Vacation Scotland

With the exception of around 60,000 native Gaelic speakers, most Scots are English monoglots: that is they can only speak, read and understand English. All languages impart a ‘view’ of the world, and as a result we see our land and our culture through the medium of the English tongue. Gaels, people who speak Gaelic, [...]

The Glenfinnan Viaduct in the west Highlands is an iconic image: a long, curving bridge spanning a deep valley amid a stunning backdrop of mountain and lake. You’ll find it on postcards, calendars, tourist board advertising and in several movies. Perhaps the most famous is in the Harry Potter films, when the train is crossing [...]

There are an estimated 90 million people around the world who claim to have Scottish ancestry; either through a known family tree or by having a familiar Scottish surname in the mix. The reasons for the great diaspora are legion: economic opportunities, displacement and a myriad of motivations personal and public. But, the influence and [...]

Charles Steinberg from New York’s Brandy Library travelled to Scotland last winter on a whirlwind whisky tour, which took him from the rolling hills of Speyside to the Celtic heartlands of Islay. This is his account of the trip, and we thank him for this contribution and for allowing us to post as a blog.

Our Outlandish Adventure tour is an eight-day romp based on the hugely successful Outlander Books series written by Diana Gabaldon. In it we combine fiction with fact as we draw the traveler back in time to the world of the Jacobite Rebellions of the 18th century, and walk in the footsteps of our heroes, Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser. The tour weaves its way from the turrets and towers of Edinburgh to the wild Highlands, and visits the key places found in the books – a time-travelling quest that shows how modern Scotland was born amid the blood and romance of the Jacobite Civil Wars