60° NORTH Hermaness, Shetland Isles

The Shetland Isles are far over the horizon from the majority of the population (108 miles beyond John o' Groats) and seem at least partly to exist in the land of storybook reality – where horses are the size of dogs, and on nights of ‘Simmer Din’ it never gets dark; an archipelago comprising a mainland under 50 miles long, yet which with 300 islands and skerries (islets) boasts a coastline of 1679 miles. The highest point is 1480ft/450m Ronas Hill, but no visit to the ends of the Earth is complete without a walk to the cliffs of Hermaness on Unst. To the west, the Atlantic; to the north the innaccesible terminus of the British Isles: the lighthouse at Muckle Flugga and the fullstop of Out Stack.

WALK HERE: Head north-west from the Hermaness NNR car park (grid ref: HP 612149) for a 7 ½ mile out-andback taking in Neap and Boelie.