The silence of the Sutherland is the loudest silence in Europe: the no traffic, the no people, the no machines, and the wind through the heather, the curlew, the red deer that is the 500 metres away on the flank of the Ben More Assynt, the silence that is the reason the people come to the far north-west of the Scotland and the silence that is the reason the people do not stay. The Sutherland is the least-populated region in the western Europe: the 2,200 km², the 13,000 people, the 6 people per the km² (the London is the 5,700), and the Sutherland is the most beautiful region in the UK. The Caribbean has the white sand and the blue sea; the Sutherland has the heather, the loch, the mountain, and the sky that is the larger than the land. Here is your guide.

Skip the Caribbean, Try Sutherland

• The landscape, the essential Sutherland: The Sutherland is the region of the far north-west of the Scottish Highlands, and the landscape is the most beautiful in the UK: the mountains (the Suilven, the 731 metres, the sugar-loaf, the most beautiful mountain in the Scotland, the 4-hour walk from the Glencanisp Lodge, the ridge, the scramble, the best view in the Scotland; the Ben More Assynt, the 998 metres, the highest in the Sutherland, the 6-hour walk, the view of the Minch; the Stac Pollaidh, the 612 metres, the most accessible mountain in the Sutherland, the 3-hour walk, the ridge, the pinnacles, the most photographed mountain in the north-west), the lochs (the Loch Assynt, the Ardvreck Castle, the 15th-century ruin on the island in the loch, the most photographed castle in the Highlands; the Loch Shin, the 27 km, the longest loch in the Sutherland, and the hydro-electric dam, the 1950s, the most visible sign of the 20th century in the landscape), and the coast (the Cape Wrath, the most north-westerly point on the British mainland, the lighthouse, the cliffs, the 4×4-track, the ferry from the Durness, and the essential feeling of the edge of the world). The essential walk: the Sandwood Bay (the 6 km walk from the Blairmore, the 1.5 hours each way, the most beautiful beach in the UK, the pink sand, the sea-stack, the Atlantic that is the uninterrupted until the Canada. The walk, the beach, and the best day in the Sutherland). More UK →
• The practicalities, the essential Sutherland: The Sutherland is the remote, and the remote is the attraction and the challenge: the car is the essential (the no train, the no bus, the essential vehicle for the Sutherland is the car, the petrol is the long distances, the fill the tank at the Inverness before the drive north, and the petrol station in the Lairg is the last before the Lochinver on the west coast), the accommodation (the self-catering cottage, the essential Sutherland holiday, the £500–800/week, the remote, and the essential strategy: the book months in advance, the best cottages are the booked a year ahead. The essential village: the Lochinver, the fishing village, the pie shop (the Lochinver Larder, the best pies in the Scotland, and the best lunch in the west. ~£5 for the pie), and the Assynt Aromas (the village shop that is the cafe, the cake, and the essential stop). The Durness, the most northerly village on the British mainland, the Smoo Cave (the sea cave, the waterfall, the 40-metre entrance, the most impressive cave in the Scotland. The free), and the Cocoa Mountain (the chocolatier, the hot chocolate, and the best hot chocolate in the Scotland. ~£4). The essential hotel: the Altnacealgach Inn (the isolated, the loch, the 6 rooms, the dinner, the venison, the salmon, and the best meal in the Sutherland. ~£120/night for the room and the breakfast)