Islands & Coastlines of Scotland from Belfast

Created around 60 million years ago, and said to be the corresponding piece of road built by the giant Fionn mac Cumhaill, to the UNESCO-listed Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, Fingal’s Cave is a basalt sea-cave with distinctive columns and a remarkable symmetry. Looming 69 metres out of the ocean, it appears to look like a piece of contemporary art, but is completely shaped by nature. Often, the cliffs and ledges are covered with native seabirds, including guillemots, razorbills and puffins.

Located on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Stornoway is a thriving town with a busy port, best seen from the top of ‘Gallow’s Hill’ – reached by the impressive grounds of Lews Castle. Originally built in 1847, the castle has had some well-known owners, including Lord Leverhume, who founded the company now known as Unilever. He gave the castle to the people of Stornoway, where it served as a naval hospital and college, but is now a noteworthy museum.

The Orkneys archipelago, around 70 islands in the far north of Scotland, were once the centre of innovation in the British Isles, where farmers in the Stones Ages brought various cattle, pigs and sheep, thus establishing farmsteads on the islands. Today, Skara Brae is a preserved settlement, along with excavated burial and ceremonial sites. Kirkwall stands as the capital of the islands, and is the perfect starting point for exploring Orkney’s fascinating historical sites.

Part of the Inner Hebrides, lying just south of the Isle of Skye, are the Small Isles. Comprised of four beautiful islands; Eigg, Rum, Canna and Muck, they are all famed for their dramatic scenery, variety of wildlife and natural wonders. Mighty volcanic peaks surround Kinlock Castle on the largest island, Rum. The basalt cliffs of Canna, charming villages of Eigg, and Muck’s fertile lowlands and beautiful beaches make this archipelago the perfect scenic cruising destination.

Situated between the Inner Hebridean island of Mull and mainland Scotland, the Sound of Mull forms a part of the Atlantic Ocean. The sound is surrounded by sweeping green meadows, rocky shorelines, magnificent stone castles and sweeping wild hills; and is also a treat for nature lovers, with the sound being home to wildlife including seals, otters, over 260 species of bird and even larger mammals such as porpoise, minke whale, and occasionally basking sharks and orca.

Duart Castle dates back to the 13th century and guards the sea cliffs of the Isle of Mull, giving it one of the most spectacular positions for prominence in West Scotland. The castle treasures over 700 years of history of one of Scotland’s oldest clans, the Macleans, and is one of the last surviving privately owned clan castles in Scotland. Duart Castle was deliberately chosen to be sited on a high crag at the end of a peninsula, jutting into the Sound of Mull.

As you sail past the tiny, uninhabited island of Ailsa Craig, you will be afforded incredible vistas of this unusually shaped volcanic plug from a long extinct volcano. Designated as an RSPB Reserve, it is home to Europe’s largest gannet colony, as well as guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes, and puffins, and is also renowned for producing blue-hone granite that’s been used for curling stones over the last century, most notably for the Olympics and Paralympics. Ailsa Craig is steeped in Scottish legend and is said to be a pebble that fell from the apron of the female giant, Cailleach, or ‘fairy rock’ when translating from its Gaelic spelling.