Tiny Scots island with ‘unspoilt’ beach named among UK’s ‘most beautiful’ places

A small picturesque beach on a Scottish island has been named as one of the UK’s most beautiful places.

Travel publication Time Out has put together a list of 15 of the most picturesque places across the nation. Coming in at number four is Singing Sands on the Isle of Eigg.

One of the Small Isles in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides, Eigg is home to a population of around just 100 people. Amongst the tiny island’s breathtaking and diverse scenery is Laig Bay and the spectacular Singing Sands beach.

Nestled amidst jaw-dropping rock formations on the northwest of the island, the beach feels a world away from the noise of the mainland. Singing Sands’ name comes from the unique sound its quartz sand makes after being stood on when it is dry.

Time Out writer Malcolm Jack wrote: “Trek or cycle northwest across the island to Laig Bay (you can hire bikes by the ferry pier) and you’ll find a secluded white crescent beach of such unspoiled beauty it’ll steal your breath away.

“The Singing Sands is so-called because its quartzite grains make a rasping or ‘singing’ sound as you walk on them or when they’re brushed by the wind. Gaze out towards the distant craggy mountains of Rùm, take a bracing Atlantic dip if you’re feeling bold, or simply slip off your shoes and enjoy nature’s strange song as sand slips between your toes.”

Meanwhile, Singing Sands wasn’t the only Scottish destination to be named among the UK’s “most beautiful” places. Also featuring on the list, at number eight, are the iconic Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye — famed for their vivid aqua colour.

Elsewhere, Loch Lomond also appears on Time Out’s list at number 11. The legendary loch, which is the biggest inland stretch of water in Great Britain by surface area, is home to an endless list of walking and hiking trails around its shores.

More information about Singing Sands, and the full list of the “most beautiful” places in the UK, can be found on the Time Out website.

Time Out’s 15 most beautiful places in the UK

1. Puzzlewood, Forest of Dean
2. Minack Theatre, Cornwall
3. Barbican Estate, London
4. Singing Sands, Isle of Eigg
5. Avebury Stone Circle, Wiltshire
6. Medieval Shambles, York
7. Seven Sisters, Sussex
8. Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye
9. Whitstable Seafront, Kent
10. Rydal Caves, Lake District
11. Loch Lomond, Highland Boundary Fault
12. Central Oxford
13. Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol
14. Portmeirion, North Wales
15. Benone Strand, Causeway Coast

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