The UK is known for having a wealth of both popular and underrated sights and attractions, including some incredible hidden gems. If you want to find the best hidden gem the country has to offer, you’ll have to head north of the Scottish border to get there.
According to research done by Sykes Cottages, Iona Island in the Inner Hebrides is the absolute best hidden gem in the UK. Lying off the Ross of Mull, Iona is just one and half miles wide and three miles in length.
As of 2020 there were an estimated 120 people living on the island, and attracts around 130,000 visitors a year. One of the main attractions of Iona is the Abbey and Nunnery , which has been described as the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland.
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Parts of the abbey dates back to the eighth and ninth centuries, and has since become a place of pilgrimage. There lies the small graveyard of Reilig Odhráin, the final resting place of local clan chieftains and ‘Kings of the Isles’.
An Augustinian nunnery was built nearby during the 12th century after Somerled, an ancestor of the MacDonald Lords of the Isles built St Oran’s Chapel as his family’s burial place.
One of the top attractions on Iona is Fingal’s Cave in the Staffa National Nature Reserve. Check out the famous hexagonal rock columns formed millions of years ago by volcanic eruptions.
The acoustics in the cave itself was the inspiration for Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture. Other famous visitors included Queen Victoria, J.M.W Turner, Sir Walter Scott and poet William Wordsworth. If you’re after a bit of nature spotting, flocks of puffins can be found in the Staffa.
To get to grips with the island’s industrial heritage, the ruins of the Marble Quarry still stand in the same place after it closed in 1918.There is no access by road, the only way to get there is by the sea and the ‘pier’ they used is just a rock beside a turbulent and dangerous stretch of water.
The stone from the quarry eventually ended up in various churches all over the world, including St. Columba’s Church Pont Street in London, Scots Kirk in Paris famous for the Tartan Pimpernel, Donald Caskie who was an Islay man. It also ended up in St Andrew’s Church in Jerusalem, Tibilsi in Palestine and Adelaide in South Australia, and can locally be seen in Iona Abbey.
(Image: Getty Images)
As you’d expect on an island, there’s plenty of coastline to trek alongside. Or you can walk on the sand of some of Iona’s beaches. If you fancy a stroll along a pebble beach, head to St Columba’s Bay (named after Irish monk Columba who came to Iona to live a monastic life).
For some gorgeous blue waves and white sand, make your way to Traigh an t-Suidhe or Port Ban Beach.
When it’s time for a bite to eat, options on the island are slightly limited – you know, with only 120 people living then and all – but can provide everything from a light lunch to slap up dinner.
The Restaurant at The Argyll Hotel are members of the ‘Mull & Iona Food Trail’ where you can find some of Scotland’s finest produce. You can tuck into the likes of Roast hogget leg with garden parsley mash, pancetta roasted vegetables, purple sprouting broccoli, Spring nettle gnocchi with beetroot herb fritter, salsa verde, smoked cashews, roast asparagus, garden greens, and Rhubarb, stem ginger and honeycomb cranachan.
So if you’re looking to explore the best hidden gem in the UK, head to Iona.
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How to get there
You can catch a train from King’s Cross to Edinburgh Waverley, where you can take a train to Anniesland. From there you can catch a bus to Oban, where you can take a ferry to the Isle of Mull. Iona is just a short ferry ride from Fionnphort on the Isle of Mull.
Or if you would prefer a scenic drive, it’ll take around 11 and a half hours.
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