Scotland Magazine

While most Scottish whisky distilleries now offer tours (see our whisky special on page 49) – few of them give you the chance to take a tour with the distillery owner. Step forward Annandale Distillery, in Dumfries and Galloway, where visitors can ta

The luxury floating hotel, Fingal, which is moored in the foodie suburb of Leith in Edinburgh, and run by the team behind the nearby Royal Yacht Britannia, has been crowned one of the top five-star hotels in the UK by the AA. Fingal, once a working v

An exceptionally rare and valuable gold sword pommel dating from around AD700 has been acquired by National Museums Scotland after being discovered by a metal detectorist near Blair Drummond in Stirlingshire in 2019. The pommel, which combines elemen

There is no better way to get under the skin of Scotland on your travels than on a personal tour with an expert guide, and with Glascotours, all tours – which can be tailor-made for you – are led by the owner, and local guide, Ian Smith. You can’t ge

If there’s one symbol of Scotland bound to stir up more national sentiment than any other, it’s the Stone of Destiny (or Stone of Scone), the stone on which Scottish kings were supposedly crowned upon for centuries and which Edward I of England merci

Not long ago I drove down to Argyllshire to attend a memorial concert for Bill, a dear old friend whom I’d known since my teens. Due to lockdown, his funeral, eight months previously, had been for family only and this was a perfect celebration of the

If you’ve never seen it, then you could be forgiven for picturing the Stone of Scone (also known as the Stone of Destiny) – on which Scottish kings were historically crowned – as some elaborately carved ancient relic, with beautiful detail and intric

Murrayshall, a stately home in acres of its own grounds, with a couple of golf courses, and comfortable, well serviced rooms, is just a short drive from Scone Palace. The house, once home to the Graham-Murrays family, from whom the Earls of Mansfield

Standing sentinel in the Scottish Borders, this rose-pink castle, which has been home to the Maitland family for over 400 years, is one of the oldest and most refined inhabited castles in all of Scotland. Now run by a charitable trust, with all profi

I was at the kitchen table in Canna House on the island of Canna, feeling privileged. The archivist of the house, Fiona Mackenzie, was teaching me how to sing a Gaelic song, Iomairibh Eutrom, a waulking song from the Isle of Skye, about a fairy gathe

General Wade is famous for his ‘military roads’, which criss-cross the Highlands, sometimes as paths or tracks, more often adopted as modern roads. His elegant bridge at Aberfeldy and the nearby Black Watch Memorial mark the southern end of this endu

This issue, Scotland magazine has teamed up with the Golf View Hotel & Spa, near Nairn on the Moray Firth, to offer one lucky winner and their guest the chance to win a two-night stay with dinner on one night, plus access to its highly anticipated ne

If for some reason you don’t feel other islands in the Outer Hebrides offer sufficient solitude, then Berneray, barely more than a raised belly button in the Sound of Harris, is the place for you. Two vast shell-sand beaches stitch a twinkling silver

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It sounds like a James Bond plotline. One man builds up a leading position in the Scotch whisky market. From humble beginnings in a Kilmarnock grocer’s shop, his eponymous empire grows over time to straddle the globe. Cut to today. Behind a discreet

The ancient art of coopering is a heritage craft that refers to the production and restoration of wooden barrels, bound by hoops. In Scotland the tradition dates back centuries, tracing its origins to over 5,000 years ago when the barrels were first

Sitting at the top of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, this five-star attraction is a must for anyone visiting the city, whether you are a whisky connoisseur or an amateur. You could spend hours browsing the shop, which has just about every type of whisky you

For 500 years, the Black Rood symbolised the legitimacy and independence of Scotland’s kingship. Supposedly containing a piece of the True Cross (the wooden cross on which Jesus was crucified), the Black Rood was a gold and jewelled reliquary that ar

While on a walking tour of Scotland in 1803, William Wordsworth penned some of the most famous lines about Scotland’s Rob Roy: “Heaven gave Rob Roy a dauntless heart And wondrous length and strength of arm: Nor craved he more to quell his foes, Or ke

The sweeping pedestrian boulevard that runs through Glasgow’s city centre takes its name from a previous Lord Provost of Glasgow, Andrew Buchanan of Drumpellier, who feued (a form of land tenure) the street in 1777. Buchanan was a maltster-turned-tob

4 February 2023 The National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture celebrates 50 years with a concert featuring stars from across the Scottish traditional music scene. smo.uhi.ac.uk 8-12 March 2023 This vibrant festival features performances, discus

Edinburgh inspires me on an extraordinary scale. Any cobbled close one staggers through, every craggy hill one scrambles – therein lies a story. I am equally inspired by the natural world that lies just outside the city’s boundaries, and by my father

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) and luxury textiles company Lochcarron have teamed up to create an exclusive ‘Coorie’ range of tartan perfect for the colder months. Included in the range of soft heathery-toned winter warmers is a lambswool scarf,