Scotland essentials
Highland Games People across the Highlands compete in a variety of sporting games at this event, full of bagpipes, kilts and whisky. June-September Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Musicians perform on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle for this iconic spectacle. 6-28 August Edinburgh Fringe Festival The world’s largest arts festival sees people perform in venues all over the city. 6-30 August Hogmanay Scotland marks New Year's Eve with one of the best New Year's Eve celebrations in the world. Events in Edinburgh include a torchlight procession and street party. 30-31 December Burns Night Scotland celebrates its most famous poet with a traditional Burns supper of haggis. 25 January Buachaille Etive Mor in the Glencoe valley
HIGHLIGHTS THE HIGHLANDS From majestic mountains – including Britain’s highest Peak, Ben Nevis – to verdant valleys such as Glencoe and sparkling lochs, most famously Loch Ness, the Highlands' landscapes are unbeatable. NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh has a fascinating and hugely varied collection of over 20,000 artefacts covering the history of Scotland. EDINBURGH CASTLE Edinburgh’s number one attraction, the castle is home to the Honours of Scotland, Britain’s oldest Crown Jewels, dating from the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
DON'T MISS
SPEYSIDE WHISKY DISTILLERIES Speyside in the Highlands is a land of mountains, pristine pine forests and sparkling lochs, but it's perhaps best known for its whisky distilleries. KELVINGROVE ART GALLERY AND MUSEUM You can’t visit Glasgow without stopping at this stunning museum, which has 22 galleries and 80,000 exhibits, ranging from fine art to natural history. THE TROSSACHS Looking for the Highlands in miniature? Try the Trossachs, a magnificent expanse of craggy peaks and densely forested slopes. The novelist Sir Walter Scott, born 250 years ago this year, set several of his works here.
STIRLING CASTLE This grand castle, which sits high on a volcanic rock, was the childhood home of Mary Queen of Scots. FORT WILLIAM Described as Britain's outdoor capital, this town on Scotland's west coast offers an array of adventures from canoeing to mountaineering. \HIDDEN GEM Culloden was the site of one of Scotland's most harrowing battles, when the final Jacobite Rising came to a head with much bloodshed. 2021 marks the 275th anniversary of the Battle of Culloden – a good time to visit this atmospheric site.
V&A Dundee, Scotland's first design museum, resides in a futuristic building on the city's waterfront and includes a room by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, restored to its former glory
PHOTOS: © HARVEY WOOD/NATIONAL TRUST FOR SCOTLAND
ANNUAL EVENTS
