Best Of Scotland

What To Do, See And Experience

Rugged, charming and wild… that’s enough about me though.

Let’s talk about Bonnie Scotland the land of fierce and fearless people. I’ve always found Scotland to be such an intriguing place, from the time I watched Braveheart as just a wee lad, my first movie crush was on William Wallace’s girlfriend! I must have been only 6 or 7….. I don’t want to give any spoilers away but what happens to his girlfriend, my first love, let’s just say it was quite shocking for a wee little lad to experience, the trauma of it all.

When I think of Scotland I think kilts, haggis, bagpipes, Sean Connery! But am I just stereotyping the Scottish culture into a cartoonish like view of Groundskeeper Willie.

The Scottish landscape is undeniably beautiful with its rough and rugged highlands and the rolling hills of the lowlands, comprising of nearly 800 islands with a range of wildlife, red squirrels, red deer, seals, puffins, unicorns and of course the highland cow.

But where to go? Let’s have a look at the most interesting places to see, to experience the best of Scotland for all it is. Starting in the cities, they can be dark places with dark history but ever so appealing.

Edinburgh

Let’s start with where you cannot miss - Edinburgh, Edinburgh is a must, if you make your way all the way to Scotland and miss out on it you’ll regret it deeply, a beautiful city, unique and charming, packed to the absolute brim with history; literally layer upon layer of it.

Walking the Royal Mile and wandering the many alley ways and shops and you’ll feel like you’re in another time.

You’ll leave Edinburgh with the feeling there is a magnet in your pocket, always compelling you to return, if you don’t like Edinburgh I don’t like you.

Make sure you walk to the top of Arthur’s Seat, an ancient volcano for a view over the city. Explore Edinburgh Castle and visit the National Museum of Scotland.

Glasgow

Not too far from Edinburgh is Glasgow. Glasgow is full of museums and art galleries; walking the city streets you’ll notice some curious street art and maybe some curious locals. Glaswegians are known to be friendly but be careful not to get a Glasgow kiss it’s not what you think it is.

Not a bad place to explore Loch Lomond from either.

Inverness

Inverness is a very pretty and quaint little city, a good base that is close to castles and nature, well worth visiting the historic centre and all that the city offers, a little grim but the cemetery on the hill is well worth a look too.

Let’s move onto nature to see what’s on offer, something Scotland is elite in.

Loch Ness

Loch Ness not far from Inverness where sea monsters play the longest game of hide and seek on record! I actually saw the Loch Ness monster when I was there, unbelievable I know. It was dark though so I couldn’t make it out properly, you know now that I think about it; it may have just been a swan.

A beautiful place even if you’re not as fortunate as me.

Scottish Highlands

The Scottish highlands or the northern highlands is an untamed landscape of lochs and mountains, covering a very large chunk of the northern half of Scotland, many a castle can be found in these lands and many a hairy coo.

Isle of Skye

The Isle of Skye a rugged land of striking landscapes and mountain scenery with sharp stone features and dramatic cliffs. Located on the west coast it also home to many a wee little pretty fishing village and fairy pools.

Isle of Arran

Another Isle, the Isle of Arran, accessible by ferry, sandy beaches, forests and quaint villages.

Glencoe

Lastly Glencoe. Windy roads will take you by colourful hills, spectacularly painted in all arrays of colours, depending on the season that is, you may have seen this location in the James Bond movie Skyfall. A drive through this scenic landscape is magic.

Some other note worthy sights

• Aberdeen home to many a whisky distillery.

• Dundee a dark city but never the less an interesting one.

• Fort Williams, Harry Potter fans can see the train from the iconic train scene

• Shetland Islands, out of the way but I mean Shetland ponies! Come on, its got to be worth it.

These are just some places, well known places, of course there are gems and castles that sprinkle the whole of the country, from what I saw of Scotland you can’t go wrong.  By all means take a car if you can!

Clans

Okay let’s talk clans, not Clash of Clans, sorry nerds!

Scotland was once upon a time ruled by clan chiefs. Each clan wore a different tartan which can be seen on the patterns of their kilts. Looking into it there’s an awful, awful lot of clans across Scotland.  If you’re visiting Scotland and you have any lineage you’re going to be curious to find out with which clan you belong, because being in a gang is fun, you can search online at clan.com that can help you figure out which clan you are from.

I’m from the Gordon clan, the Dukes of Gordon were once called ‘The Cock of the North’ and their most ancient title ‘Gudeman of the Bog’ both flattering titles.

Culture

The Scottish people are an honest and very funny people.  Their accent is distinct in sound just like their culture and when you’re there you’ll want to immerse yourself in that culture.

Some things you’ve got to do!

• You’ve got to try a hearty meal of haggis, the innards of a sheep never tasted so good, I didn’t mind it at all.

• Whisky - find a whisky bar and drink all the whisky you can, you can’t visit Scotland without having a drink - that would be very uncultured of you and an insult to the red cheeked thick accented man in the corner of the bar who just shouted god knows what to you.

• Take a photo of a highland cow, now I might be biased because I appreciate a good cow.  These things are majestic - we may just be connecting on a hairy level though.

• Experience some Highland Games, a long held tradition! Watch the caber toss, hammer throw, tug o war and many more.

• Visit a castle, there’s so many castles to see and who doesn’t like castles?

• Drive through the countryside, driving the winding roads of Scotland is a pleasure, there’s not too many trees to block your view so you see an awful lot of the landscape as you drive by.

• Immerse yourself in the history. The history of Scotland is ever present in the face of its old buildings and the character of its people, night tours and walking tours are a must… and don’t yell “Freedom!” you prick!

The weather isn’t as bad as they say it is, it’s much much worse.

Daris Laurins.