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Edinburgh Castle is the city's main attraction, dating
from 11th - 16th century. An infamous battlegrounds between
the Scots and English monarchy, now you can see the changing
of the guard every hour and in August the Military Tattoo
(band) festival is held here. The castle is situated in the
area known as the Royal Mile where numerous museums
and old buildings can be seen. The 18th century New Town
area contains many national galleries and nightlife is
focused in the Grassmarket.
Nearby attractions including Craigmillar Castle (Mary
Queen of Scot's 15th century refuge) Leith port, the
seaside towns of Portobello and North Berwick
(also famed for 16th century witchcraft trials), the fishing
ports of Dunbar and New Haven, and walking in
the Pentland Hills.
Glasgow
Glasgow holds the title of being the third most popular tourist
destination in Great Britain, behind London and Edinburgh,
and for good reason too. It is Scotland's largest city and
one that has recently enjoyed a cultural renaissance; partly
resulting from being crowed the 'European City of Culture'
in 1990. A few decades ago Glasgow's reputation became tarnished
with its soaring unemployment rates, urban violence and housing
schemes. Yet, despite those problems, which have become less
noticeable in recent years, the city is truly a centre of
cultural excellence.
Glasgow is a warm and friendly city, what it lacks in beauty
it gains in charisma. The grim picture of Glasgow is dispelling
to reveal a city with lively culture, nightlife, music scene
and creativity. The world's most famous Glaswegian is Billy
Connolly, so you get an idea that these guys have quite
a dark and wild sense of humour. Top sights include the City
Chambers, an opulent interior similar to the Kremlin or
Vatican. The dramatic Gothic Cathedral, dating from the 15th
century is a top attraction and nearby art galleries include
the Burrell Collection of art, furniture and sculpture.
Visitors can revel at the superb art noveau architecture of
Charles Rennie Mackintosh throughout the city.
Nightlife closely rivals London and is focused around the
city centre with top clubs and loads of pubs to wile away
the long night. Local tipple is a 'half and half' - half pint
of beer drunk with a local scotch (whisky) to get you extra
tipsy! The Glaswegian dialect is the most unique in Scotland,
you'll probably be called either 'Jimmy' (man) or 'Hen' (woman)
depending on your gender. Like Edinburgh, some of the suburbs
are notoriously dangerous (where the film Trainspotting
was set - a heavy drugs culture) and best avoided by travellers.
Nearby attractions include Dumbarton Castle, Greenock,
home of James Watt inventor of the steam engine and the island
of Rothesay.
Southern Scotland
The Borders
Rolling hills, forests and glens characterise this 'buffer
state' between England and Scotland, Made up of numerous burghs
(small towns) it's a region well worth visiting if you can't
make it up to the Highlands. Highlights include the village
of Coldstream, home of the Coldstream Guards, the lowlands
of the Lammermuir Hills, ideal for light walking, the
ruins of 11th century abbeys of Jedburgh, Kelso, Dryburgh
and Melrose Abbey where Robert the Bruce's heart
is buried. A good place to stay to explore the region is Galashiels,
home of the strange, where accommodation is plentiful. The
town of Hawick is a great blace to buy knitwear, a
traditional productions centre and site of the impressive
Hermitage Castle.
Lanarkshire
Southeast of Glasgow, the Lanarkshire region's highlights
include the towns of Blantyre, home of explorer David
Livingstone and the fine 13th century Bothwell Castle,
the market town of Lanark and the Chapel of St Bride's
in Douglas.
Ayrshire
Home to two of the greatest of Scots men, Sir Water Scott
and Robert Burns, the rolling hills and golf make
this Ayrshire famous. The hub of Ayrshire is the small town
of Largs. Off the mainland the isle of Great Cumbrae
can be reached by frequent ferry. The modern town of Irvine
is a good place to explore the region - a visit to Arran
Island is great for Highland style hikes and beach life,
not to mention a spot of golfing. On the mainline,
Ayr is a large seaside town, good to explore the historic
sties of Robert Burns. Culzean Castle south of Ayr
is a luxury place to stay where illustrious guests include
the Kennedys and Eisenhower, but a room will set you back
at least $200 a night for a single room.
Dumfries and Galloway
In Southwest Scotland, the scenic lochs & rugged coastlines
are surprising to find this far south, and you can travel
by ferry from Stranraer to Northern Ireland.
Dumfries is the largest town and rich in Burns memorabilia,
with the 17th century Caerlaverock Castle, complete
with its own moat. You can enjoy bird watching in the mud
flats of Wig Bay near Stranraer. The quaint town of
Gretna Green is famed because it used to be possible
for underage runaways to come here to wed - and the tiny village
still has romantic connotations, some much so that 4,000 couples
come here every year to tie the knot. If modern terrorism
history interest you, the small town of Lockerbie was
the site of a Libyan Jumbo jet's bombing in 1988. A bizarre
site in Eskdalemuir is the Samye Ling Tibetan centre,
the first Tibetan Monastery in the West, founded in the 1960's.
Central Scotland
Stirling
Stirling in central Scotland is famed for being the
site of the famous fort and the battle of William Wallace
depicted in the film Braveheart. Stirling Castle
is a stunning site dating from the 14th century, rich
in grandeur and history. The nearby battlefield of Bannockburn
where Robert the Bruce sent the English running home
in 1314 is also worth a visit.
Fife
Fife has a reputations has being separate from the rest of
Scotland, once known as the 'Kingdom of Fife'. It's famed
for one sport - golf.
St. Andrews is the home of golf. The game was invented
in Scotland over 500 years ago. The club has six courses,
the most famous being the old course, but to play on it you
have to enter a ballot and just hope that your name is drawn.
St. Andrews is also the home of the rather ancient golf club,
which was formed by a group of gentlemen of noble birth in
1754, who set the rules for the game. Little did they know
that 200 years later, golf would be one of the world's most
popular games. There also a great castle in St. Andrews and
nearby one of Britain's first nuclear bunkers. Its currently
popular with tourists as the very gorgeous Prince William,
heir to the British throne is studying art at the University
and many tourists come down hoping for a sighting.
The large town of Dunfermline's Abbey is the burial
place of 6 Scottish kings and rich in history.
Perth and Kinross
Perth has been voted the best place to live in Britain,
and it is the historic home of the 'Stone of Destiny' where
Scottish kings were invested which was returned by the Queen
of Britain to the people of Scotland as late as 1996. It's
a bustling little market town and home of four major monasteries.
Scone Palace (nothing to do with cakes) is the region's
most visited attraction which includes needlework made by
Mary Queen of Scots. Loch Tay and Ben Lawers
Mountain provide attractive short walks and the beautiful
white stone Blair Castle is famed for its daily bagpiper.
Dundee
Once a great whaling town, Dundee still has something to offer
the visitors - perhaps its infamous cake - rich in fruit and
nuts. Glamis Castle is the location for Shakespeare's
Macbeth play (also known as "the Scottish play").
The research ship Discovery used by Captain Scott on
his Antarctica missions is housed here in a museum.
Aberdeenshire and Moray
Until recently known as the Grampian Region, top sights
include Aberdeen city and the Queen's Scottish hideaway,
Balmoral. There are some great non-touristy fishing
town on the north-west coast and many baronial style castles.
It's the best area to get a taste of a 'wee dram of scotch'
(shot of Whisky) which is produced locally and can be discovered
on the Malt Whisky Trail. Aberdeen itself is
built on oil trade and quite a drab city, although very large
(1/5 of a million population). There are several maritime
attractions here. The town of Findhorn is home to a
spiritual community that has been formed in a movement towards
inner peace.
Northern Scotland
Highlands
It's all about the great outdoors, moors, heather, mountains,
lochs and…monsters. For many, the Highlands IS Scotland
at its finest and the best place in inland Britain to truly
escape from it all, particular in the 'Empty Quarters' of
wild mountains west of Fort William. It's the best
place in Europe for salmon fishing, although it can
be quite expensive as the hobby is strictly regulated. It's
famed for the Mull of Kintyre epitomised by Paul McCartney
& Wings, and the ancient kindom of Dalriada.
Loch Lomond, a massive 28 sq miles is a popular trip out
from nearby Glasgow offering phenomenally breathtaking views.
This really is hiking and cycling country with a rich history,
the beautiful Glen Coe is the site of the massacre
of the MacDonalds and Campbells clan. Fort William on
the mainline train route from London is a good stop off to
explore the surrounding landscape and close to the legendary
Ben Nevis mountain. Here you can see the famous Highland
Cattle, mild hairy cows who look more like oxes, and produce
the high quality Scottish beef. Mountains include the Cairngorms,
great for skiing. It's an alpine style place superb
for game spotting, hunting and salmon fishing in the River
Spey.
The Great Glen area situated on a fault line is reputed
for its set of lochs, its most famous being Loch
Ness, home of the great Loch Ness Monster of popular legend.
It's supposedly habited by a giant sea monster, much photographed
but never caught. You can stay in the large town of Inverness
to visit the loch. Nearby Culloden is the battlefield
where Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Highlanders were
butchered by the Duke of Cumberland. This battle marked the
end of the Scottish Clan (families) system.
The North and West Coast around Ullapool has some
of the most breathtaking scenery in Scotland, although its
windy coastal roads can be difficult to navigate.
The Hebrides
The Hebrides are a collection of islands off the western coast
of the country. Remote is hardly the word to describe these
isolated places, and it's a world away from the hubbub of
Glasgow. Each island has a different landscape, which appeals
to different interests, from flat and sandy Muck, to
hilly Eigg and mountainous Rhum. Remember these
are traditional places, so do not dress outlandishly and take
care not to upset the locals, many of whom are Gallic speaking.
The Isle of Islay is the southern most island of the
Inner Hebrides. Whiskey is the name of the game here, known
for its single malt whiskeys. The small town of 3500 boasts
six distilleries, some of which organise guided tours. Fifty
percent of the island is Gallic-speaking.
Mull is a popular island to visit with its castles,
and the locals are endearing if not a tad nutty. Its more
expensive than the other islands but has many close at hand
attractions. You can also take a trip to the Isla of Iona,
the home of the Iona Abbey where the Book of Kells
was said to have been written. Also take a day trip to the
Isle of Staffa home of Fingal's Cave, inspiration
for the young composer Felix Mendelssohn. Here you can take
the same rocky boat trip as the composer and explore the puffin
colony.
Skye is the most famous of the Hebridean islands,
a rugged island known for its castles, mountains and changeable
weather. It's said you can experience four seasons in one
day here. Tourism has been more developed in this area, which
is slightly more populated than the other Isles, so there
is plenty to do. Skye is one of the best places for walking,
with breathtaking views, and many guidebooks available for
the walker. Also, there are many impressive Castles to visit,
each with its own unique history. Dunvegan Castle has
the honour of being the oldest inhabited castle in Britain,
where the McCloud Clan have lived for 700 years. It is situated
on Loch Dunvegan, and until 1748 the only way you could
get to the Castle was by boat. One of the ancestors of the
McCloud clan, Malcolm the third, once wrestled and killed
a bull with his bare hands, which is why the bull is now the
symbol for the clan.
The region known as the Outer Hebrides is remoteness
and its most remote. They are not much visited and lacking
in attractions but the perfect place to find yourself and
wallow in the epic, mournful landscapes. Life is slow here,
all people, even mainland Scots are viewed as outsiders but
the country is being developed by the EU to make it more accessible,
in a land where peat from bog farming is still used as fuel.
Its places are epitomised in Britain by the shipping forecast,
such places as Lewis, rich in croft history, and Harris,
known for producing tweed, have achieved their own little
bit of fame.
Orkney Islands
Orkney is made up of 70 or so islands off the north tip of
mainland Scotland. The people refer to themselves as Orkadians,
and don't feel they are part of Scotland. This is an ancient
landscape richly strewn with stone circles and burial chambers
like the Tomb of the Eagles, a 5,000 year old burial
site full of human skulls and seaeagles' claws and Skara
Brae, the best preserved stone age village in Euope. In
fact, the Orkney islands are the site of over 1000 pre-historic
sites, the greatest concentration of such sites in Europe.
Of the seventy Islands that make up Orkney, only sixteen are
inhabited, and the largest island is known as the Mainland.
Its capital 'town' has a tiny popular of just 6,000. Orkney
is also great for anglers, divers and ornithologists in the
Northern Islands.
Shetland Islands
The Nordic Shetland Isles, Britain most northerly islands
are almost Scandinavian in their landscape. The nearest mainland
town from here is actually Bergen in Norway! Its famed for
birds, in particular puffins, which outnumber humans
50 to 1, and 4000 year old prehistoric sites. 15 of the 100
islands are inhabited, and its surprisingly well geared up
for visitors around Lerwick town. |
