more reason to come to this northerly Orcadian wonder than taking the world's shortest fight from Westray – the journey distance is less than the length of Edinburgh Airport's runway. You'll rejoice in epic white sand beaches, a thriving community and one of the most impressive wee churches in our isles. Then there is the Knap of Howar, which makes Orkney Mainland's Neolithic wonders seem like IKEA. Northwestern Europe's oldest dwelling is a full half millennia older than Skara Brae. Savouring a dram here with our ancestors on a June Orkney night that refused to die is one of my most sublime travel memories.
Papa Westray (Image: Robin McKelvie)
Get there – NorthLink (www.northlinkferries.co.uk) ferry you to Orkney, then you can fly island hopping from Kirkwall (www.loganair.co.uk) on that route.
St Kilda
I wasn't sure when I started writing this I would include this distant archipelago, but how could I not? Set adrift in the Atlantic 40 miles west of North Uist the geology has more in common with the Faroes and Tolkien than the rest of Scotland. It was the first place in the world to be recognised on Unesco's World Heritage list twice – both for its natural and its human heritage. Since we abandoned St Kilda in 1930 the wildlife has thrived with thousands of gannets, puffins, gulls and sea eagles enjoying the run of this epic outpost. I've been five times and been lucky enough to land on all but one. I wish you all the luck in landing on the granddaddy of the Scottish islands you probably have not been to yet.
St Kilda (Image: Robin McKelvie)
Get there – A number of small ship operators brave the Atlantic rigours on live aboard adventures out here. I love the eight-passenger Splendour from Argyll Cruising (www.argyllcruising.com), who welcome guests with an intimacy and authenticity that is the antitheses of the massive cruise ships.
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