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St Kilda National Nature Reserve (NTS)

West of Benbecula

Remote and spectacular, St Kilda lies 41 miles (66 km) west of Benbecula. It has the largest seabird colony in the north-east Atlantic, and is home to almost a million birds, including a quarter of the world's population of gannets. St Kilda also has its own subspecies of wren and field mouse, as well as a wild flock of primitive Soay sheep.Make the trip and you're guaranteed one of the experiences of a lifetime. People lived on Hirta, the main island, until 1930. They depended on the seabirds; puffins were collected for their feathers and meat, young fulmars for oil and young gannets for meat.