Isle of North Uist and the Isle of Berneray

North Uist is a stunning blend of beaches, machair lands and freshwater lochs interrupted by rolling dark moorland hills. A moody setting for Paul Young's Hooked on Scotland, the landscape of North Uist looks like a giant waterlogged sponge from the air with its thousands of freshwater lochs. It's undoubtedly a dream for anglers as you can always find a whole loch teeming with healthy wild fish to yourself. Running 13 miles North to South it takes roughly 45 miles to travel around the whole island. The west coast looks out to the beautiful small Isle of Vallay which can be reached at low tide and is home to a foreboding deserted mansion house. Nearby, is the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Balranald nature reserve, where Bill Oddie found a bird watcher's paradise, bursting with coastal waders and divers.

To the North, the charming Island of Berneray, home to an active, friendly community, is HRH Prince Charles favourite Scottish island, where he spent a week for the documentary, "Prince Among Islands." The ferry from Harris now arrives in Berneray, which is now linked to North Uist by causeway.

North Uist's modern culture is vibrant, particularly in terms of the arts: a fantastic video of island life and culture, Passing Places, was produced and can be bought in the arts centre, Taigh Chearsabhagh, in Lochmaddy. Lochmaddy, North Uist's main town, is the gateway to the Southern Isles from Uig on the Isle of Skye.