The Rough Guide to Scotland (Rough Guide Travel Guides) [Paperback]

In the last few years Scotland has undergone a political and cultural renaissance--with its new Scottish parliament, Glasgow's urban renovation and café culture, Edinburgh's impressive National Museum of Scotland (opened in 1998) and a heightened "sense of identity and importance" it's certainly hip to be Scots. This fourth edition of The Rough Guide to Scotland reflects this optimism, with up-to-date information on what to see, where to go and the festivals and events (Edinburgh Festival or Highland Games anyone?) to visit.

Coverage of the country's two major cities is lengthy, although visitors to Edinburgh may prefer to take Edinburgh: The Mini Rough Guide with them for a more pocket-sized read. Where the Scotland guide is especially useful is in its travel and accommodation listings for the highlands and islands--areas geographically not far from Glasgow and Edinburgh yet in holiday terms a world apart. From the lochs to the glens, and from the Isle of Iona to the Shetland Isles, the authors suggest places to stay off the beaten tourist track.

What the guide lacks in photographs it makes up for with its quirky contexts section containing fascinating information on Scotland's history, architecture, music and literature. The book has plenty to keep you amused during the north of the country's seemingly endless nights. Plus if you've ever wanted to know how to order a beer in Gaelic, here's your chance to learn. Mine's a leann if anyone's buying. --Anna Hornsey --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"Outstanding. This was my fourth Rough Guide, and perhaps the best of them all. It contains an incredible amount of detail. . . Highly recommended." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The holiday-makers' favourite guidebook series The Sunday Times Travel Magazine --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

The essential handbook to this diverse and beautiful country. In-depth coverage of Edinburgh, the inspiring capital city and its lively neighbour, Glasgow. Up-to-the minute information on arts and entertainment and insightful background detail to the country and its culture. Discerning listings of the best places to stay, eat and drink in every region and for every budget. Practical advice on tramping through the glens, visiting whisky distilleries, surviving the Edinburgh Festival and where to spot golden eagles.

Donald Reid is also the author of the Rough Guides to South Africa, Edinburgh and Scottish Highlands & Islands. Rob Humphreys has authored Rough Guides to London, England, Austria and the Czech Republic.

Where to go

If you're short of time, you can still sample a little of everything by starting at either - or both - of the country's great cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh, before moving on up the west coast, where stunning land and seascapes are studded with reminders of Scotland's long and fractious history.

Travelling around mainland Scotland is comparatively easy: the road network reaches almost every corner of the country, trains serve the major towns and an extensive bus system links all but the most remote villages. Hikers are well served, too: all of the country's parks and most of the wilderness areas are crisscrossed by popular walking trails. Without your own transport it's more difficult to move around the islands, where, especially on the Western Isles, bus services deteriorate and are often impossible to coordinate with ferry sailing times. Almost all of the ferries are operated by Caledonian MacBrayne, who provide a splendidly punctual and efficient service, along with various island-hopping discount tickets to reduce the substantial costs of ferry travel. Reasonably priced accommodation is available almost everywhere, at its least expensive in the youth hostels, and in hundreds of family-run B&Bs.

The majority of visitors begin their tour of Scotland in the capital, Edinburgh, a handsome and ancient city famous for its magnificent castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, as well as for the excellence of its museums - not to mention the Edinburgh International Festival, a world-acclaimed arts shindig held for three weeks in August and early September. From here it's just a short journey west to the capital's rival, lively Glasgow, a sprawling industrial metropolis that was once the second city of the British Empire. In recent years, though its industrial base remains in decline, Glasgow has done much to improve its image, aided in particular by the impressive architectural legacy of its late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century heyday.

Southern Scotland, often underrated, features some of the country's finest scenery, especially among the elevated river valleys surrounding Moffat and in the forests and flat-peaked hills of the Galloway Forest Park, close to the Solway coast. Away to the east lie the better-known ruins of the four medieval Border abbeys of Melrose, Dryburgh, Jedburgh and Kelso. Jedburgh is the pick of the bunch, but the trim town of Melrose, tucked into the one of the prettiest parts of the valley of the River Tweed, is the best peg on which to hang your visit, especially as it's close to Abbotsford, the intriguing, treasure-crammed mansion of Sir Walter Scott.

To the north of Edinburgh, across the Firth of Forth, Central Scotland's varied landscape embraces deep and shadowy glens, jagged-edged mountains and the well-walked hills of the Trossachs. It's here you'll find impressive Stirling castle and, on the coast, prosperous St Andrews, home of golf. Northeast Scotland may seem at first to have less to offer, but you could consider following the Speyside malt whisky trail, taking a walk in the tranquil and majestic valleys of the Angus glens, or making a visit to oil-rich Aberdeen, the nation's third largest city, or Deeside, home to Queen Victoria's "dear paradise", Balmoral.

Most visitors move on from the central belt to Argyll, a sparsely populated territory of sea lochs and mountains. Mainland Argyll points out towards the southernmost reaches of the Hebrides, the long chain of rocky islands necklacing Scotland's Atlantic shoreline. Arran, with its striking granite peaks, and popular Bute, are accessible by ferry from Ardrossan in Ayrshire. From Oban you can reach the gorgeous scenery of Mull, and the quieter islands of Islay and Jura, wonderful places for a walking holiday.

Up along the coast, reached by boat from Mallaig or Kyleakin, is Skye, the most visited of the Hebrides, made famous by the exploits of Flora MacDonald, who smuggled Bonnie Prince Charlie "over the sea to Skye" after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden. The harsh rocky promontories that make up the bulk of the island are serrated by scores of deep sea lochs, together creating some of the western coast's fiercest scenery. The island also boasts the snow-tipped Cuillin, whose clustered summits offer perhaps the most challenging climbing in the country, and the bizarre rock formations of the Quiraing ridge on the Trotternish peninsula. The only settlement of any size is Portree, draped around the cliffs of a narrow bay, but many visitors prefer to explore the isolated hotels, B&Bs and youth hostels scattered across the island.

From Uig, on the west coast of Skye, and from Oban and Ullapool, there are frequent boats across to the Western Isles, an elongated archipelago extending south from the single island of Lewis and Harris, to the uninhabited islets below Barra. The Isles are some of the last bastions of the Gaelic language, and you'll find most road signs in Gaelic only. Of the islands, Lewis is distinguished by the prehistoric standing stones of Calanais (Callanish), one of the best-preserved monuments of its type in Europe, while North Harris possesses a remarkably hostile landscape of forbiddingly bare mountains giving way to the wide sandy beaches and lunar-like hills of South Harris.

Back on the mainland, the Highlands, whose multitude of mountains, sea cliffs, glens and lochs cover the northern two-thirds of the country, is the region which best represents the tourist image of wild Scotland. Its great popularity belies its stark remoteness, despite a number of internationally known sights, not least Loch Ness, midway along the Great Glen and home to the eponymous monster. Inverness, near the site of the Battle of Culloden, is an obvious base for exploring the region, although Fort William, at the opposite end of the Great Glen close by Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest peak, is a possible alternative, especially if you're heading west.

In the far north, boats leave for the cluster of islands that make up the agricultural Orkney Islands. By far the most picturesque town is the port of Stromness, the main point of arrival for those coming by boat, while the capital, Kirkwall, boasts a magnificent medieval cathedral. Further on, 200 miles north of Aberdeen, are the much more rugged Shetland Islands, where the bustling and historic harbour at Lerwick shelters craft from every corner of the North Atlantic. Orkney and Shetland, both with a rich Norse heritage, differ not only from each other, but also quite distinctly, in dialect and culture, from mainland Scotland. These far-flung, sea- and wind-buffeted islands offer some of the country's wildest scenery, finest bird-watching and most fascinating archeological remains. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.