Applecross Beach

You will never forget the hair raising mountain route to the remote Highland Peninsula of Applecross. A steep single track road twists through acute hairpin bends and 1 in 3 gradients to reach Bealach na Ba, the highest mountain pass in Britain.

The sand and pebble beach is fringed by aquamarine seas, with the scenic offshore islands of Raasay and Rona in the middle distance, and rugged purple blue peaks of the Cuilin mountain ridge on Skye behind. Back from the shore a ways it's a wilderness setting with trees, rivers and open moorland with red deer, otters, hares and buzzards often seen.

The calm waters are excellent for swimming, sea kayaking (01502 744394) and other water sports but the waters are exceptionally cold here and there is no lifeguard cover so be careful, don't go deep and always have someone left ashore.

The dunes reach up to 70ft on one side of the beach, which makes it excellent for sand sledging! Where's that toboggan? Googles recommended for that one, folks.

The postcode given is for the local tourist information centre to use with satnav, so please plan your full journey independently.