Scottish Islands You Don’t Want to Miss

There are around 790 islands off the coast of Scotland, though the exact count depends on how you define an “island” (size, whether permanently above water, etc.). Of these, roughly 130 are inhabited. The main island groups are the Hebrides (Inner and Outer), Orkney, and Shetland. The largest Scottish island is Lewis and Harris, part of the Outer Hebrides.

These islands hold some of the most dramatic scenery, deepest history, and richest wildlife in all of Europe.

Whether you are drawn to prehistoric standing stones, world-famous whisky, Viking heritage, or white-sand beaches that look more Caribbean than Scottish, there is an island to suit every kind of traveller. Here is our guide to the Scottish islands you truly should not miss.

1. Isle of Skye — The Winged Isle

The Isle of Skye is the largest island in the Inner Hebrides, stretching roughly 50 miles from tip to tip. Its Gaelic name, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach, is often translated as the ‘winged isle,’ a reference to its shape when viewed from above. Skye sits off Scotland’s north-west coast and can be reached by the Skye Bridge from Kyle of Lochalsh or by ferry from Mallaig.

People have lived on Skye for around 9,000 years. The Picts settled here during the Iron Age, building circular stone towers called brochs. Viking raids and Norse settlement followed, leaving a lasting mark on the island’s place names and culture. The medieval period was dominated by two great clans: the MacLeods and the MacDonalds, who fought for control of the island for centuries. Skye is also closely linked with the Jacobite Rising of 1745. After the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie at the Battle of Culloden, the fugitive prince was famously rowed ‘over the sea to Skye’ by Flora MacDonald, disguised as her Irish maidservant.

Dunvegan Castle, on the shores of Loch Dunvegan in the north of the island, has been the home of the Chiefs of Clan MacLeod for around 800 years, making it the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland. Visitors can tour the castle, explore its formal gardens, and take a boat trip to see the local grey seal colony.

Skye has also produced some extraordinary geological discoveries. Fossil footprints and bones of sauropod and theropod dinosaurs dating back around 170 million years to the Middle Jurassic period have been found on the island, making it one of the most significant dinosaur fossil sites in Europe.

For visitors today, Skye offers the dramatic Cuillin mountain range, the rock formation known as the Old Man of Storr, the colourful harbour town of Portree, the fairy-tale Fairy Glen near Uig, and outstanding wildlife including white-tailed sea eagles, red deer, otters, and porpoises. Gaelic is still spoken by many islanders, and the island’s traditional music scene is thriving.

2. Orkney — Where Prehistory Meets the Sea

Orkney is an archipelago of around 70 islands lying just off the northern tip of mainland Scotland. About 20 of these islands are inhabited, and the largest, simply called the Mainland, is home to the capital, Kirkwall. The name Orkney comes from the Old Norse word Orkneyjar, meaning Seal Islands.

Orkney has one of the highest concentrations of ancient sites in Europe. Archaeological evidence shows that people were living here as far back as around 3900 BCE. The Heart of Neolithic Orkney, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, encompasses four remarkable monuments: Skara Brae, a preserved Stone Age village first occupied around 3100 BCE; Maeshowe, a chambered burial cairn built around 2800 BCE; the Ring of Brodgar, a stone circle dating to between 2500 and 2000 BCE; and the Standing Stones of Stenness, thought to be among the oldest stone circles in Britain. On the island of Papa Westray, the Knap of Howar is a Neolithic farmstead dated to around 3500 BCE, making it one of the oldest preserved stone houses in northern Europe.

Orkney was part of the Norse kingdom for over 600 years. It was finally pledged to Scotland in 1468 when the King of Norway offered the islands as collateral for his daughter’s marriage dowry to King James III of Scotland. The dowry was never paid, and Orkney became permanently Scottish. Norse heritage remains central to Orcadian identity, and most place names across the islands still have Old Norse roots.

Orkney played a vital role in both World Wars as a major naval base, with the great natural harbour of Scapa Flow at its heart. In June 1919, the German High Seas Fleet, which had been interned at Scapa Flow after the Armistice, was deliberately scuttled by its commander, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, in the largest act of naval scuttling in history. The wrecks remain on the seabed today and are popular with divers. A more uplifting wartime story is the Italian Chapel, built by Italian prisoners of war during World War Two using scrap metal and salvaged materials from a prefabricated Nissen hut. Its beautifully decorated interior makes it one of the most remarkable small buildings in Scotland.

For travellers, Orkney also offers Highland Park whisky, distilled in Kirkwall since the 18th century, an extraordinary variety of seabirds including puffins, and the inter-island flight between Westray and Papa Westray — at roughly two minutes in the air, the world’s shortest scheduled commercial flight.

3. Shetland — Scotland’s Most Northerly Outpost

Shetland is a group of around 100 islands located 130 miles north of the Scottish mainland, sitting at the same latitude as Bergen in Norway and southern Greenland. Fewer than 20 of the islands are inhabited. The capital and main town is Lerwick on the largest island, also called Mainland. Shetland is the most northerly point of the United Kingdom; the lighthouse rocks of Muckle Flugga, off the tip of the island of Unst, mark the very northern edge of Britain.

Like Orkney, Shetland was once firmly within the Norse world. Stone circles and brochs built by the Picts survive from prehistoric times, and Christian missionaries arrived during the 7th and 8th centuries. Norse settlers came from the late 8th century onwards, and the islands remained Norwegian until they were pledged to Scotland alongside Orkney in 1468. Norse influence runs even deeper in Shetland than in Orkney, and traces of the old Norse dialect known as Norn could still be heard in some communities into the 18th century.

Shetland’s most dramatic cultural event is Up Helly Aa, an annual fire festival held in Lerwick on the last Tuesday of January. It culminates in a torch-lit procession by participants dressed as Viking warriors, followed by the ceremonial burning of a replica Viking longship. The festival celebrates Shetland’s Norse heritage and has been held in its current form since the 1880s. Smaller Up Helly Aa events also take place in communities across the islands.

Shetland is also known for its wildlife. Orca pods are regularly spotted in island waters, and the islands support huge colonies of seabirds. Mousa, a small uninhabited island, is home to Mousa Broch, the best-preserved Iron Age broch tower in existence. In summer, the ‘simmer dim’ keeps the sky light well into the night. Shetland wool and knitwear, including the famous Fair Isle patterned garments, are known worldwide.

4. Lewis and Harris — The Outer Hebrides at Their Finest

Lewis and Harris form a single island, the largest in Scotland and the third largest in the British Isles after Great Britain and Ireland. Despite sharing the same landmass, Lewis in the north and Harris in the south are considered distinct by local residents, with separate characters and landscapes. Lewis is flatter with sweeping moorland, while Harris is more mountainous, with the Clisham range and a dramatic rocky eastern coastline.

The Callanish Standing Stones on Lewis are among the most significant prehistoric monuments in Britain. This cruciform arrangement of standing stones, with a central circle, was erected around 3000 BCE, thought to predate Stonehenge by roughly 2,000 years. The site is believed to have been used for ceremonial purposes connected to the movements of the moon.

Harris is world-famous for Harris Tweed, a hand-woven woollen cloth that has been made in the Outer Hebrides for centuries. Under the Harris Tweed Act of 1993, the fabric is legally protected and can only be called Harris Tweed if it is hand-woven by islanders in their own homes using Scottish wool that has been dyed and spun on the islands. The industry continues to employ hundreds of local weavers today.

The beaches of Harris, particularly Luskentyre, are regularly named among the most beautiful in Britain, with their white shell-sand and turquoise waters more reminiscent of the tropics than the North Atlantic. Gaelic is widely spoken across Lewis and Harris, and the islands retain a strong Sabbatarian tradition.

Lying 50 miles west of Harris, the remote archipelago of St Kilda is accessible by boat trips from Harris and Skye (weather permitting). A dual UNESCO World Heritage Site, St Kilda was continuously inhabited for thousands of years until 1930, when its last 36 residents were evacuated at their own request, having found their way of life no longer sustainable. Today the island is uninhabited by people but supports over one million seabirds at the height of breeding season, including the world’s largest colony of gannets.

5. Isle of Mull — Wildlife, Castles, and Colourful Quaysides

Mull is the second largest island in the Inner Hebrides and the fourth largest island in Scotland. It lies off the west coast and is reached by ferry from Oban, Lochaline, or Kilchoan. Ben More, at 966 metres, is the only island Munro (a Scottish mountain over 3,000 feet) outside Skye.

Mull’s main town is Tobermory, whose colourful painted buildings along the waterfront make it one of the most photographed small towns in Scotland. The town was established as a planned fishing village in 1788 by the British Fisheries Society. Duart Castle, on the eastern coast of Mull, dates back to the 13th century and is the ancestral seat of Clan MacLean.

Mull is outstanding for wildlife watching. White-tailed sea eagles, reintroduced to Scotland in the 1970s after being hunted to extinction in the early 20th century, are now well established on the island. Hen harriers, golden eagles, red deer, otters, and dolphins are all regularly encountered. Just off the western coast of Mull lies the uninhabited Isle of Staffa, famous for Fingal’s Cave, a natural sea cave formed from hexagonal basalt columns that inspired Felix Mendelssohn’s 1830 orchestral overture, Fingal’s Cave (The Hebrides).

6. Iona — The Cradle of Scottish Christianity

Iona is a small island, roughly 3 miles long and 1.5 miles wide, lying just off the south-west tip of Mull. It is reached by a short ferry crossing from the Mull village of Fionnphort. Despite its tiny size, Iona holds an extraordinary place in Scottish and European history.

In 563 CE, the Irish monk St Columba arrived on Iona with twelve companions, having sailed from Ireland. He founded a monastery here that became one of the most important centres of Christian learning in early medieval Europe. From Iona, Columba and his monks spread Christianity throughout Scotland and northern England. The abbey was repeatedly attacked by Viking raiders from the late 8th century onwards, and many monks were killed, but the community survived and continued. Iona Abbey in its present form dates largely from the medieval period, though it incorporates much older foundations.

Reilig Odhrain, the ancient burial ground adjacent to the abbey, is traditionally said to be the resting place of many early Scottish kings, including Macbeth, who died in 1057, and Duncan I, who preceded him. Iona remains an active place of pilgrimage and spiritual retreat. The modern Iona Community, founded in 1938, continues to attract visitors and volunteers from around the world.

7. Islay — The Queen of the Hebrides

Islay (pronounced ‘Eye-lah’) is the southernmost of the Inner Hebrides and reached by ferry from Kennacraig or by air from Glasgow. Islay is world-famous for its single malt Scotch whisky. The island currently has eight working distilleries, producing some of the most distinctive whiskies in Scotland, characterised by rich, smoky, peaty flavours derived from the island’s peat bogs and coastal environment.

Islay has been inhabited for at least 10,000 years. During the medieval period it became the seat of power of the Lords of the Isles, the MacDonald clan rulers who controlled much of western Scotland from the 12th to the 15th centuries. Finlaggan, on two small islands in Loch Finlaggan, served as the main residence and council seat of the Lords of the Isles. The ruins of the great hall and chapel can still be visited today, and a small visitor centre tells the story of this powerful medieval lordship.

Islay is also a haven for wildlife. Each autumn and winter, massive flocks of barnacle geese and white-fronted geese arrive from their Arctic breeding grounds to winter on the island’s farmland.

8. Isle of Arran — Scotland in Miniature

Arran is often described as Scotland in Miniature, because it packs so much of what makes Scotland distinctive into a relatively compact space. The island lies in the Firth of Clyde and is reached by a 55-minute ferry from Ardrossan near Glasgow. The Highland Boundary Fault runs directly through Arran, meaning the north of the island is rugged and mountainous while the south is gentler and more agricultural.

Arran has important prehistoric remains. Machrie Moor, in the west of the island, contains several stone circles and standing stones dating back around 4,500 years, making it one of the most significant Bronze Age sites in Scotland. Brodick Castle dates from the 14th century in its original form and was passed to the National Trust for Scotland in 1958.

In 1815, the geologist James Hutton identified Arran as one of the key locations that helped him develop his Theory of Unconformity, laying foundations for the modern science of geology. Today visitors can tour a whisky distillery, sample local cheese and oatcakes, walk through red squirrel woodland, climb the peak of Goat Fell (874 metres), and cycle between villages.

Getting to the Islands

Most of the Scottish islands are served by CalMac (Caledonian MacBrayne) ferries, which operate an extensive network of routes from mainland ports. NorthLink Ferries serves Orkney and Shetland from Aberdeen and Scrabster. Loganair operates flights to many of the more remote islands from Scottish airports including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, and Aberdeen. The Isle of Skye can be reached by road across the Skye Bridge at no charge since the toll was abolished in 2004.

The best time to visit most islands is between late spring and early autumn, when daylight is long and the weather is at its most settled. That said, the islands have a distinctive beauty in all seasons, and winter brings the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights from Shetland and Orkney. Always book ferry crossings and accommodation well ahead, particularly during the summer months.

Scotland’s islands reward those who make the effort to reach them. Each one has shaped and been shaped by centuries of human history, and each has something that nowhere else on earth quite matches. Start planning your island adventure today.