Pitlochry owes its popularity to two things – one is the building of the military route to the north of the country organised by General Wade in the 1700’s, which opened up this part of Scotland, and the other is the visit made to the town by Queen Victoria, while she holidayed in Blair Castle. It was the many favourable remarks that she made about the town that lead to an increase in people wanting to come to the area. The arrival of the railway to the region in 1863…
Read MoreIf you have never heard of the pretty town of Peebles, it is located where the River Tweed meets Eddleston Water before reaching the sea. Peebles once held great importance as it was along the major route from the Scottish borders through to the major city of Edinburgh. There have been settlements in this part of Scotland for millennia, as witnessed by the many remains of fortified structures that have been found in the area. It is believed that the first church to appear in what is now Peebles was…
Read MoreLoch Lomond has been immortalised in art and in song and is still a place to which visitors flock in their thousands every year. This stunningly beautiful 27.5 square miles of water continues to be one of the biggest tourist attractions in the whole of Scotland. The Loch holds the record for being the biggest single inland watercourse in Great Britain, and its location only twenty miles outside of Glasgow makes it easily accessible to all. As with many of the waterways and lochs and Scotland Loch Lomond was formed…
Read MoreBen Nevis is not only the highest mountain in Scotland, it is the highest in the whole of the UK, yet despite this it is also the one that attracts the most visitors, which in turn means that it is the site of the majority of mountain rescues that take place in the UK, making it quite possibly the most dangerous. It measures a staggering 1,344 metres in height, which equates to 4,4406 feet – all of which people seem to have an insatiable need to walk, trek and climb.…
Read MoreIt is estimated that one out of every eight marriages that takes place in Scotland is performed at Gretna Green, which equates to over four thousand weddings a year. Gretna Green is just over the Scottish Border and rather than being a village in its own right, is only one end of a large village which at the other end is known as Springfield. How Gretna Green became such a famous wedding destination is all down to geography and history. It was in 1754 that restrictions was imposed on the…
Read MoreThe name of the village might not be easily recognisable but you will certainly know about it. Drumnadrochit is the small village located on Urquhart Bay, in the shadow of Urqhuart Castle, on the banks of Loch Ness. This is the place to go to learn all that there is to know about the elusive Loch Ness Monster. Despite that fact that on the surface the place seems overly commercialised with all things Nessie, there is much more to the place than what may or may not inhabit the Loch.…
Read MoreThere has been a settlement here in the location of St Andrews for centuries; evidence has shown that there were people living here in the dark ages; although they were not living in St Andrews as the area was then known as Kilrimont. St Andrew’s University was built here in 1413 making it the first and oldest university in Scotland. The 1400’s saw another first taking place here too; this is where the sport of golf was born. Originally based around a croquet type game it developed into a game…
Read MoreThis pretty Scottish seaside town has everything that you could need. Not only does it have all of the attraction of a traditional seaside location it also has over 900 years of history behind it. The street plan here has changed very little since it was first laid down in the 13th century. The architecture of the town is such that you can see how the town developed over the centuries as there are many incredible buildings to be found here. Ayr is a town that has always had a…
Read MoreWhether Berwick upon Tweed is located in Scotland or England has long been debated, in fact the town has long alternated between the two, changing sides fourteen times in two hundred years up until 1482 when it became English, however much of the town remains more Scottish than English. For example the football team plays in the Scottish leagues rather than the English divisions. This is a town that may be ‘of England’ but it is certainly not located ‘within England’. Such has been the confusion over where the town…
Read MoreIt was the beautiful natural harbour in Tobermory that prompted the building of the town by the British Fisheries Society in 1786. The unusual name of the town being taken from the gaelic ‘Tobar-mhoire’ which translates as ‘Mary’s Well’ and refers to the ancient in the upper section of the village that is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Parents of a certain age will recognise the town as being the location of Balamory, a series made for children’s television, although the town has had a long standing relationship with children’s…
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