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An internationally famous venue for performances of classics. Two modern studios complement the old Victorian auditorium.

“Palace” would be a more appropriate term, for this is the finest seat of any council in Britain, and Glasgow’s most prestigious building. Modelled on Classical Italian architecture, the building was designed by William Young and completed in 1888. The exterior is dramatic enough, but the interior is an exercise in the excesses of lavish décor. Aberdeen granite, Carrara marble, mahogany, gold leaf, frescoes, mosaics, pillars and balustrades are combined to astonishing effect. The Banqueting Hall is surely modelled on a dandy’s vision of heaven.

Looking like it’s been around for aeons (though only in fact since the late 1980s), City Merchant is a Gallic-Scottish delight. Alongside some meaty mains, fish is the star.

A legendary haunt of walkers, this hotel offers a wide range of food but is best known for its bar – as essential to Highland trekkers as a first munro.

Chicken, leeks, rice and prunes cooked in chicken stock – as wonderful as its name.

If you’re into surfing or kayaking, this is the place. But even if you’re not, the views across sand and surf are truly exhila- rating, and there’s plenty of good walking. Plain hostel in a red stone building – but what a setting!

Wild flowers, migrant birds, otters, standing stones, active crofts, a castle and a surfeit of beaches contribute to making this a particularly varied and delightful island.

Overnight or weekly accommodation in a historic college adjoining Britain’s smallest cathedral, the Cathedral of the Isles. Full and half board available, depending on the current programme. A timeless and deeply spiritual place to rest mind and body.

Colonsay has provided farmland and shelter to people since at least the Bronze Age, and many of their tombs and standing stones remain. Old traditions persist here, and Colonsay is still a strong crofting (see West Coast Islands) and fishing community. Wild flowers and birds thrive on this terrain, but it is the coastline, with its mix of sprawling and secretive beaches, that lures most visitors. Check the tides and walk out to the adjacent little island of Oronsay, with its ruined priory; its Christian roots go back as far as Iona’s.

The physicist James C Maxwell produced the world’s first photograph with three colours in 1861.