2 Best Sights in The Northern Highlands and the Western Isles, Scotland

The most exciting way to reach this small community facing Skye is by a twisting, turning coastal road, which leaves the A896 just a few miles south of Shieldaig; simply follow the brown sign marked "Wester Ross Coastal Trail." A series of hairpin bends corkscrews up the steep wall at the head of a corrie (a glacier-cut mountain valley) and over the Bealach na Ba (Pass of the Cattle). There are spectacular views of Raasay and Skye from the bare plateau on top, and you can brag afterward that you've been on what is probably Scotland's highest drivable road.

The scenic spectacle of Glen Torridon lies east of Shieldaig; if you're following the A896 from Kinlochewe to Shieldaig, you pass right through it. Some say that Glen Torridon has the finest mountain scenery in Scotland. It consists mainly of the long, gray, quartzite flanks of Beinn Eighe and Liathach, with its distinct ridge profile that looks like the keel of an upturned boat.