SOME holidays give you a good time, some help you relax but some free your mind and send a sweet breeze through your soul.

And if you think the above is poetic trash, make yourself one vow, here, today, now: visit the north of Scotland.

By the north I mean The North, not Perth or Loch Lomond but the 120 miles or so of unequalled highland beauty that lies above Inverness . . . and I appreciate most of you will now require a map to get a handle on where I am talking about.

A fellow B+B guest during our week-long, 1,300-mile round trip to this area of Scotland (largely unexplored by most people because it's never entered their heads to go) told us that when the earth's continents were still being formed, the area north of the Caledonian Canal detached itself from Canada and slammed into the rest of the British Isles -- the great gash in the countryside representing the fault line where they joined.

True or not, it is a romantic notion which goes some way to explaining the dramatic scenery which comes into view as you travel through the top end of Britain. Inverness itself is tucked along the shores of the Moray Firth, complete with the world's most northerly colony of bottlenose dolphins, who are clearly visible on a good day.

But it is surrounded by unexpected delights as well as traditional tourist attractions such as Loch Ness (no we didn't see Nessie) and Culloden Moor, where the Jacobites, led by Bonnie Prince Charlie, were butchered by the government troops under the Duke of Cumberland.

A short drive across the Black Isle takes you to the Cromarty Ferry, a glorious two-car ferry across the firth which turns your car around on a giant spinning plate so can drive off the same way you drove on.

A jaunt takes you The Falls of Shin, where for the first time in my life I saw salmon leaping upstream to spawn.

Not one . . . but five or six within the space of 10 minutes!

Highland cattle nod as you hit the A roads towards Durness on the northerly tip of the coast, past Bens and glens that make the Lake District look like a trial run for the real thing.

These A roads are single-track roads, with passing places, but the standard of roads doesn't slow you down because there are few cars . . . and you are constantly hitting the brakes so you don't miss the scenery. Beaches on the north coast of Scotland are heaven sent. Crystal clear waters (I paddled, in September!) and deserted, white sand beaches.

A day trip to Orkney on the Inverness-based Puffin Express put paid to the myth that Scottish weather is always awful.

We strolled through Kirkwall in 20 degree sunshine and slurped Orkney ice cream while the north of England was deluged by rain.

During our trip we stayed in wonderful B+Bs, including one in Inverness which was more like a suite of rooms and was promptly christened: "The best B and B I have ever stayed in" by my wife.

There are also some wonderful hotels.

The Royal Marine in Brora nestles close to a golf course and has a wonderful hunting lodge atmosphere, complete with roaring log fires and venison on the menu.

But the abiding feeling about the north is that there is so little to clutter your holiday and so much to admire, that it both invigorates and refreshes you to the point where you quickly forget all the clutter which seemed so important before you set off.

Facts:

Escape to the Northern Highlands www.escapetotheedge.co.uk

Brochure hotline 0870 5143070

Scotland's Best B and B www.b-and-b-scotland.co.uk

Royal Marine Hotel, Brora www.highlandescape.com

Puffin Express 01463 717181, PuffinExpress@cs.com