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Around 500 BC the Iron Age people began building defensive forts called brochs. Masterfully designed, these double-skinned walls of dry stones were raised into circular towers, with an elegant taper at their waists. Remains of brochs are scattered across northern Scotland but Mousa is the best preserved. You can only reach it by boat, and then must climb 13 m (43 ft) to the open parapet.

Matching Skye for beauty if not for size, Mull is the second largest of the Inner Hebrides. Don’t miss the prize gardens at Torosay Castle (which can be reached by miniature railway from Craignure), while the imperious Duart Castle is a more austere proposition. A tour of the island must include side trips to Iona and Staffa, and Calgary Beach will stop you in your tracks. Tobermory is the place to unwind – its colourful seafront is a classic postcard scene. The Misnish Bar there often has live music.

Bicycles, cars, lorries, buses, trains, fire engines … hundreds and hundreds of everything on wheels in acres of gleaming metal-work. You can walk through or climb into the larger vehicles, or sit in an original Glasgow tram. Upstairs are 250 model ships illustrating the story of Clyde shipbuilding. Watch out for the penny on the cobbles of the re-created 1938 shopping street – but don’t try to pick it up, or you could be there all day.

Nardini’s is a Scottish landmark – a bright cavern of ice cream, chips and chocolate, plus an array of Italian dishes.

An internationally significant collection of paintings, from a select group of early Renaissance masterpieces to works by Rembrandt, Velazquez, Gainsborough, Ramsay and Raeburn (see National Gallery of Scotland) .

Scotland’s leading gallery includes masterpieces by the great Scottish artists, such as Raeburn and Ramsay, but is best known for its 15th- to 18th-century British and European paintings. In these collections, you’ll find works by Botticelli, Velazquez, Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian and many more besides (see National Gallery of Scotland) .