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Scotland travel guide

This Scotland travel guide takes the lid off that clichéd tin of shortbread and looks under that tartan kilt. Revealing a naked, natural Scotland. One where food is world class, and about so much more than haggis. And a country that is packed with wildlife, wild places, mountainous and marine magnificence. Thought it was all castles and ceilidhs? Think beyond the clichés, and find a responsible, restful and rejuvenating country. Although we always love a kilt, it has to be said.

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Scotland travel guide

Take the sleeper train from London and you wake up to everything that a Scotland holiday has to offer. Deserted mountains glistening with silvery threads of icy rivers, waterfalls tumbling from highlands to lowlands, small villages with stations where you need to put your hand out to request the train to stop and suddenly, out of nowhere, a gleaming great loch. You have to wipe the sleep from your eyes to believe it.

Stare at a piece of fine tweed and you get will get what Scotland is about. Pure, beautiful, richly coloured, warm and nurtured by individuals who want it to last forever

Scotland has also woken up. Moving away from the old image of tartan and shortbread, the highlands, lowlands and islands are alive with hikers, cyclists, canoeists and climbers. All immersing themselves in landscapes so wild you can almost see history in front of you, as nothing has changed in generations.

And with some of the most progressive 'right to roam' laws in Europe, you can forget the myths of a closed, clannish people. It's an open door policy in Scotland, revealing a truly wild world for all to see.

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Scotland is...

where the wild things are

Scotland isn't...

about coach tours to castles

What we rate & what we don't

Underrated

Wildlife watching

If you don’t usually travel with binoculars, this is your time to invest. Not only is it teeming with wildlife but it is so accessible. Small and perfectly formed you can see a lot of habitats in a short period of time.

Land access

There is an ancient, traditional right for all people to access the countryside in Scotland, and this was enshrined in law in 2003. This gives greater recreational freedom than most other countries in Europe including England and Wales, and applies to hikers, cyclists, horseriders, low impact water users and campers.

Food

Haggis and deep fried Mars Bars have a lot to answer for, with few people associating food as a top experience in Scotland. And then you remember Aberdeen Angus Beef, Scottish mussels and oysters, Scottish salmon, the Arbroath Smokie and world class game. All exported as world class delicacies for years. It just took a while for Scots to show them off at home.

Winter

Wild and wet, it is also empty in winter and, when the snow falls, a winter wonderland. The Cairngorms National Park is the place to go in the snow, with Aviemore accessible by train so you can avoid the hassle of driving on winter roads. With downhill and cross country skiing, snowboarding and winter walking, as well as magical wildlife watching opportunities even at this time of year, Scotland is snow-tastic.

Rated

Caledonian Sleeper train

The atmosphere in the famous Caledonian Sleeper train bar, at ten o’clock at night, is one of those charming travel experiences. It is full of hikers comparing routes, and whisky drinking adventurers revving up for the wilds. And when you wake up in the morning, enveloped by said wilds, you will gasp in awe.

Bagging a Munro

The Scottish name for a mountain over 3000 feet (914 m), many hillwalkers aim to climb all of them, a feat known as "Munro bagging". A walker who has climbed all Munros is entitled to be called a Munroist. See the Scottish Mountaineering Club for details

Islands

You can’t do them all in a week, but you can make a fine start. There are 790 offshore islands in the following groups: Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides, sub-divided into the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides.

The demon drink

Whisky goes without saying, with myriad malts to savour and salivate over. However, there is also a burgeoning brewery scene in Scotland now, with artisan ale popping up everywhere from Stornoway in the Hebrides to Speyside Craft brewery in the Moray Firth.

Overrated

Moaning about midges

There is no getting away from the fact that between May and October, especially on the west coast, there are midges. However, they are more prevalent at water’s edges, at dusk and when there is little wind, than on a mountain top in the middle of the day. So yes, they exist, but not everywhere, and there are plenty of ways to cope with them. TheMidge Forecast website can come in very handy.

Overtourism

For a country with so many celebrated wild spaces, it is a shock to see the issue of overtourism hitting some of its bonniest spots. Giant cruise ships to the Isle of Skye are causing mayhem for local people. Edinburgh is bursting and far from bonny during peak summer months and still the tourism authorities refuse to sit up and take action. Read more of our stance and tips in our overtourism guides.

Castles

and all things bonny are really so last century. There are stunning ones, but you have to pay an arm and a leg to stay in a top quality one. And although visiting them is great, it’s the small communities and backroads that hold the truly majestic Scotland.

Peak practice

The charity climb epidemic hit Ben Nevis some time ago, with thousands landing on the hills, trampling and littering, with little financial benefit for local people and huge environmental destruction. Few people realise, but this is not a National Park and so does not have the funding to fix it. Charity is good, churning up a precious landscape, not so much.

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Food, shopping & people

Eating & drinking

Malt whisky from Scotland is sought all over the world, so here is your opportunity to lie at the feet of the malt masters

Seafood used to be exported, but with the culinary scene moving on in leaps and bounds they keep a lot more of it for themselves now. Check out the Scottish Seafood Trail.

Aberdeen Angus beef and venison make any holiday in Scotland a veritable carnival for carnivores.

Cheese lovers should go in search of Morangie Brie, Isle of Mull cheddar and Dunsyre Blue. To name but a few.

Scotland is not cheesy. Unless you mean literally. Artisan cheesemaking is taking off here now, all over our highlands and islands.

People & language

The reputation for being closed and clannish, miserly and mean is a myth. The reality is an intellectual people full of creativity and a love of landscape. Scottish Gaelic, still spoken, has a rich oral and written tradition and if you don't get a Scot to tell a good story on holiday, you haven’t experienced the real Scotland. Scots is an official language, derived from old English. Use a few Scots words and your glass will never be empty. Call them Scotch, Jock or English, and it will never be full.

Oh aye (not ‘och aye’) - I know, I agree or really?
Away ye go - No way!
Burn - Stream
Ben - Mountain
Ceilidh - Folk dance event (from Scottish Gaelic)

Gifts & shopping

With singing and storytelling at the heart of their culture, buy a CD from a local band, or a novel from a contemporary Scottish author.

Although cashmere goat’s wool is not from Scotland but Mongolia, it is a world leader in finishing, knitting and weaving it. Cheap versions from China abound, but if you want quality, Scotland is the place.

Tweed is no longer twee. The most prestigious of the lot is Harris Tweed, protected by the Harris Tweed Act of Parliament, which strictly outlines the conditions in which the cloth can genuinely be made. Recognise the real thing by its well-known orb logo.

We do not just travel when we go about Scotland, we walk through time

– Ian Hamilton, author, A Touch of Treason

How much does it cost?

Ferry trip from Oban to Isle of Mull:
£5.55 one way for foot passenger, or £49.50 for a car

Two person canoe rental on Caledonian canal: £50 for two days

Arborath Smokie: £5 for two

Arran Sunset beer: £2.85

Caledonian Sleeper train London to Fort William: From £68 one way

A brief history of Scotland

Travelling around Scotland is like combining a history and geography lesson into one. Just over the border at Hadrian's Wall and you'll find some of the finest remains of the Roman invaders of 43 AD who occupied the southern half of Scotland, which they named Caledonia, but turned back after fierce resistance from local people. In Shetland, you can see evidence of the Vikings who invaded the North of the country. But Scotland's truly ancient origins can best be seen on Lewis and Orkney, where the famous standing stones are thought to have been planted by prehistoric settlers as far back as 9400 BC.Read more

However, you don't have to go back quite as far in time, nor travel too far in the country to see evidence of the most fiercely fought battles in Scotland. With the English. In the 1290's Edward I of England conquered Scotland, the period famously depicted in the film "Braveheart". Later Robert the Bruce continued the fight eventually gaining Scotland its freedom. Stirling is the place to visit to find out more on this period, which culminated in the The Declaration of Arbroath in April 1320 stating "For as long as one hundred of us shall remain alive we shall never in wise consent to submit to the rule of the English, for it is not for glory we fight, for riches, or for honours, but for freedom alone, which no good man loses but with his life."

It was all change in 1603 when Queen Elizabeth 1 of England died and James VI of Scotland became James I of England. Consequently, he was king of two separate nations each with separate parliaments. The next hundred years were messy ones as a result, both in England and Scotland, with opinion divided about where loyalties should lie. In May 1707, the Parliaments of Scotland and England were united, with all political power moved to London. It is worth noting, however that Scotland retained its own religion, education and legal systems, and still does today.

This period of unification led to economic growth in Scotland. The cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen flourished as did Scotland's artists, intellectuals and scientists, establishing a country with a strong identity and weighty heritage. This national confidence finally led to the establishment of a Scottish Parliament in 1999, led by a First Minister and a Scottish cabinet. Scots voted in a referendum in September 2014 on whether they should now go for full independence or not. Dividing the country, the outcome was a No vote, meaning that the Scottish people rejected independence, by 55% to 45%.Further powers, however, would be devolved to the Scottish Parliament as a result of the Scotland Act 2012, with various changes to be seen over the years to come.