Among the islands of the Hebrides there's one that can rightly claim to have a separate identity; Islay which was once the capital of the ancient Lordship of the Isles.

On the west coast of Scotland are a group of islands that are so remote they almost seem to have been forgotten by the rest of the world and are populated by just a few hardy souls.

For this grand tour Paul's journey begins at Loch Hourn on the mainland, takes him over the sea to the to Skye, then heads to the tiny island of Soay before ending on Canna.

Thirty miles from mainland Scotland, there's a chain of low-lying islands that face the full might of the Atlantic Ocean: the Uists and Benbecula.

For this final grand tour Paul is heading as far north as you can go in Britain, to the islands of Fetlar, Unst and Yell.

In this first episode, historian Paul Murton goes in search of "The Romantic ideal" and discovers how the famous writer Sir Walter Scott played a key role in re-inventing Scotland.

In the spirit of Victorian manliness, historian Paul Murton continues his journey on an original 1870's Tricycle.

For centuries, outsiders had seldom visited the beautiful landscape of the west coast of Scotland, but then the power of steam changed everything.

Historian Paul Murton goes in search of the stunning landscape of the highlands that has attracted visitors for the last two hundred years with the promise of improving "mind, body and spirit".

Keen to escape the noise and pressures of their overcrowded world, more adventurous tourists braved the rough seas to travel to Orkney and Shetland, hoping to restore themselves in the peace and quiet of the far north.

In Victorian times, most tourists came from a tiny social elite - the rich - for the great mass of the population a holiday was just a dream.