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An extraordinary symphony in grey, almost everything in Aberdeen is built of granite - even the roads. When drenched with sun and rain, the silvery stone has a fairy-tale shine; when suffocated by cloud it can be a wee bit depressing. A spotless place, brimming with civic pride, Aberdeen is the service port for one of the world's largest offshore oilfields. Its already large population is mixed with multinational oil workers and a vital student population - a heady mix!
The Highland resort town of Aviemore is the stepping-off point for the hiking and skiing paradise of the Cairngorm Mountains. Lying on the only arctic plateau in Britain, the area attracts rare animals such as pine marten, wildcat, red squirrel, osprey (particularly around the Boat of Garten) and deer. Fishing for salmon is popular in the pure mountain water of the River Spey and surrounding lochs, while the Rothiemurchus Estate and Glenmore Forest Park preserve acres of pine and spruce, with guided walks and trails and a range of water sports.
The bleak, remote and treeless islands of the Outer Hebrides run in a 130mi (209km) arc, completely exposed to the gales that sweep in from the Atlantic. The horizon is wide, with white beaches, peat moors and long, low vistas of sky and water dominating. One of Scotland's largest centres for the crofting way of life and Gaelic culture, Protestantism makes it also one of the world's last refuges of the strictly held Sabbath.
Tiny Barra is just 12 miles (19km) around and ideal for exploring on foot. It encapsulates the Outer Hebridean experience, with its beautiful beaches, Neolithic remains and strong sense of community. Heading north, expansive South Uist is the second-largest island in the group. The west coast is low with an almost continuous sandy beach, while the hilly east coast is cut by four large sea lochs. You'll miss low-lying and soggy Benbecula if you blink and, since it's dominated by the British armed forces' missile firing range, perhaps that would be a good thing. North Uist is half-drowned by lochs, with magnificent beaches on the western side. The chambered burial tomb of Bharpa Langas is the Uists' most spectacular Neolithic site.
Superlatives run out when you reach Harris, which boasts the islands' most spectacular scenery. The combined effect of mountains, beaches, dunes and weird rocky coastline and hills make the other islands in the group pale by comparison. Harris is also home to that cloth of professors, Harris Tweed: it is handwoven in the islanders' homes. The port of Tarbert is overshadowed by mountains on a narrow land bridge, sandwiched between two lochs and North and South Harris. North Harris is the most mountainous part of the Hebrides, while South Harris is known for its beaches, crofts and lunar landscape. The Outer Hebrides terminate at Lewis. The island's northern half is a low and flat moorland, dotted with numerous small lochs and crofts which end at the Butt of Lewis, home to a lighthouse and large colonies of nesting seabirds. The south of Lewis is beautiful, with Carloway Broch, a well-preserved, 2000-year-old defensive tower, and the Callanish Standing Stones' 54 boulders arranged in the shape of a Celtic cross that predate the pyramids by 1000 years.