Scotland Magazine

This issue we’ve gone a little castle crazy, because who doesn’t love a castle, particularly one you can cosy down in as the wind and snow battle each other outside? In Fairytale Fonab (p32) you can enter our competition for a chance of winning a sta

In 2022 Her Majesty The Queen will celebrate her Platinum Jubilee, and like all the other royal palaces, the Palace of Holyroodhouse will be celebrating her remarkable reign. From July 2022 to September 2022, visitors to the palace will be able to vi

A new holiday lettings site has launched that aims to rival tech giants like Airbnb and put more money back into islanders’ pockets. Like other bookings companies, IsleHoliday, will take a commission from holiday lets. However, instead of the money p

A Perthshire man is undertaking a huge coast-to-coast hike across Canada to raise awareness and money for rewilding projects in Scotland. Michael Yellowlees, a 32-year-old musician from Dunkeld in Perthshire, is following in the walking boots of the

The new Jacobite Rose Coin Collection, part of Orkney-based Aurora Jewellery’s official Outlander range, draws on one of the most rousing emblems of Scotland: the white rose. The white rose was a symbol of the Jacobites and was the likely source of t

Not so long ago, Gaelic was the first language in the Western Isles and was also understood and spoken by many mainland Highlanders. Today this is not the case with quite a few of the younger generation – indeed there are even some young islanders wh

Your article ‘Making Tracks’ (Issue 118) is, in a word, fabulous! In 2019 I planned a trip beginning in Edinburgh, going west via train to Mallaig then by bus to Oban then by train to Glasgow. I spent several days in each with various side trips and

There are two main routes onto the Isle of Skye – over the Skye Bridge from Kyle of Lochalsh (with most visitors stopping off at the photogenic Eilean Donan Castle en route) that brings you to near Kyleakin, or by ferry from Mallaig on the mainland t

True luxury hotels and accommodation effortlessly meet and surpass everyday needs, elevating the mundane events of sleeping and eating into once-in-a-lifetime experiences and offering excursions to fill those fleeting in-between hours with lifelong m

James V’s short life was a kaleidoscope of pleasure and pain. His years were packed with personal trauma, passionate affairs and political feuds. Thrust onto the throne at just 17 months old, following the death of his father, King James IV, at the B

It’s hardly a secret that Scotland does castles very well. But while it may be enthralling to walk amid the ruins of a battle ravaged fortress and feel the history all around you, nothing can beat bedding down in a plush castle, designed to pamper ra

As the train pulls out of Durham you are treated to the first of many spectacular views: one of the most admired Norman cathedrals in the world, overlooking the city (see p14). It’s but a short journey to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where you’ll cross the

For your chance to win, go to www.scotlandmag.com/fonabcastlecomp or fill in and return the form below with your answer to the following question: Question: In which year was Fonab Castle built? a) 1802 b) 1892 c) 1902 Closing date for entries is 6 M

This journey offers views of Britain’s least populous region as you travel to the northernmost point of mainland Scotland, discovering all its visual treasures. Your entire journey lasts just under four hours, and there’s never a dull moment. The lin

Scallops are one of the most highly prized types of shellfish in the world and commonly feature on fine-dining menus. However, they require a lot of effort to arrive on your plate and while most scallops are caught by boat today, a small percentage o

Scotland is home to thousands of miles of coastline that frame its myriad isles and skirt its sea lochs, so what better way to explore Scotland’s coastal scenery and experience its unique island cultures than on a comfortable, liveaboard boat? Forget

During our first summer travelling around Scotland, my father, brother, and I stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. There were several things that stood out to me during those seven days of travelling, but one thing

Known as the ‘Fair City’, Perth, which stands on the banks of the mighty River Tay, certainly does seem to be having a run of good fortune. Among its many accolades, it’s been named ‘Scotland’s Food Town’, is Scotland’s first Cittaslow (a city commit

Andrew Carnegie’s rise from humble beginnings in a weaver’s cottage in Scotland, to become a serial entrepreneur in America and the world’s richest man, is a compelling story. He was the archetypal Scots-American. He became intensely loyal to his ado

Glenfiddich is to Scotch whisky what Walker’s is to shortbread. A brand so synonymous with its product, that it needs no qualifying description. Perhaps it’s a coincidence that both companies have origins in the Speyside region of Scotland, or maybe

Barra is a hauntingly peaceful place. The wind funnelling low over the flower-packed sea meadows known as machair; the sloshing of the ever-present sea: these are the sounds that pass for intrusive noise in the southern reaches of the Outer Hebrides.

As women in Scotland were enjoying the wider freedoms of the Roaring Twenties, their horizons were expanding. They had grown up as steam ships, airplanes, telephones, and movies were starting to shrink the world. For the most part, global exploration

Ludovic Lindsay had always known about a cabinet filled with old photo albums and other boxes in his late grandfather’s home of Balcarres – the family seat in the East Neuk of Fife – but it was only on a wet afternoon about five years ago, that he th