Why travel to Scotland? The reasons are countless: perhaps because you saw one of its castles, maybe you love its culture, maybe you want to wander through the narrow streets of Edinburgh or explore remote paths between lakes and mountains.
Maybe you are attracted to that country that is glimpsed in a thousand and one novels, movies or series like Outlander, or maybe you want to check if Nessie really exists in the Highlands, or end the night with a dram of whiskey in some pub?
According to the holiday rental experts at www.edinburghpearlapartments.co.uk many visitors to Scotland are so impressed by its charm and beauty, they often plan to return to explore it further.
Here are just 5 reasons to visit Scotland at least once in your life!
1. Enjoy yourself in nature
From the most remote peak of the Highlands to the yellow fields of the Borders, from the lochs of unfathomable waters to the humid and dense forests, from the white sand beaches to the steep coasts and their islands … each of these places brings a touch of beauty to the wild nature of Scotland, where deer, dolphins, hares, Highland Coos, seals or puffins share the limelight.
Even without moving too far from the cities, you find landscapes so majestic (and sometimes also so simple, but so powerful), that when contemplating them you feel tiny and the emotion floods you.
2. Its spectacular castles
Its castles forge Scotland’s landscapes as much as its lakes or mountains. It does not matter in which area you are: you are not far from a fortress, restored or in ruins, open to the public or abandoned over the centuries.
Eilean Donan Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Dunnottar Castle, Stirling Castle or Urquhart Castle are the ones that receive the most visitors, but they are only some names among hundreds of constructions (that were once thousands), each with a fascinating, tortuous, romantic or disturbing story behind. And with some ghosts, too!
3. See how the heavens change a thousand times in a day
You’ve surely heard that in Scotland, many times all four seasons appear on the same day (or at the same time!). This is Scottish weather.
The sky is capricious, and also a constant source of surprises: it engulfs the mountains with a fog so dense that it does not let you see a few metres away, it is filled with grey clouds that hypnotize, sends imperceptible but incessant rain that turns the landscapes green … and, from time to time, it opens to give way to some rays of sunlight, paints an unforgettable sunset of colours, or a rainbow on the horizon at the least expected moment, making you forget everything else.
4. Because its legends are part of the day to day life
Not believing in them is no excuse, because ghosts, superstition and legends are present in many facets of Scotland. There is no castle worth its salt without some soul in pain that roams the ramparts, and what about Nessie, the monster of Loch Ness, who has been intriguing tourists visiting the lake for decades?
The fairies are not hiding either, as you can see in the mounds of the Fairy Glen, on the Isle of Skye, or in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, home of the strange story of Robert Kirk. The legends of Edinburgh are captivating, as are the sculptures of the Kelpies, representing one of the most disturbing creatures in Scottish mythology.
5. For a story that captivates
Soaking up nature and visiting castles, cathedrals, towns and villages you will unravel the history of Scotland and its many inhabitants. For many, the first contact with the history of the country is through films like Braveheart or Rob Roy, or series like Outlander, but, of course, reality is much more complex than fiction.
And more emotional: shudder in the fells of Culloden, contemplate Loch Shiel and the monument to the Jacobites from Glenfinnan, visit the Skara Brae settlement, venture into the rooms of Edinburgh Castle, meet the fate of kings and queens, explore the abbeys in ruins of the Borders, run through the vestiges of Hadrian’s wall … and discover in first person the history of Scotland.
Share
Contributors
