The island of Guernsey draws visitors south from the British mainland with its more favourable climate and beautiful coastline. The capital, St Peter Port, is a lovely little town of cobbled streets and elegant architecture, and there are also several interesting museums dedicated to the island’s occupation by the Nazis during the Second World War.

Tresco is the second largest of the Isles of Scilly, privately owned and best known for the famous Abbey Garden. Founded by Augustus Smith in the 1830s on the site of the old Benedictine Abbey, this extraordinary subtropical garden is home to thousands of exotic plant species.

Tobermory, an old fishing station brightened by a crescent of colourful houses, is the main settlement on the Isle of Mull. This rugged and varied island is one of the most popular destinations in the Hebrides, and is rich in wildlife, home to species including white-tailed eagles, otters and whales.

The tiny island of Iona, situated off the southwestern tip of Mull, is said to be the cradle of Christianity in Scotland, and is a popular place of pilgrimage. Thousands of visitors flock here every year to visit the Abbey, and the island gets particularly busy in summer.

Lunga is the largest of the Treshnish Isles, a small archipelago off the west coast of Mull. The island has been uninhabited since the 19th century, and provides a haven for wildlife including puffins and seals. Lunga is also home to rare and endangered plants such as primroses and orchids.

The outlying Shiant Isles are a key breeding site for seabirds, home to species including Atlantic puffins, razorbills, common guillemots and northern fulmars. The islands are also a haven for seals and basking sharks, and are said to be haunted by mythical creatures known as ‘kelpies’.

Loch Ewe is a sea loch off the coast of Wester Ross, and the shores were traditionally inhabited by Gaelic speakers who lived in crofting villages. The loch had an important role during the Second World War as the base for Arctic shipping convoys, and is also home to Scotland’s smallest whisky distillery.

The little town of Dunvegan, on the west coast of Skye, is famous for Dunvegan Castle, seat of the Clan McLeod since the 13th century. The castle sits amongst beautiful gardens, and has a jetty where you can take boat trips out onto Loch Dunvegan in search of seals.

The St Kilda archipelago is a remote and rugged collection of sea stacks and rocky islands, some 40 miles to the west of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides. The islands constitute the largest nesting site for seabirds in the North Atlantic and are home to over a million birds, including puffins, gannets, fulmars and petrels.

The Westman Islands lie just off the south west coast of the Icelandic mainland, and most visitors head for the largest island, Heimaey. The jagged landscape is a reminder of Heimaey's volcanic origins; the most recent eruption, back in 1973, created the volcano now known as Eldfell, which looms over the island.

Surtsey is one of the world’s newest islands, formed by a volcanic eruption at sea which was first spotted by a fishing trawler in November 1963. Today the island covers just under two square miles, and provides a unique laboratory for scientists to study the colonisation of new land by plant and animal life.

Capital of Iceland and gateway to this extraordinary volcanic island, modern Reykjavík is home to an impressive collection of interesting attractions and places of historic significance. Visit the impressive Hallgrímskirkja church, relax in a thermal pool, potter around the old harbour, and enjoy 24 hour daylight in the summer months.