Loch Fir Raoilt

You'll find Loch Fir Raoilt tucked into the Highland landscape near Ardgay, a proper remote Scottish loch that rewards the effort to get there. The water stretches out dark and calm, ringed by steep hillsides that seem to close in on you - it's the kind of place where you understand why people move to Scotland and why they never leave.

There's not much infrastructure here, which is rather the point. You can walk the shoreline if you're willing to scramble over rocks and pick your way through overgrown bits, or simply pitch up somewhere quiet and sit with it. Fishing is the main draw for locals - the loch has a decent reputation for brown trout - but non-anglers will find it peaceful enough for a few hours of wandering and thinking about nothing much.

The drive from Ardgay feels longer than six miles because the roads get narrower and emptier. Allow a good half-day if you're not fishing, longer if you want to explore properly. It's the kind of spot that works brilliantly as a break from a longer holiday based at Ardgay Glamping - close enough for a morning visit, far enough that you actually feel like you've gone somewhere.

Winter can be bleak and midges arrive come summer, so spring and autumn are genuinely the sweet spot. Bring waterproofs. Bring binoculars if you're into birds. But mostly bring realistic expectations about what a remote Highland loch offers - solitude, scale, and the occasional golden eagle if you're lucky.