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A home befitting its wealthy landowners, the dukes of Sutherland. Towers, turrets and a palatial interior upon which no expense has been spared. Garden falconry displays too.

Glen of outstanding beauty, most easily accessed from the east at Cannich. But at the western end, near Morvich, there’s a walk to the breathtaking Falls of Glomach (see Glen Affric) .

Delightful grid-plan village with Gaelic street names, boat trips, ferries to the Western Isles, a museum and the dream-world Assynt Mountains. Visit Corrieshalloch Gorge en route.

Prime candidate for Scotland’s prettiest west-coast village, Plockton has sea, palm trees and a Rare Breeds Farm.

A Garden of Eden without the dirt. You’ll be amazed at what’s grown in this glasshouse using a soil-free irrigation system to keep the plants fed (see Hydroponicum) .

A leader of its kind, this local exhibition excels with a programme of old-industry demonstrations, such as spinning, corn-milling and butter-churning. By so doing, the museum brings history back into the life of the present. Terrific fun!

To get to this small coastal village, you’ll drive on pure adrenalin – the road climbs 750 m (2,000 ft) in steep zig-zags to the Pass of the Sheep. Even they have to hold on tight. The scenery – with views across to Skye – is magnificent, and from here the more gradual descent into Applecross begins.

Well worth a visit to understand the effect of the 19th-century Clearances, which even today is visible throughout the north.

Madonna chose it for her wedding and 16 earls of Sutherland requested it for their burials. An impressive 13th-century cathedral (now the parish church).

The annual event here is the one-day sheep sale – the biggest in the country with up to 40,000 sheep.