Moyle Park Campsite

If you’re a Gavin Maxwell fan, or just really into otters, you’ll want to make a pilgrimage to the Bright Water Visitor Centre on Skye (45 minutes by car): as well as learning all about Maxwell and the modern efforts to conserve the wildlife of this lush place, you can book guided trips to the author’s home on Eilan Bàn. While you’re on Skye, you might want to take in some more of the island’s attractions such as the Museum of the Isles, tours and tastings at the Talisker distillery and walks through the outstanding landscape to spots like Kilt Rock Waterfall and the Old Man of Storr. Half an hour away, Eilean Donan is the pick of the local castle collection, a fully-restored 13th-century pile on an island where three lochs converge. Duncraig Castle is more of a mansion and is close to Plockton (50 minutes' drive), an eccentric gem of a place with cows wandering the beach and palm trees on the streets. You can catch seal-spotting boat cruises from Plockton, or head to Kyle of Lochalsh, where the Seaprobe Atlantis takes you over the waters in a glass-bottomed boat. Shame they don’t do that on Loch Ness… you can, however, take boats on the famed monster loch from Fort August, an hour and 10 minutes away.