St Kilda World Heritage Site

St Kilda is the archipelago 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides that the National Trust for Scotland has cared for since 1957, the UK's only place listed by UNESCO for both its nature and its culture. Nearly a million seabirds breed on its cliffs and stacks, the highest in Britain, including the UK's largest Atlantic puffin colony and the world's biggest gannetry on Boreray, and Hirta has its own wren and an outsized field mouse. People lived here for at least 4,000 years on fulmars, gannets and puffins until the last 36 islanders asked to leave on 29 August 1930; their street of cottages, storehouses, church and schoolroom stand above Village Bay, grazed by primitive Soay sheep. Reviewers call it mystical and lonely and say the boat operators circle the stacks afterwards, which is worth the fare on its own. Tips from visitors: crossings take three to six hours each way and often turn back, so plan spare days; wear boots and layers, bring lunch and expect fog.