The complete guide to The ends of the earth

LAND'S END: IS THERE MORE THAN ONE?

Yes, dozens. Many are the souls who, dwarfed by the seemingly never-ending expanse of ocean, have stared out from a tapering peninsula and decided the world stops here.

ARE SOME ENDS MORE FINAL THAN OTHERS?

Yes; the most remote is probably Land's End on Prince Patrick Island, on the westernmost fringe of the Arctic Archipelago in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The island, named after Queen Victoria's third son, was discovered in 1853 by Sir Francis McClintock after he'd mastered the Eskimo art of sledging. According to Dr Skip Walker, a modern-day explorer of the uninhabited island and professor at the University of Alaska, "Prince Patrick Island is one of the most remote places on earth". Land's End is on the west coast of the island where the Beaufort Sea meets the Arctic Ocean.

SO I WON'T EXPECT LAS VEGAS, THEN - BUT WHAT'S IT LIKE?

Dr Walker was on Prince Patrick in July this year, when the temperature peaks at 10C, to study the biocomplexity of frost-boil ecosystems. Well, there's not much else to do there. It was clear and calm and, he said, extraordinarily beautiful. The previous year he saw a small herd of about 10 Peary caribou on the nearby hills running across the tundra.

This Land's End really does live up to its name. Dr Walker is one of only a very few people to visit the island, and even he has not been to its westernmost extremity although he's flown up the west coast north of the spot marked Land's End.

HOW DO I GET THERE?

With difficulty. In winter you could try skis or a helicopter. However, it is possible to visit the (slightly) more accessible Mould Bay with its hills of rock and tundra. Satellite Bay is another alternative: barren but fascinating, with an extreme Arctic climate. There is an unstaffed weather station maintained by Environment Canada at Mould Bay, with a few abandoned vehicles and buildings. The air strip at Mould Bay is 5,000 feet long - long enough to land a Hercules there. Satellite Bay is more remote and you can only land a Twin Otter at a primitive strip that's difficult to see. To charter a Twin Otter, contact Aklak Air (001 867 777 3555, www.aklakair.ca) or North Wright Airways (001 867 587 2288, www.north-wrightairways.com). North Wright Airways charges about £8,000, depending on load, for a Twin Otter equipped with tundra tyres. Both airlines fly from Inuvik airport, which is accessible on Air North from Vancouver or Calgary, via Whitehorse (001 867 668-2228, www.flyairnorth.com).

ANY CHANCE OF GETTING THERE BY BOAT?

Not really. The island is on the edge of the permanent polar ice pack, and therefore is surrounded by ice all year round. Where the land ends, the ice begins. This may explain the reason that Disappointment Point, to the east of Mould Bay, was so named; probably relating to failed attempts to find ice-free leads, or failed attempts to find the Northwest Passage, or simply failed attempts to find good, safe harbour.

ENOUGH NORTHERN EXPOSURE. HOW ABOUT A LAND'S END THAT YOU CAN REACH BY SEA?

Try Kintyre, a 40 mile-long peninsula on the west coast of Scotland. Kintyre is named after the Gaelic Ceann Tire, which means "end of the land". The most picturesque route begins by crossing the Clyde from Gourock to Dunoon; Caledonian MacBrayne (08705 650 000, www.calmac.co.uk) charges £13.15 for a car plus two people, while Western Ferries (01369 704452, www.western-ferries.co.uk) charges £14.50. Drive to Portavadie on Loch Fyne, then take the CalMac ferry (£19.15 for a car plus two people) to Tarbert, the narrow isthmus at the north of the peninsula. Alternatively, travel the entire way by road; Scottish CityLink (08705 50 50 50, www.citylink.co.uk) runs coach services to Campbeltown, the main town of Kintyre, from Glasgow. And British Airways (0870 850 9 850, www.ba.com) flies from Glasgow to Campbeltown airport with fares starting at £78 return.

From Campbeltown you drive, or take a bus, down the peninsula to Southend on the south-east coast. From there you can see Dunaverty rock, jutting up in the sea. This was the scene of a massacre in 1647 when the 300-strong garrison of the castle on the rock surrendered to a Scottish army and were slaughtered. The castle has long since fallen into the sea.

St Columba, who bought Christianity to Scotland, first landed here on his journey to the island of Iona. Close by are St Columba's Chapel and cave, as well as St Columba's footprints carved in the rock. There are lovely sandy beaches at Southend. Eight miles further south from Southend takes you the land's end of Kintyre: the Mull of Kintyre.

OH MIST ROLLING IN FROM...?

Yes, the Wings 1977 single "Mull of Kintyre" does have a certain fame, selling more than six million copies worldwide (2.5m in the UK alone). And Paul McCartney has a house on the peninsula. Yoshiteru Tanaka, a Japanese fan, mulls over the setting on his website (www.yositeru.com/macca/mull): "Deep blue sea, brilliant green plains. The very fine weather made the place surrounded by very gentle light. So I sang 'Mull of Kintyre' sitting on a small bench near the Mull lighthouse. I see Ireland dimly over the sea."

Other attractions include Ronachan Bay, for viewing seals; Campbeltown whisky distillery; the island of Gigha, famous for its gardens; and one of the best surfing beaches in the UK. To arrange accommodation on Kintyre, call Campbeltown's tourist information centre on 01586 552056 or visit www.kintyre.org.

Campbeltown has one more claim to fame: it was from here that the 21 bagpipers playing on the Wings record came from. McCartney generously sent off a cheque for £200 to each piper, in addition to the standard Musicians' Union fee.

SHOULD I WALK FROM HERE TO LAND'S END, CORNWALL?

Only if you have several months to spare. If you've only got several hours, walk to England's Land's End from Sennen Cove in Cornwall- a lovely spot to the north-east of this rocky cape. The mile walk takes about 20 minutes. This gives you the best opportunity of seeing the headlands of Land's End side-on - and saves you the £3 parking fee in the Land's End car park.

Once you reach Land's End, and have been photographed by the famous sign that points to John O'Groats, 874 miles away, and New York, 3,147 miles over the Atlantic, visit the Land's End theme park (0870 458 0099, www.landsend-landmark.co.uk). This has five attractions based around the sea and location. The display "Miles of Memories" is all about the "End-to-Enders" who have walked from Land's End to John O'Groats. The Land's End Hotel (01736 871844, www.landsendhotel.co.uk) has double rooms from £40-£90 per person, including dinner, bed and breakfast.

If you are looking for something more secluded and romantic, two people can rent the Old Dairy cottage (01736 871994, www.farwestcornwall.co.uk) from £181-£402 per week depending on the season. You can see the Scilly Isles from the sitting room, and from the bedroom look over to Wolf Rock lighthouse. Inspired by the view and the fresh air, you can carry on walking east from Land's End, along the South West Coast Path (01752 896237, www.swcp.org.uk).

Five miles later you reach the Minack Theatre, founded by Rowena Cade. Plays have been performed here since 1932, with a break when it was used in the Second World War as part of the defences - in fact the ticket hall is built from an old gun emplacement. The stage is perched at the top of a cliff, with the fantastic backdrop of the sea and the sky behind.

"Minack" in Cornish means a rocky place and the black crag below the theatre has always drawn local fishermen. You can book tickets on 01736 818181, or visit www.minack.com for more information. The last performance of the year is tonight: The Sea stars Joss Ackland, Nigel Rees, Fern Britton and Simon Williams, but all the tickets have long been sold; next summer's programme will be available in November.

ANY LAND'S ENDS ON MAINLAND EUROPE?

One in France, on the westernmost point of Brittany. Called Finistère, literally "end of the land", the wild headland runs down into the sea with rocky outcrops. The capital of the département of Finistère is the Breton tourist town of Quimper - a great place to sample the local delicacies of crepes and cider. Its other major town is Brest, the home of a major French naval base and the seat of the French Naval Academy.

You can fly from Stansted to Brest with Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com, or sail on Brittany Ferries (08705 360 360, www.brittanyferries.co.uk) from Plymouth to Roscoff. For accommodation, call the Finistère Tourist Board on 00 33 2 98 76 20 70 or visit www.brittanytourism.com. For a spa break in Finistère, to take advantage of the sea's healing powers, call Leisure Direction on 0800 085 7739 or visit www.formulesbretagne.com/gb/tb_thalasso.cfm for a selection.

IS THIS THE PLACE I HEAR ON THE SHIPPING FORECAST?

No, that is - or was - Finisterre on the north-west corner of Spain in Galicia (Fisterra in Galician). Finisterre is on the Costa de la Morte, the Coast of Death. And anyway, it is no longer called Finisterre in the forecast, at the request of the Spanish (who had a different area of sea named Finisterre). The sea area is now FitzRoy.

FITZROY: DOESN'T THAT LITERALLY MEAN 'ILLEGITIMATE SON OF THE KING'?

It's named after a much more illustrious character. In 1854 the Meteorological Office was formed as a department of the Board of Trade, under Captain Robert FitzRoy (also famous for commanding HMS Beagle on Charles Darwin's historic expedition). His brief was to provide meteorological and sea current information to mariners. The area is named in his honour.

THE COSTA DE LA MORTE: ISN'T IT COATED IN THICK BLACK OIL?

Like its namesakes in Cornwall and Brittany, Finisterre has had more than its fair share of shipping disasters. The Prestige oil disaster in November last year spread crude oil along 150 miles of the Galician coast. However, Carlos Taibo, a local hotelier, says: "The clean-up of the beaches is almost finished. There are still some areas that are closed for seafood fishing, but tourists can use all the beaches now."

The Costa de la Morte is at the end of the Camino de Santiago, the traditional pilgrim's route to Santiago de Compostela. For more information call the Confraternity of St James on 020-7928 9988 or visit www.csj.org.uk.

SOUNDS GOOD. ANYWHERE TO STAY LOCALLY?

Right next to the lighthouse at the point of Finisterre, there is the Hotel O Semaforo (doubles from €68/£49 to €95/£67, reservations 0034 902 503 861). It is a very small hotel, nearly always full, but if you want to say you have stayed at the end of the earth, this has to be the one. Another choice, 25 minutes away from Finisterre, is the Casa Doña Rita (doubles from €45/£32 to €75/£54, 0034 902 503 861). For details of all these hotels, and more, visit www.costadelamuerte.com.

The only direct flight from Britain to Galicia is on Iberia (0845 601 2854, www.iberia.com), which has a daily flight to Santiago from London Heathrow from £150 return. The airport is 11km south-east of Santiago, with buses to the city centre. To get there by boat, Portsmouth is linked with Bilbao by P&O Ferries (0870 24 24 999, www.poferries.com), while Brittany Ferries (08705 360 360, www.brittanyferries.co.uk) sails between Plymouth and Santander. To get there by train from Madrid or Bilbao, see the RENFE website at www.renfe.es.

ANY LOCAL SPECIALITIES I CAN SAMPLE?

Certainly. Galicia is famous for its cuisine, drink and traditional music. Make sure you have the pulpo de Gallego (sliced octopus coated with paprika), the pimentos de Padron (small fried peppers), and their version of the Cornish pasty, the empanada, with a selection of fillings. The local white wine is Albarino, which is delicious.

In the evenings in Santiago de Compostela, you will be unable to avoid students dressed up in medieval costumes in Prazo do Obradorio, and in the cloisters of the Pazo de Raxoi, opposite the cathedral, playing traditional celtic instruments, including the gaitas, a cousin of the bagpipes. There is a festival in Ortigueira, the Festival International do Mundo Celta, when Celts from Scotland, Cornwall and Brittany join forces with Galicians to play together in July. This year 70,000 turned up. Next year's festival takes place between 9-11 July, and the Chieftains have already been booked (0034 981 402 542 www.festivaldeortigueira.com).

ANY ENDS OF THE EARTH WHERE I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO BAGPIPES?

It is unlikely you will hear the swirl of the bagpipes in the Finisterre Mountains in the Morobe region of Papua New Guinea. These rise a few miles from the north-eastern coast, and form a 10-mile barrier across the island. To get to Papua New Guinea, you'll need to fly to the capital Port Moresby via Cairns; expect to pay close to £1,500 return via discount agents.

To see the mountains from the air, take a helicopter ride. Asia Pacific Helicopters has flights from Lae (00 675 472 4094). John Thomas, a pilot who flew in the area for 14 years, says: "The mountain range is between Madang and the Nadzab area to the north of the Markham valley. People live in the foothills along the northern side of the Ramu Markham valley. You could walk in some places but it would need to be an organised tour." The mountains have steep slopes and valleys, often shrouded in clouds.

THEY SOUND A BIT LETHAL

Yes, the mountains are a something of an aeroplane graveyard. During the Second World War, 350 American and Australian aircraft disappeared on flights in eastern New Guinea between 1942 and 1945. There is a website dedicated to plane wrecks on the mountains (www.pacificwrecks.com). Due to the difficult terrain there are still planes undiscovered. Many relics from those that have been found can been seen in the Papua New Guinea museum. The Shaggy Ridge of the Finisterre Mountains was also the scene of fierce fighting between Australian and Japanese forces in the war. Kokoda Treks and Tours, a Western Australian company, organises trips through the mountains to visit relics of the fighting, along the Ridge then down to the Mindjim valley river system and out to the coast near Bogadjm, priced at A$2,000 (£900). Contact Kokoda in the town of Stirling on 00 61 8 9446 9856, or see www.arach.net.au/users/kokoda. About 7,000 soldiers and villagers were killed in Morobe during fighting between Japan and the Allies, from 1942 to 1944. A war memorial and cemetery are in the botanical gardens at Lae.

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