The Scottish capital,
Edinburgh
, is a handsome and ancient city,
famous for its magnificent
castle
and
Palace of Holyroodhouse
as well as for a world-acclaimed
international arts festival and some
excellent museums - not least the
outstanding
National Museum of
Scotland . A short journey west
is
Glasgow , a sprawling
industrial metropolis that has done
much to improve its image in recent
years and can now boast a range of
fine museums and galleries to
complement the impressive
architectural legacy of its
eighteenth- and nineteenth-century
heyday.
Southern Scotland , often
underrated, features some gorgeous
scenery, but nothing quite to
compare to the shadowy glens and
well-walked hills of the Trossachs
, or to the Highlands , whose
multitude of mountains, seacliffs,
glens and lochs cover the northern
two-thirds of the country. Inverness
is an obvious base, although Fort
William , at the opposite end of
the Great Glen near Ben Nevis
, Britain's highest mountain, is an
alternative.
Some of Britain's most thrilling
wilderness experiences are to be had
on the Scottish islands, the most
accessible of which extend in a long
rocky chain off the Atlantic coast,
from Arran through Skye
(the most visited of the Hebrides)
to the Western Isles , where
the remarkably hostile terrain
harbours some of the last bastions
of the Gaelic language. At Britain's
northern extreme lie the sea- and
wind-buffeted Orkney and Shetland
islands, whose rich Norse heritage
makes them distinct in dialect and
culture from mainland Scotland,
while their wild scenery offers some
of Britain's finest birdwatching and
some stunning archeological remains.
