Assynt

Assynt is one of the last truly wild places in Europe, a mesmerising landscape where ancient mountains rise in extraordinary shapes from a primeval terrain of water and rock. The peaks here - Suilven, Stac Pollaidh, Canisp, Quinag, and others - stand as isolated sentinels, their distinctive profiles making them instantly recognisable and impossibly photogenic. This is landscape on a geological timescale that defies comprehension.

The bedrock here is Lewisian gneiss, some of the oldest rock on Earth at nearly three billion years old. Upon this ancient foundation, the sandstone peaks were shaped by ice ages and millennia of weathering into the dramatic forms we see today. The landscape is dotted with hundreds of small lochs, their surfaces reflecting the ever-changing Highland skies, creating a watery labyrinth that stretches to the horizon.

The village of Lochinver serves as an excellent base for exploring Assynt, with its working fishing harbour and excellent seafood. The area offers world-class hill walking, from the relatively straightforward ascent of Stac Pollaidh to the more demanding traverse of Suilven's ridge. For those preferring gentler exploration, the coastal road and numerous lochan-side paths provide endless opportunities to absorb this extraordinary landscape.