The ‘granite city’ of Aberdeen is flush with money from the North Sea oil boom, and boasts cultural attractions including the fascinating Maritime Museum and the Aberdeen Art Gallery. Head out into the countryside and you’ll find magnificent castles, wild mountain scenery and whisky distilleries aplenty.

The pretty fishing town of Ullapool is a popular gateway to both the Highlands and the Western Isles, bustling with visitors during the summer. There is an excellent museum with exhibits on crofting, fishing and emigration, while just offshore the uninhabited Summer Isles are home to seabirds, dolphins and porpoises.

The Isle of Skye is one of Scotland’s most popular tourist destinations, thanks to a spectacular landscape of jagged peaks, misty moors and glassy lochs. The island’s biggest town is Portree, a pleasant little place with a colourful harbour.

The tiny island of Canna is the westernmost of the Small Isles, and was gifted to the National Trust for Scotland in 1981 by its former owner John Lorne Campbell. Canna was the site of an early Christian settlement, associated with St Columba, and supports wildlife including porpoises, puffins and eagles.

Killybegs is a bustling fishing port on the Donegal coast, and you’ll see both local and international vessels filling the harbour. The village has some nice pubs worth visiting, and the surrounding countryside is typified by beautiful coastal scenery such as the dramatic Slieve League cliffs.

Galway is known as the ‘city of festivals’, home to a cosmopolitan mix of artists, musicians and students. Buskers and folk bands provide the soundtrack as you explore the city’s fantastic pubs and pedestrianised streets, and Galway is also a useful base for visiting sights such as the Cliffs of Moher and Connemara National Park.

The beautiful Dingle Peninsula reaches out into the crashing Atlantic surf, culminating in the westernmost point on the Irish mainland. The peninsula’s buzzing ‘capital’, Dingle town, is a charming little place full of lively pubs, colourful shopfronts and toe-tapping traditional Irish music.

The craggy, windswept island of Skellig Michael rises improbably from the churning Atlantic, topped by a UNESCO-listed monastic settlement. Star Wars fans will recognise this spectacular location as Luke Skywalker’s Jedi temple from ‘The Force Awakens’, while birders are drawn here by the world’s second largest colony of gannets.

Colourful Kinsale is situated on a sheltered natural harbour, guarded by a brooding 17th-century fortress. The winding streets are a delight to explore, and the town is home to some excellent restaurants, galleries, pubs and shops. For sublime coastal views, take a trip out to the Old Head of Kinsale Lighthouse.

Plymouth has a fine seafaring heritage, and it was here that the Pilgrim Fathers set sail for the New World on board the Mayflower. The city was badly damaged during the Second World War, but an ongoing regeneration project is breathing new life into the waterfront, and nearby attractions include Buckfast Abbey and Dartmoor National Park.

White Cliffs Country is a fascinating region, one packed with history and natural beauty. We think there is no sight like that of the stunning cliffs rising from the sea, topped by the fortifications of Dover Castle, and surrounded by lush green countryside.

Greenwich was once the seat of British naval power, and you can learn more about the area’s seafaring heritage at the fascinating National Maritime Museum. Other attractions include the Cutty Sark, the O2 Arena and the Royal Observatory, where you can straddle two hemispheres by placing one foot either side of the Greenwich Meridian Line.

St Mary’s is the largest of the Isles of Scilly, and the gateway to the islands for those arriving by ferry from Penzance. Take a wander around charming Hugh Town, explore some of the lovely nearby beaches and look out for wildlife including seals, puffins and fulmars.

Rugged and unspoilt, peaceful and perhaps a little parochial, the Isle of Man is proud to be different. The island has its own government, the Tynwald, which is said to be the oldest continuous parliament in the world, as well as its own language and even its own currency, the Manx pound.

The city of Dublin has something for everyone with great shopping, beautiful Georgian architecture, lovely parks, galleries and museums. Everywhere you go you will be bowled away by the jovial Irish welcome. Don’t miss the chance to sample a local pint of Guinness.

Sparsely populated Rathlin Island, off the coast of Northern Ireland, is home to thousands of seabirds, including puffins, kittiwakes, razorbills and guillemots. This is also where Robert the Bruce famously took refuge in a cave when he was driven out of Scotland by the English.

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.

The uninhabited island of Staffa is known for its striking geology, characterised by the same hexagonal basalt columns as the Giant’s Causeway, and is home to the famous Fingal’s Cave. Seabirds including puffins, guillemots and razorbills nest here during spring and early 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.

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 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.

Situated on a natural harbour on the east coast of the Isle of Lewis, Stornoway is the largest town in the Outer Hebrides. The island is one of the last major strongholds of the Gaelic language, and is home to fascinating Neolithic sites such as the mysterious standing stones at Callanish.

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’.

The flat, windswept Orkney Islands, just off the northeast coast of Scotland, have a distinctive Scandinavian heritage that’s discernible in everything from the unusual place names to the ancient Norse architecture of the capital, Kirkwall. Don’t miss the Ring of Brodgar, a fascinating Neolithic stone circle.

The uninhabited island of Copinsay is part of the Orkneys, and was purchased by the RSPB in 1972 and turned into a nature reserve. Here you can expect to see huge colonies of seabirds including fulmars, kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills and puffins, along with a thriving grey seal population.

The flat, windswept Orkney Islands, just off the northeast coast of Scotland, have a distinctive Scandinavian heritage that’s discernible in everything from the unusual place names to the ancient Norse architecture of the capital, Kirkwall. Don’t miss the Ring of Brodgar, a fascinating Neolithic stone circle.

Invergordon’s deep natural harbour makes it a popular jumping off point for the Scottish Highlands, and most cruise ship visitors will head inland on excursions to Loch Ness, Culloden battlefield or the nearby city of Inverness, capital of the Highlands.