5 AMAZING places to sail to in Scotland!

Way up north, off the coast of rugged Scotland, there’s plenty enough between the wind and the waves to keep a sailor happy, but there’s also some impressive places to visit when you’re not having the time of your life out at sea. After heated discussion, our Scottish Sailing experts highlighted some of their favourites here:

 BARRA SANDS 

Want to visit the best beach in Scotland? Then head to the wonderful sandy beaches on the isle of Barra, as shown in our title picture, which is often voted one of the best beaches in Europe! All the beaches in the area look amazing on photographs, but they’re not that easy to get to – Barra is an island in the super-remote Outer Hebrides - so the chances are that if you get here, you will have the beach all to yourself!

 THE WHISKY ISLANDS 

Scotland’s greatest export is surely Scotch Whisky, which is now sold (and revered) around the world. Some of the world’s best whisky distillers are based on the remote Scottish islands, and they’re very welcoming to sailors who make the journey out to find them. Start the day with a dram of Lagavulin, then check out the distilleries of Bowmore, Ardbeg, Jura, and many more…!

 OBAN FOR SEAFOOD 

Scotland is also famous for its epically fresh and tasty seafood. And the country’s capital of seafood is the wonderful Oban, where you’ll be able to barter with the fisherman as they arrive fresh from expeditions out in the Atlantic Ocean, and where you can buy the best, freshest, tastiest and most delicious-est fish and shellfish in all the land!

 ST KILDA PUFFINS 

Any idea where Europe’s largest colony of puffins is? It’s in the super-remote St Kilda, way out West. The largely uninhabited islands in this archipelago are designated a World Heritage Site and are a haven for wildlife – including 140,000 Atlantic puffins and 60,000 Gannets. There’s also magnificent cliffs – if you’re not stunned by nature before you sail here, you almost certainly will be after!

 COLOURFUL TOBERMOREY 

There are few places that give you goosebumps when you sail towards them, but colourful Tobermorey, with its mixture of beautifully decorated houses is surely one of them. It’s an astounding place to sail, and one of the top sights in Scotland after it was made famous by a BBC children’s television series set on the island.

 Want more like this? 

This is part of our 'Destination Highlights' week of blogs focussing on sailing in Scotland - so check back here this week for more, like reasons why you need to go sailing in Scotland, 5 amazing places to sail to in Scotland, You can charter for a weekend in the UK, and more. You might also be interested in checking out our similar Destination Highlights: Croatia blog series from last month!