Kirkwall, United Kingdom

Initial impressions of KIRKWALL, Orkney's capital, are not always favourable. However, it does have one great redeeming feature – its sandstone cathedral, without doubt the finest medieval building in the north of Scotland. Nowadays, the town is very much divided into two main focal points: the old harbour, at the north end of the town, where inter-island ferries come and go all year round, and the flagstoned main street, which changes its name four times as it twists its way south from the harbour past the cathedral.