Scotland

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.

Think of Scotland and the vast majority of folk will bring to mind images of bagpipes, tartan, kilts and the likes, younger folk may think of the “Tartan Army” and the massive support for the national football club of Scotland, but all will have rather similar thoughts of what is truly Scottish. Sadly much of the quaint biscuit tin lid pictures of Scotland are little more than a very clever marketing campaign which started a long time ago when the likes of Sir Walter Scott (a famous poet and novelist) worked hard to promote Scotland as a vacation destination to the British Royal Family and the English upper classes. To discover the true Scottish culture we need to take a closer look at the country’s history but, more importantly, we can take a look at the different regions and the most important cities which often have distinctive differences.

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.

Besides the two cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow there are plenty of other towns and cities, such as Sterling, Perth, Dundee and Aberdeen, that are worth visiting as each are very different from one another. Each has it’s own tourist attractions such as St Andrews and it’s famous golf courses. One of the most popular tourist attractions is actually a modern work of engineering, the Falkirk Wheel but, in the main, most tourist attractions in Scotland are historical buildings or sites such as Stirling Castle.

Whatever your interests Scotland can provide the location for your perfect vacation. When you have chosen where to base yourselves you can investigate all of the tourist attractions but it is also well worth finding out what tours are available. One of the most popular types of tours in Scotland is the whisky tour but others are just as popular, such as Edinburgh’s many ghost tours. So, when you are next choosing a vacation destination give Scotland some thought.