Kiri becomes island explorer for a day

Kiri Neve Dalkin, aged 8, appears with another mini-explorer, Zak, in photographs as they explore the attractions around Dunstaffnage Castle near Oban.

Historic Scotland have partnered with Caledonian MacBrayne to offer visitors a new way to explore the centuries of history and heritage that Scotland’s Islands and the West Coast have to offer.

New for 2015, the Islands Explorer Pass allows access to six Historic Scotland properties, ranging from a traditional thatched Blackhouse on Lewis, to Barra’s Kisimul Castle known as the ‘castle in the sea’ to a 1,400 year old abbey and an industrial ironworks.

The Islands Explorer Pass will be available from both Historic Scotland and Caledonian MacBrayne, and admits one person to three castles, an abbey, an ironworks and a traditional thatched house.

Valid until October the Pass allows visitors to visit a number of Historic Scotland sites for a single fee.

Attractions included in the Islands Explorer Pass include Iona Abbey and Nunnery, founded by St Columba more than 1,400 years ago, and home to the largest collection of early-Medieval sculpture in Scotland, including carved stones and crosses.

Another tourist hotspot is The Blackhouse Arnolon the Isle of Lewis, an example of a traditional, fully furnished, thatched house showing rural Scottish island life.