Considering a Vacation in Scotland

Considering a Vacation in Scotland
by Frank Goddard

The United Kingdom of Great Britain is an extremely popular vacation destination. The kingdoms are England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland with each having unique differences in architecture, culture, language, accents and much much more. The citizens of each country are both proud of their own country but also very proud to be British so a person from Scotland can declare himself both Scottish and British with the vast majority placing "Scottish" first and foremost. Scotland was a fiercely independent nation until the Act of Union in 1707 brought it into union with England. Even today there is a strong movement for independence. Even though Scotland has a devolved government with some important and influential powers, the nationalists feel that the Scottish peoples will be better served by a free and independent government with total power over the country's destiny.

Throughout the world the typical images of Scotland include a Scottish piper dressed in a tartan kilt and most probably situated in front of a famous castle or in a Scottish glen with a stag clearly visible in the distance. While some of this is obviously Scottish most of what we class as "typically Scottish" is but a recent creation, or recreation, by the likes of Sir Walter Scott. Scott was a famous, and incredibly popular, poet and novelist in Victorian times and he worked extremely hard to promote Scotland to the English gentry, including the Royal Family, as a recreational playground and vacation destination. In actual fact the country of Scotland has a number of different and distinctive cultures and there can be incredible differences as you move from one region to the next and from one city to another.

Sir Walter Scott took much of the culture of the Highlands of Scotland and recreated it into a presentable form to the English nobility. The tartans, kilts and bagpipes are essentially from the Highlands and if you visit the area today you will still see many wearing the traditional plaid. However the Highlands, and especially the islands, are heavily influenced by the Gaelic culture and as you move further north and west it becomes more prominent. As you move through the glens and arrive at places such as Inverness and Fort William you begin to notice the differences between the Highlands and the Lowlands. The Highlands of Scotland are extreme with huge mountains and massive expanses of glens and moorland. As you move further out to the West the islands such as those of the Outer Hebrides become even more dramatic and it is in the Hebrides that the Gaelic language is most common.

Of all the cities in Scotland Edinburgh, being the nation's capital and where you will find the seat of the Scottish Government, is the most important. The city is also one of the most historical with Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile and the New Town being of extreme interest to those who enjoy architecture. Edinburgh is actually rather a small city and you are within easy reach of some of the most incredible scenery with "Arthur's Seat" being one of the best places to get a view of the whole of Edinburgh.

Glasgow is vastly different to Edinburgh, it is certainly larger (Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland), but the architecture is more Victorian with little any older. This is due to the fact that the city developed extremely quickly from a small village to a large town and then a city, during the industrial revolution. The Act of Union in 1707 opened up markets which had previously been closed to Scotland and the tradesmen of Glasgow took full advantage, especially the tobacco merchants who made massive fortunes in a very short space of time. Many of the merchants invested in the building of wonderful civic buildings which are still used today and can be seen throughout the city.

Edinburgh might be the capital and Glasgow the largest but there are numerous other cities in Scotland that merit investigation if you are planning a vacation in Scotland. Stirling has one of the finest castles to be found in the United Kingdom, St Andrews has some of the finest, and most historic, golf courses in the world and all other towns and cities have their own tourist attractions. One of the most unusual, but incredibly popular, is the amazing piece of engineering called the Falkirk Wheel.

Of course Scotland has much too much to offer than can be included in this short article. Amongst the most popular attractions are specially designed tours such as whisky tours and ghost tours of Edinburgh and the likes. The truth is that there is something in Scotland to please anybody and the country's diversity provides some of the most incredibly opportunities for a vacation of a lifetime.

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If you are visiting Scotland then you should take a look at our listings of hotels in Glasgow or, for the Isle of Harris, Harris Hotel listings.