Barra Airport

This is Barra Airport – one of the world's most spectacular and beautiful airports, located on the hebridean island of Barra. If what you're thinking is something along the lines of "No, you idiot, that's a beach". You're right: Barra airport is the beach. In fact, it's the only airport in the world where scheduled flights take-off and land on a beach. Of course, the schedule has to change regularly, as the airport's three runways are all submerged at high-tide.

Barra beach is, slightly surprisingly, open to the public. In fact it's actually very popular for cockle picking – just check if the windsock is flying first, as this indicates that the airport is operational. And if you need any more reasons to pay the airport a visit, the cafe in the 'terminal' is known to be among the best on the island.