Striding along the sweeping shore seemed to deliver a double dose of exercise, courtesy of a brisk breeze hammering straight into our faces.

Scarista beach, long and very blond, lapped by turquoise sea, was deserted but for our party touring Harris from Hebridean Princess, the small ship chartered by the Queen for her 80th birthday holiday.

Luxurious and fit for an octogenarian monarch Hebridean Princess may be - with hints of Balmoral and her beloved yacht Britannia among the chintz and tartans - but this was no float and bloat cruise.

Far from tottering from bar to buffet, my boyfriend Michael and I felt we’d earned our delicious, exquisitely presented meals by working up an appetite on bracing walks in Scotland’s raw, wild Highlands and its long dribble of islands.

Multimedia

• The cruise report

Cruise from six British ports

This is an island nation, so why fly to the start of a cruise break? London, Newcastle, Liverpool, Harwich, Oban and Dover feature

Ask our expert: the latest cruise holidays

Carolyn Spencer Brown, our new cruise expert, on the hottest cruises, onboard dress codes and splashing out

• Your Top 10 cruise questions

Related Internet Links

• Read 150 articles in our cruise section

On a week’s midsummer cruise from Oban we sailed close to the top of the mainland, were shaken and stirred on a choppy crossing of the Minch, popped in to the Summer Isles, hugged the coast of Skye and landed on Eigg before returning to Oban through the Sound of Mull. We were almost always in sight of land, and anchored in sea lochs, so we could explore places inaccessible by road.

A fleet of new bicycles will be on board this year for anyone who fancies punishing their calf muscles and pedalling farther afield.

From Scarista beach we continued to St Clement’s, the pre-Reformation church at Rodel on Harris’s southern tip, where our Scottish guide, Sue Gruellich, pointed out some pagan fertility carvings high up on the outside walls.

When we heard that Sir Walter Scott had complained about their lewdness we all pulled out binoculars and telephoto lenses for a better look. Then we clambered up the square tower’s dark staircase and two ladders to reach the top, catch our breath and gasp at the splendid view.

On the north bank of Loch Ewe one morning we rambled around Inverewe, the beautiful 50-acre woodland garden created by Sir Osgood Mackenzie and his daughter Mairi.

The most challenging walk was in the south of Skye up and down boulders along the rocky shore of Loch Scavaig, with the craggy summits of Black Cullin in the distance, to Loch Coruisk.

Luckily Hebridean Princess cushioned the blow. We were welcomed back from our yomp by Peteris, one of the young Latvian stewards, who had set up a table by our landing stage serving tea, coffee, nips of whisky and shortbread - the perfect energy boost, although rarely seen at the Olympics.

That treat was topped by an impromptu speedboat ride past piles of seals lounging on rocks, over to sheer mountainsides sprinkled by waterfalls before returning to the ship.

While we took every opportunity to enjoy fresh air and exercise, many of our 40 or so shipmates were happy simply to gaze at the view from the panoramic windows of the sofa-filled Tiree lounge, or curl up with a book, punctuating the day with elevenses and tea with homemade cakes and little sandwiches.

Before dinner we would meet for drinks house-party style and catch up with what we’d got up to that afternoon. After dinner Sue would tell us about the next day’s destination and what was on offer - fishing anyone?

One night we had a whisky tasting which got quite lively after we’d tried half a dozen single malts, and on another night “The Highlander” came aboard, dressed in a kilt, naturally, and had us transfixed by his reenactment of the Jacobite rebellion with weapons and anecdotes. But this isn’t a cruise for cabaret. Most nights we’d enjoy a beautiful sunset at about 10pm and retire to our canopied bed to sleep dreamlessly, tuckered out by lungfuls of the freshest of fresh air.

NEED TO KNOW

Hebridean International Cruises (01756 704704, www.hebridean.co.uk) has cruises around Scotland aboard Hebridean Princess from March to October. A five-night Spring in the Inner Isles cruise departs Oban on March 5, from £1,190pp. The sevennight Footloose over the Western Isles, devoted to walking, departs on April 24 and August 28 from £3,040pp. Prices include drinks, excursions and tips.

Times recommends

• The Times travel photo competition
• 10 classic Paris travel ideas
• Airlines investigated over baggage check-in failures