Visitor Attractions

Dunrobin Castle looks untouchable, but in the 1980s its public opening was losing money and a Swiss holiday company arrived with a £7 million rescue plan. The scheme disappeared, yet the problem it was meant to solve remains behind those polished doors.

John O' Groats has one of the biggest names in British tourism, but first impressions can be brutally underwhelming. Look beyond the tarmac, however, and you will find local beer, whisky, coastal walks and considerably more than a signpost.

Leave the road behind and sail into sheltered Loch Glencoul, where seals occupy the rocks, eagles patrol the mountains and Britain’s highest waterfall drops from the wilderness above.

At the same latitude as Moscow and Hudson Bay, Inverewe grows eucalyptus, Himalayan blue poppies and one of the world’s rarest trees. Protected from Atlantic storms and warmed by the ocean, this extraordinary Highland garden refuses to behave as geography intended.

Walk through the gate, continue up the drive and ignore the suspicion that you have taken a wrong turn. Badachro Distillery really is hidden beside the owners’ Highland home, and there are several glasses waiting inside.

The mountains looked enormous, the colours were extraordinary and the landscape appeared to stretch forever. Then your smartphone flattened everything into another disappointing snapshot. Jack Marris captures the Applecross landscape as visitors remember experiencing it.