Scotland Van Atlas — Cinematic Expedition

1. Three Sisters of Glencoe & Hidden Valley
The cathedral of the Highlands — three vast glaciated ridges (Bidean nam Bian) rising sheer from the A82, with the hanging Hidden Valley (Coire Gabhail) tucked behind.
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2. Glen Etive
A dead-end single-track glen running 14 miles to the sea at Loch Etive, lined with river pools, falls and the 'Skyfall' viewpoint.
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3. Fort William
The 'Outdoor Capital of the UK' beneath Ben Nevis — your last big resupply, fuel, and services hub before the wild west.
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4. Glenfinnan Viaduct
The 21-arch curved railway viaduct made world-famous by the Hogwarts Express, arcing above Loch Shiel and the Glenfinnan Monument.
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5. Arisaig
A scatter of white-sand coves and skerries on the Road to the Isles, with Gulf-Stream-warmed clear water looking out to Rum, Eigg and Skye.
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6. Camusdarach Beach
A perfect curve of white shell-sand backed by dunes — the beach from the film 'Local Hero' — with rockpools and views to Rum and Eigg.
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7. Morar Silver Sands
A run of dazzling white-sand coves and tidal lagoons between Arisaig and Mallaig, backed by dunes, beside Britain's deepest loch.
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8. Mallaig
A working fishing harbour and CalMac hub at the end of the Road to the Isles — gateway to Skye (Armadale) and the Small Isles, and landed-that-morning seafood.
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9. Isle of Skye
The Misty Isle — the route's epic centrepiece: the Cuillin, the Old Man of Storr, the Quiraing, the Fairy Pools, Neist Point and the painted harbour of Portree.
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10. Applecross & the Bealach na Bà
A remote shoreline village reached over the Bealach na Bà — Britain's most dramatic mountain pass (626m, 1-in-5, hairpins) — with a legendary inn at the end.

11. Torridon
A village at the head of a sea loch beneath Liathach and Beinn Alligin — among the oldest, most majestic mountains in Britain (Torridonian sandstone walls 750m+).

12. Gairloch
A scattered crofting community with golden beaches (Big Sand, Gairloch Beach), superb whale-and-dolphin watching and sunsets over the Minch to Skye.

13. Ullapool
A handsome whitewashed herring port on Loch Broom — the NC500's best town, the CalMac gateway to Stornoway, and the launchpad for Assynt.
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14. Assynt (Ardvreck, Suilven & Lochinver)
A geologist's dreamscape of isolated peaks (Suilven, Stac Pollaidh, Quinag) rising from ancient moorland, with a ruined castle on Loch Assynt and the famous Lochinver Larder pies.

15. Achmelvich Beach
A dazzling white-sand cove with turquoise water in a sheltered Assynt bay, plus the tiny Hermit's Castle folly nearby.

16. Outer Hebrides — The Crossing & Island-Hopping
The leap across the Minch to the Long Island — 130 miles of machair, Caribbean beaches, standing stones and Gaelic culture, hopped north-to-south by ferry and causeway.
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17. Harris & Lewis
One landmass, two characters: Harris with Luskentyre (a world top-10 beach) and the lunar Golden Road; Lewis with the 5,000-year-old Callanish Stones, Gearrannan blackhouses and th

18. North Uist & Berneray
A loch-shattered island (more water than land) joined to tiny Berneray, with the Balranald bird reserve and Berneray's three-mile West Beach — once mistaken for Thailand.
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19. Benbecula
The flat, loch-spattered link between the Uists, with the chain's main airport and supermarket, and quiet west-coast beaches (Culla, Poll na Crann 'Stinky Bay').

20. South Uist & Eriskay
A 20-mile ribbon of flower-rich machair backing an almost continuous white-sand beach, ending at Eriskay — where Bonnie Prince Charlie landed and the 'Whisky Galore' ship sank.
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21. Barra & Vatersay
The romantic southern gateway: a horseshoe harbour with a castle on a rock (Kisimul), the world's only beach-runway airport, and Vatersay's back-to-back white bays.

22. Return: Oban → Glencoe (the loop closes)
The long, scenic ferry from Barra delivers you to Oban — Scotland's seafood capital — from where the road north through Connel, Loch Awe and the Pass of Brander brings you full cir

The Full Expedition (Glencoe to the Isles and home)