Ackergill Tower

Way up on Scotland's northernmost tip, sitting proudly above its own beach on the windswept coast near Wick, Ackergill Tower is as magical a building, in as remote and beautiful a location, as anyone could wish for. John O'Groats is the next town to the north, so you couldn't come much further, and once you've made it here there are 35 ultra-luxurious, beautifully furnished rooms to greet you, made even more cosy by whatever the weather might be doing outside. On clear nights however, the darkest of dark skies await, making for some glorious star-gazing from this one-of-a-kind castle hotel.

Various outbuildings also offer self-catering accommodation (where dogs are welcome), and guests here have equal access to the facilities inside the hotel and in the 3,000-acre grounds – that's everything from the property's own beach, croquet lawn and sunken gardens to their own pub, the Smuggler's Saloon, which serves excellent food and drink. There's also the amazing, award-winning Akergill Treehouse, a unique self-catering option and perhaps the ultimate honeymoon hideaway. It's some journey to get here, but with your own private Scottish estate to explore, Ackergill is a hard place to leave.