Fingal's Cave, Scotland

Fingal's Cave, on the island of Staffa off the west coast of Scotland (near Mull and Iona), is a sea cave formed within Tertiary basalt lava flows which have cooled to form hexagonal columns (like those of the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland). There is a path in on one side which involves stepping from the top of one column to the next. The cave stretches 250 feet in to the rock and its roof is 70 feet above the sea. Fingal's cave was the inspiration for Mendelssohn's Hebridean overture.

Its size and naturally arched roof and the eerie sounds produced by the echoes of waves, give it the atmosphere of a natural cathedral. The cave's Gaelic name, An Uaimh Bhinn, means "the melodious cave."