The most westerly island in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides, its Gaelic name, Toriodh means ‘the land of corn’. Vast stretches of white sand beaches, a high number of sunshine hours and a strong wind that remains untamed by the flat landscape has turned it into a mecca for windsurfers and earned it the title of ‘Hawaii of the North’ by some and the ‘land beneath the waves by others’.
The high point, Carnan Mor, is a solitary, 141-metre hill that rises above an almost treeless landscape. Inland, the land is rough whilst the coastal fringes are populated and farmed. Its 58 km of coastline is made up of numerous wild, crescent-shaped bays – each with fine, white sand and near deserted. The Gulf Stream warms the waters around Tiree and its near-neighbour, Coll, and they are full of marine life. You’ll likely see something in the water, whether it’s a minke whale, white-beaked dolphin, harbour porpoise or basking shark in Gunna Sound – the narrow waters between Tiree and Coll.
Tiree is a big bird watching destination with diving gannets, arctic terns and dive-bombing arctic skuas and plenty of wildfowl, swans and gees on the inland lochs.
- Look out for:
- Whales, basking sharks, gannets, arctic terns
- No midgies
- A choice of deserted white sand beaches, our favourite is Traigh Thodhrasdail for wildness and surf
- Windsurfing mecca
- Views from
