Staffa

Staffa is a half-mile island of black basalt columns off the west of Mull, formed from cooling lava some 60 million years ago, where the sea has carved out Fingal's Cave, the echoing cathedral of hexagonal pillars that Joseph Banks made famous in 1772 and Mendelssohn turned into the Hebrides Overture. Given to the National Trust for Scotland in 1986 by John Elliott of New York as a birthday present for his wife, it became a National Nature Reserve in 2001, and from May to early August puffins burrow in the clifftop grass a few feet from visitors. A staircase climbs from the jetty to the top and a narrow causeway along the cliff base leads to the cave. Reviewers call it the highlight of a Hebridean trip. Tips from visitors: landings depend on the swell, so book early in your stay and keep a spare day; the columns are slippery when wet, the path bottlenecks at busy times, and there are no toilets on the island.