Celtic Shores · Farstep pack

Staffa · Fingal's Cave in 3D

Inner Hebrides

Inner Hebrides, west of Mull, Scotland

Staffa is a small island of basalt columns, the same lava as the Giant's Causeway. The sea has cut Fingal's Cave about 70 m into it; its Gaelic name means the cave of melody, for the way the swell booms inside. Mendelssohn came in 1829 and wrote the Hebrides Overture after the visit.

Where: Inner Hebrides, west of Mull, Scotland
Fingal's Cave: About 70 m deep, 20 m high
Rock: Basalt columns about 58 million years old
Music: Inspired Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture (1829)

Official site

Walk Staffa · Fingal's Cave in 3D

A real-time 3D model, built from open elevation data and published measurements. Loads 2.5 MB when you start.

Staffa · Fingal's Cave

Walk it yourself. Works on this phone.

Part of the Celtic Shores pack: a one-time unlock in this browser.

Terrain from open elevation data · a 3D reconstruction, not a photograph · tags as in the app

What you'll find in the walk

Gold markers in the scene open these cards.

Fingal's Cave
Known
About 70 m deep and 20 m high, cut by the sea into the same basalt columns as the Giant's Causeway. The Gaelic name, Uamh-Binn, means the cave of melody: the swell booms inside.
The causeway
Known
Visitors walk to the cave mouth along the tops of broken columns, holding a rope rail on the real island. Mendelssohn came in 1829 and wrote the Hebrides Overture after it.
Three layers
Known
Staffa is a slice of lava: rubbly tuff at the base, the tall columns, and a cap of jumbled smaller columns on top, all from eruptions about 58 million years ago.

How to visit in real life

Boat trips run to Staffa from Mull and Iona in the summer months, weather allowing. You walk to the cave mouth along the tops of broken columns with a rope rail.

Opening times and tickets change: check the official site. Official site