St Kilda World Heritage Site
There are currently no Trust facilities open on St Kilda. The toilet blocks, shop and camping facilities are all closed. The pier is also closed except for essential and emergency use. Although we understand the call to visit this amazing World Heritage Site is strong, we ask that people do not travel to St Kilda until further notice. However, if you do visit, please take home everything you bring with you. We will update the website as and when things change.
About this place
Fragments of the past haunt these islands, now home to the UK’s largest colony of Atlantic puffins
- The UK’s only dual UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of only 39 in the world.
- Home to nearly 1 million seabirds, including the UK’s largest colony of Atlantic puffins.
- Evacuated on 29 August 1930 after the remaining 36 islanders voted to leave as their way of life was no longer sustainable.
- St Kilda has its own unique wren, as well as a sub-species of mouse which is twice the size of a British fieldmouse.
There is no place like St Kilda. Towering out of the storm-tossed waters of the Atlantic Ocean, its cliffs and sea stacks clamour with the cries of hundreds of thousands of seabirds.
Internationally recognised for its birdlife, St Kilda is no less famous for its human history. A community existed here for at least 4,000 years, exploiting the dense colonies of gannets, fulmars and puffins for food, feathers and oil.
The final 36 islanders were evacuated in 1930. Now uninhabited, visitors can brave the weather to sail to the ‘islands at the edge of the world’ for the experience of a lifetime.
Highlights
Did you know?
The St Kildans used to eat puffins for a snack – just like a packet of crisps!
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