Dark Mountain Range, Ocean Waves, Coastal Rock, Small Isles

Small Isles, big views

We're both seeing and standing on the Small Isles—so known even though they make many of the Hebrides' rocky islets and outcrops look even tinier. Standing on the long, flat tidelands of the isle of Eigg, we're seeing the distant sawtooth hills of its big sister Rùm. These two, plus a handful of smaller islands, form an archipelago that's home to about 150 people. A remote region indeed, but it's hardly Robinson Crusoe for these scrappy Scots: The Small Isles lie near Great Britain's westernmost tip, so ferries from the mainland make regular trips.