The Rough Guide to Scotland 8 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

741 Pages·2008·36.28 MB·English

by  Rob Humphreys, Donald Reid

THE ROUGH GUIDE to
Scotland
ROUGHGUIDES
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The Rough Guide to
Scotland
written and researched by
Rob Humphreys and Donald Reid
with additional contributions by
Colin Hutchison
NEW YORK • LONDON • DELHI
www.roughguides.com
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| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
Introduction to
Scotland
As befits the home of tartan and whisky, simple definitions
don’t really suit Scotland. Clichéd images of the place
abound – postcards of wee Highland terriers, tartan tins of
shortbread, ranks of diamond-patterned golf jerseys … and
they drive many Scots to apoplexy. And yet Scotland has
a habit of delivering on its classic images: in some parts
ruined castles really do perch on just about every hilltop, in
summer the glens inevitably turn purple with heather and if
you end up in a village on gala day you just might bump into
a formation of bagpipers marching down the street.
The complexity of Scotland can be hard to
unravel: somewhere deep in the country’s genes a
generous dose of romantic Celtic hedonism blends,
somehow, with stern Calvinist prudence. There’s
little more splendid here than the scenery, yet half
the time it’s hidden under a pall of drizzly mist. The
country’s major contribution to medieval warfare
was the chaotic, blood-curdling charge of the half-naked Highlander, yet it’s
civilized enough to have given the world steam power, the television and
penicillin. Chefs from Paris to Pisa rhapsodize over Scottish langoustine and
Aberdeen Angus steaks, while the locals are happily tucking into another
deep-fried supper of haggis and chips. It’s a country where the losers of
battles (and football games) are more romanticized than the winners.
Naturally, the tourist industry tends to play up the heritage, but beyond
the nostalgia lies a modern, dynamic nation. Oil and nanotechnology
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now matter more to the Scottish economy than fshing or Harris tweed.
Edinburgh still has its medieval Royal Mile, but just as many folk are drawn
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| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
by its nightclubs and modern restaurants,
while out in the Hebrides, the locals Fact file
are more likely to be building websites
• Scotland covers an area
than shearing sheep. The Highland huntin’ of just over 30,000 square
shootin’ fshin’ set are these days outnum- miles, has a 2300-mile-long
bered by mountain-bikers and wide-eyed coastline and contains over
31,460 lochs. Of its 790
whale-watchers. Outdoor music festivals
islands, 130 are inhabited.
will draw thousands of revellers, but just as
The highest point is the
popular as the pop stars on the main stage summit of Ben Nevis
will be the folk band rocking the ceilidh (4406 ft), while the bottom
tent with accordions and an electric fddle. of Loch Morar is 1017 feet
below sea level.
Stuck in the far northwest corner of
• The capital is Edinburgh
Europe, Scotland is remote, but it’s not
(population nearly 450,000),
isolated. The inspiring emptiness of the
and the largest city is
wild northwest coast lies barely a couple Glasgow (over 600,000).
of hours from Edinburgh and Glasgow, While the number of
two of Britain’s most dense and intriguing people worldwide who
claim Scottish descent
urban centres. Ancient ties to Ireland,
is estimated at over 25
Scandinavia, France and the Netherlands
million, the population of
mean that – compared with the English at the country is just 5 million
least – Scots are generally enthusiastic about – 1.3 percent of whom
the European Union, which has poured (roughly 66,000 people)
speak Gaelic.
money into infrastructure and cultural
• Scotland is a constituent
projects, particularly in the Highlands and
territory of the United
Islands. By contrast, Scotland’s relation-
Kingdom of Great Britain
ship with the “auld enemy”, England, and Northern Ireland. The
remains as problematic as ever. Despite head of state is Queen
the new Scottish Parliament established Elizabeth II. It is a parlia-
mentary democracy
in Edinburgh in 1999, with its new-found
whose sovereign parlia-
power to shape Scottish life, many Scots
ment sits at Westminster
still tend to view matters south of the in London, with elements
of government business
devolved to the separately
elected Scottish Parliament
which sits in Edinburgh.
• Whisky accounts for
13 percent of Scotland’s
exports and is worth over
£2 billion annually, but
Scotland also manufac-
tures over 30 percent
of Europe’s personal
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computers and 65 percent
of Europe’s ATMs.
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| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO
Fishing nets
Whisky
The Scots like a drink.
Somehow, a Scot who
doesn’t like (or, worse,
can’t handle) a dram of
“Scotch” – although whisky
is rarely described as such
in Scotland – isn’t wholly
credible. No Highland village
or cobbled Edinburgh street
would be complete without
its cosy, convivial pub – and
no pub complete without its
array of amber-tinged bottles, border with a mixture of exaggerated
the spirit within nurtured by a disdain and well-hidden envy. Ask for
beguiling and well-marketed a “full English breakfast” and you’ll
mix of soft Scottish rain, quickly fnd yourself put right. Old
glistening Highland streams, prejudices die hard.
rich peaty soil and tender
Scots craftsmanship.
But not only is whisky the
national drink, it’s often
regarded as the national
pastime too, lubricating Where to go
any social gathering from
a Highland ceilidh to a ven if you’re planning a short
Saturday night session. And visit, it’s still perfectly possible,
the tradition that whisky be
drunk neat says far more and quite common, to combine
about Scottish society’s Ea stay in either Edinburgh or
machismo than its epicurean Glasgow with a brief foray into the
instincts: the truth is that Highlands. With more time at your
a splash of water releases disposal, the opportunity to experience
the whisky’s flavours. It’s no
surprise, then, that the canny the variety of landscapes in Scotland
Scots also turn a healthy increases, but there’s no escaping the
profit bottling the country’s fact that travel in the more remote
abundant spring water and regions of Scotland takes time, and – in
selling it around the world. the case of the outer islands – money.
If you’re planning to spend most of
your time in the countryside, it’s most
rewarding to concentrate on just one
or two small areas.
The initial focus for many visitors to
Scotland is the capital, Edinburgh, a
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dramatically handsome and engaging
city famous for its magnifcent castle
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View over the Isle of Skye
| INTRODUCTION | WHERE TO GO | WHEN TO GO