Fair Isle

Fair Isle is the most remote inhabited island in Britain, three miles long and midway between Shetland and Orkney, home to about 60 people, two Stevenson lighthouses and the knitting tradition that carries its name round the world. The ornithologist George Waterston passed it to the National Trust for Scotland in 1954, and it remains a birdwatchers' place of pilgrimage: more than 350 species have been recorded, and the cliffs hold guillemots, gannets and puffins in summer, while the surrounding sea is Scotland's only Demonstration and Research Marine Protected Area. Iron Age settlements, Norse place names and a wartime German aircraft wreck dot the island, and the George Waterston Memorial Centre in the old school shows knitwear and island history. Reviewers speak of its wild beauty. Tips from visitors: boat and plane are both weather dependent so allow slack, Stackhoull Stores is the only shop and doubles as post office and cash point, and the Bird Observatory rangers offer free guided walks from May to October.