If you’re planning that Scottish trip, then think of Scotland as two destinations, two experiences. Firstly, there is the city. Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital, makes a stunning first impression: it’s just so romantic with that castle against the skyline! Visit during the Edinburgh International Festival in late summer and you will certainly experience a cultural kaleidoscope. (Book your accommodations in advance though.)
The Edinburgh Military Tattoo is very much a Scottish icon. Wildly popular, this takes place every year around the same time as the main Edinburgh festival in late summer.
But north of the city, there is another Scotland. In the days of the old Highland clans, where the mountains began also marked where a different culture, language and way of life began. But partly because of a mad adventurer called Bonnie Prince Charlie, and partly because hard economic facts caught up with them anyway, many Highland folk had to seek better times in other corners of the globe from the 18th century onwards.
But the ambience of the Highlands is still there – the beautiful hills and empty glens with their “Standing stones on the vacant wine-red moor / Hills of sheep, and the howes of the silent vanished races / And winds, austere and pure”. My, how Robert Louis Stevenson distilled it into a couple of lines!
Loch Lomond, looking north to where the hills close in and the Highlands start.
And today, getting around is easy – journey times are short. There is plenty of accommodation choice and good local foods in restaurants. Add in Highland Games, whisky distilleries, heritage museums galore and even a steam train trip over the Glenfinnan Viaduct that featured in the Harry Potter movies - and the city-and-Highlands Scotland experience makes for a stimulating vacation, packed with interest.
Finally, remember that there are direct flights from the US into Scottish airports, at Edinburgh and Glasgow. And there are good Scotland connections from several hub airports on mainland Europe. Or to put it another way, you don’t have to get to Scotland via London, England – though that’s fine too. Yes, we have our own Parliament now – and we’ll have to look at full independence soon. But for all that, we still get along with our neighbours south of the Border!
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Gilbert Summers is a native Scot who has written about his homeland nearly all his life for publishers and tourism organisations. But his website www.scotlandinaweek.com avoids the hype of the tourism brochure. It’s an honest account for the Scottish visitor, with lots of tips for places to see, as well as tour suggestions and even some advice on the likelihood of seeing the Loch Ness Monster. (Probably zero – but you should visit anyway.)
