Places to Visit | Tourist Information
Articles that include informative walking guides with maps and route descriptions.
The Pentland Hills are located south of Edinburgh where they span Midlothian and West Lothian in a regional park that’s over 38 square miles in size.
There are 9 peaks over 1,500 feet in the Pentlands and more than 600,000 people visit them each year.
There are a number of entry points to the park but one of the best is at Swanston, which is just a 20-minute drive from Edinburgh city centre.
Woodhall Dean Nature Reserve in East Lothian is situated to the north-east of the Lammermuir Hills. The reserve comprises mixed woodland which surrounds a deep gorge that opens up onto rolling fields.
In spring, Woodhall Dean is awash with bluebells and primroses, while buzzards, sparrowhawks, and tawny owls can be seen throughout the year.
The Lammermuirs are a range of hills in the south of Scotland that border the county of East Lothian and the Scottish Borders.
Visitors can explore the ancient hill forts at White Castle and Addinston, go for woodland walks at Pressmennan Wood and Yester Estate, and climb the highest point of the hill range at Meikle Says Law (1,755 feet/535 metres).
The Union Canal in Edinburgh opened in 1822 and was originally built to transport coal from Falkirk to the capital city, but it is now mainly used by leisure craft.
The footpath and cycleway that runs alongside the Union Canal joins the Water of Leith. It is part of the Sustrans route 75 which ends in Gourock, 30 miles west of Glasgow.
The Marble Line is located a mile south of the village of Broadford in the southern half of the Isle of Skye.
This long-abandoned railway line was used to transport marble from a quarry 2 miles further south, but it has now been converted into a footpath that allows visitors to explore the clearance villages of Boreraig and Suisnish as well as the Strath Suardal valley.
The remains of long-abandoned villages can be seen all over the Isle of Skye, but Boreraig – situated 4 1/2 miles south of Broadford – is perhaps the most hauntingly beautiful.
Visiting Boreraig takes walkers on a 9-mile circular trail from Broadford to the shore of Loch Eishort, across heather-covered moorland on a rough path that offers stunning views along the way.
Glen Ogle lies in a particularly scenic area of Stirlingshire, 2 miles northwest of the village of Lochearnhead.
The Glen is a popular tourist destination thanks to the Sustrans Route 7 which offers a superb cycle and walking route through the glen, where stunning views are on offer from Loch Earn to the Glen Ogle railway viaduct and beyond.
Winter is an amazing time to be in Scotland, especially if you love exploring the great outdoors. There’s something magical about the country when winter visits and there are more things to do in this season than you might expect.
In this article I’ll show you the top activities to enjoy in Scotland between November and March whether you want to see wildlife, go on an invigorating walk or take part in exciting sports, along with a couple of other winter activities that just might surprise you.
The forests of Arran offer some of the best mountain biking routes of any of the west-coast islands and any cycle ride is almost guaranteed to include sightings of Arran’s famed red squirrels. The most popular wooded areas are; Brodick Castle, Dyemill, Glenrickard, King’s Cave, North Sannox and South End.
The Arran Coastal Way is a circular cycling and walking route around the perimeter of the Isle of Arran on Scotland’s west coast. This easy-going trail rewards visitors with stunning views at every section of its 65-mile length and there are plenty of opportunities to deviate onto nearby attractions along the way.
Loch Leven is a large expanse of water situated in the rural Scottish county of Perth and Kinross. The National Nature Reserve is renowned for the number of wildfowl that live there and in fact, it’s home to more breeding ducks than anywhere else in Europe.
Goatfell is an 874-metre mountain on the Isle of Arran on Scotland’s west coast. The mountain (designated a Corbett) is one of four on the island and is located three miles west of Brodick Castle.
Although Goatfell is the highest point on the Isle of Arran the walk to the summit is quite easy with a robust staircase of boulders towards the top and a well-laid path through moorland and forest at the bottom.
