Your trip planner for soul-stirring Scotland

Best for: Lovers of ruined abbeys, romantic writers and big skies.
Route: Eyemouth-Melrose-Dumfries-Wigtown-Portpatrick-Ayr
Why do it? To celebrate not making the common mistake of zooming north and missing Southern Scotland: the country without the crowds, but still alive with history, walks and culture.

Cut north from Berwick-upon Tweed (nicked by Edward I in 1296) and you are in Scotland. Celebrate with North Sea lobster and chips by the beach in Eyemouth; learn more about the industry behind your crustacean at the Eyemouth Museum. Just to the north, you can ramble around St Abbs Head National Nature Reserve, or scuba dive below the bountiful waters.
Delve west into the Scottish Borders hinterland to find yourself in Sir Walter Scott country. The neat market town of Melrose makes for an ideal base as it’s also home to the eponymous abbey, handily the finest of the Borders’ abbey quartet.

Scotland celebrated the 250th anniversary of the birth of Sir Walter Scott, arguably the country’s greatest writer, in 2021. Cycle to Scott’s View to see why he eulogised the Borders so, or peer down with Roman ghosts from Melrose’s Eildon Hills. You can walk too to Abbotsford, Scott’s grand riverside retreat on the lifeblood River Tweed. In nearby Galashiels is the Great Tapestry of Scotland, brainchild of writer Alexander McCall Smith, one of the world’s largest community arts projects. Since 2021, it’s been housed in a dedicated gallery and visitor centre.

Scotland’s most southerly region beckons west: Dumfries and Galloway. Join the Robert Burns Trail at ‘Scotland’s greatest poet’s’ old house and visit the Robert Burns Centre too. From Dumfries it’s an easy hop to Caerlaverock, the UK’s only triangular castle, or the romance of Sweetheart Abbey. The artists’ village of Kirkcudbright reclines south, enjoying the big skies and sea-kissed light of the ‘Scottish Riviera’. Inland it’s more about stars and galaxies at the UK’s first Dark Skies Park: Galloway Forest Park.

Follow the Solway Firth and its sunsets to Scotland’s National Book Town of Wigtown. Home to an annual autumnal literary festival, it’s a great place to seek a rare tome and huddle down reading. You can strike out for the ruins of Glenluce Abbey, or meander around the historic Isle of Whithorn. An alternative bolthole out west is the wild and wildly beautiful Rhinns of Galloway. Teetering on the edge of the Atlantic, the picture postcard village of Portpatrick gazes towards Ireland; from there walk the Southern Upland Way to Killantringan Lighthouse. Heading south, you can explore the Mull of Galloway, with its bird reserve.

Ayrshire draws you north along its beach-fringed coast and the main town of Ayr. The county’s highlight is a short cycle away – Alloway. The whole village is a homage to Burns with the cottage where he was born perfectly preserved, sites from his verse bursting alive and the engaging Robert Burns Birthplace Museum bringing the man behind perhaps the world’s most famous song (‘Auld Lang Syne’) to life.

Best for: The best of both worlds – magical isles, as well as magical mainland.
Route: Arran-Campbeltown-Oban-Portavadie-Bute
Why do it? Head deep into the mists of time to explore the water-lashed kingdom of the Gaels, a corner of Scotland that offers both site-stuffed mainland and islands.

The world of traffic lights and rush-hour jams eases as the brooding hills of Arran loom into view. After sailing across the Firth of Clyde, hike those peaks, stroll empty beaches or spot wildlife: Arran is the only isle to harbour all Scotland’s ‘Big Five’ wildlife – red squirrel, red deer, golden eagle, otter and harbour seal. Hailed as ‘Scotland in Miniature’, the country’s seventh largest isle straddles the Highland Boundary Fault and boasts distilleries, breweries, cheesemakers, castles and stone circles.

You could just stay on Arran (many visitors are waylaid), but sail west and Argyll’s myriad charms make leaving worth it. In 2021 Scotland’s own Route 66 opened – the Kintyre 66 – handily easing you around the Kintyre peninsula in a loop that takes in the old whisky capital of Campbeltown. It’s the epitome of faded grandeur, but is on the up again: its Glen Scotia was recently named the world’s best malt and this little-explored peninsula also offers Kintyre Gin, a Gormley sculpture, beaches and the 160km Kintyre Way walking route. And yes, we all know Paul McCartney loves Kintyre.

Heading north, stop at Dunadd (a hillfort) in the shadow of the ancient kings of Dalriada who drank claret here and hatched plans to spread their kingdom across Scotland. What they’d make of the vegan B&B next door we’ll never know, but it’s just one stop on the quintet of new Argyll Taste of Place food and drink trails. Below Dunadd is prehistoric Kilmartin Glen, where excavations have only scratched the surface of the cairns, stones and circles hidden under the site.

The Atlantic arrives at Oban, further north. Scotland’s busiest ferry terminal is also the ‘Seafood Capital of Scotland’, with fish-orientated restaurants and a startlingly good shack on the pier. Day trips ease you to rugged Castle Stalker, the ‘Hollow Mountain’ of Ben Cruachan (home to a massive hydroelectric plant) and sinewy Loch Awe.

Swapping the ocean for Scotland’s longest sea loch – oyster-rich Loch Fyne – you reach the white-washed town of Inveraray and visit the Duke of Argyll’s palatial Inveraray Castle. Continue to Portavadie. This marina and resort rose from the ashes of an oil industry white elephant to put the remote Cowal Peninsula on the map. Bubble in the loch-side infinity pool, then explore the sleepy village of Tighnabruaich or Ostel Bay beach – it’s a 20 minute walk. The Loch Lomond & Cowal Way soars 91km from Portavadie to Scotland’s largest loch. Lomond gets mightily busy however, so instead, escape to the Isle of Bute and hike the 48km West Island Way. Like Arran, one half is Highland, the other Lowland; both are jaw-droppingly dramatic.

Best for: Whisky lovers, foodies and Robinson Crusoe wannabes.
Route: Islay-Jura-Mull-Eigg -Rum-Canna-Muck-Skye
Why do it? To sail in the Sea of the Hebrides and experience isles as different to each other as they are to the distant mainland – and surprisingly cycle-friendly too; bring a bike.

Sail to Islay, ‘Queen of the Hebrides’. To starboard, Ardbeg appears, quickly followed by Lagavulin and Laphroaig, before you arrive in beach-fringed, white-washed Port Ellen. Those three distilleries – now conveniently connected by a cycle and walkway – set the tone for Scotland’s whisky isle, while Port Ellen is just one of sparkling necklace of waterfront villages. Of the nine distilleries, don’t miss sparkling newbie Ardnahoe, small-scale Kilchoman and less-peaty Bunnahabhain.

Striving over the tumultuous Sound of Islay, the mountainous hulk of Jura makes Islay feel like Manhattan. The trio of scree-lashed Paps of Jura dominate this brutal, savage island. There is only one real road, one distillery, one hotel and one pub – what more do you need? The main population is over 6,000 red deer, with only around 200 humans inhabiting an island that helped inspire George Orwell to pen Nineteen Eighty-Four here in 1947/48.

Wave to Colonsay and the Slate Isles (there are always more islands than time in the Hebrides) as you sail north to Oban to connect with the ferry to Mull, keeping a look-out for the dolphins, whales and even basking sharks, although the latter are better spotted off the island’s north-west coast. Mull’s inland is also renowned for wildlife: red deer maraud its barren interior and white-tailed sea eagles make golden eagles look like sparrows. It’s a foodie isle too – check out the Mull and Iona Food Trail. Boat trips take you to the Christian pilgrimage isle of Iona and Staffa, with the unique lava formations of Fingal’s Cave.

Onwards to Mallaig, where you can hop on the Glen Nevis for the quartet of Small Isles. If you’re time starved they work as a Hebrides’ greatest hits. In 2022, Eigg celebrates a quarter of a century since the community buy-out that has transformed it – a shining example of what is possible in the Hebrides. Mountainous Rum sports the outlandish Kinloch Castle – surely Scotland’s most surreal and opulent – and great walking; a new rum distillery too. Canna is run by the National Trust for Scotland, an oasis of sandy beaches, low hills and big skies. Order lobster in Cafe Canna and they row out to fish it from the creel. Tiny Muck is ideal day trip territory.

It’s impossible to write about the Inner Hebrides and not mention Skye. That is its ‘problem’: overtourism, most acute at the Fairy Pools and Quiraing. But break off the main tourist trail and another Skye awaits. Swap busy Dunvegan Castle for Armadale Castle on the sleepy Sleat Peninsula, and a hike around Loch Coruisk instead of the Quiraing and you’ll enjoy a richer experience. Treat yourself to dinner at Lochbay, which has a Michelin star, or Kinloch Lodge, which deserves one.

Best for: Fans of Vikings, prehistory and the drama of the Atlantic meeting the North Sea.
Route: Stromness-Kirkwall-Papa Westray-Lerwick-Sumburgh-Yell-Unst
Why do it? To discover two very different northern archipelagos that gaze north as much as they gaze south.

The Northlink car ferry from Scotland offers a scenic arrival, rounding the Old Man of Hoy approaching Stromness. Or fly to Orkney and rent a bike. Stromness’ stone streets peer out to Scapa Flow, a natural harbour awash with Second World War history and fine scuba diving. Spend at least a day exploring the UNESCO-listed Heart of Neolithic Orkney, which renders Stonehenge a Johnny-come-lately. Wander down the millennia at the Skara Brae Neolithic village, savour the Ring of Brodgar and marvel at the Viking graffiti inside Maeshowe, before bringing it together at the Ness of Brodgar, where excavations take us back to Mesolithic times.

You could spend weeks exploring Orkney’s prehistory, but the island capital of Kirkwall beckons with quality craft shops, pubs and the voluminous, Norse St Magnus Cathedral. You’ll find one of the most famous distilleries here too – Highland Park. Further south still, slip down the isles connected by the Churchill Barriers causeways, isles peppered with beaches and Second World War remnants. Don’t miss the Italian Chapel, crafted by Italian POWs from scraps.

Experience the world’s shortest flight from Papa Westray to Westray (it’s shorter than Heathrow’s main runway) as part of a three-island, half-hour hop from Kirkwall. Linger on Papa Westray for the Knap of Howar – a farmstead older than the Pyramids. There is little chance of meeting anyone alive on the Holm of Papay – descend down into the chambered cairns if you dare.

Fans of the BBC’s Shetland series will recognise the archipelago’s capital of Lerwick, more specifically the Lodberries (traditional houses); the Sea Winds townhouse (via Airbnb) overlooks an old waterfront stone house by the beach, a replica Viking longship moored just offshore. Wander Lerwick’s museums, shops and pubs to taste the Norse spirit that reaches its zenith during the annual Up Helly Aa festival.

Detour to craggy Scalloway Castle on the west coast before cutting south to take a boat trip to Mousa to check out Scotland’s best-preserved broch. If you’re lucky, you’ll be staying at Sumburgh Head Lighthouse. Just below is Jarlshof – walk through both Neolithic and Viking eras. Connecting Shetland’s mainland with St Ninian’s Isle is a tombola of beaches; Shetland offers around 100 islands too.

Burrow north, properly north, with a ferry to Yell, an isle of moor and otters, and on to Unst, the UK’s most northerly inhabited island. As if white-sand beaches and outstanding birdlife are not enough, there is Bobby’s Shelter – a bus stop transformed into an arts phenomenon – and an MOD base reborn as a gin distillery. Yomp through the Hermaness National Nature Reserve, your soul stirring as you gaze over the isle of Muckle Flugga, watching Scotland plunge under the Atlantic surf.