West of Scotland If you are in Glasgow and want to go somewhere else, you can reach an interesting place on one of the western peninsulas of the Argyll and Bute region in a few hours. The Argill and Bute region is the second largest (almost 7,000 square kilometres, larger are only the Scottish Highlands) in Scotland and borders the Stirling, Scottish Highlands and a few other regions. However, the region has low population density and, with less than 90,000…
Glasgow is Scotland's largest city, the fourth largest in the UK and the 27th largest in Europe. More than 600,000 people live in Glasgow today, even though the population was over 1.1 million before the middle of the 20th century. Since then, many people have moved to nearby towns and now in Grater Glasgow region live almost 1.8 million people, about a third of Scotland's total population. What to see The city is well known for its university, founded in…
Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland Edinburgh definitely is one of the most special places, at least for me personally. Not only because we have been living there for several years. Although Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, it is only the second largest city in Scotland, the largest being Glasgow. It is home to just over half a million people, although in summer the city's population can even double during the touristic season. The city hosts many different festivals throughout…
Scottish highways The road network in Scotland is very well developed and virtually all, even the smallest, roads are paved. There are relatively few holes in them, even if they are in remote areas, so driving is quite enjoyable. The total length of the Scottish highways (according to 2017 data) is 56 thousand 250 kilometres, of which 632 kilometres are motorways. Strange as it may sound, the longest road network is in the Scottish Highlands. There can be conventional Scottish…
Central Scotland Stirling, known as the coronation place of the Scottish kings, is located in central Scotland. It is often called the gateway to the Highlands, because the famous region of the Scottish Highlands begins not that far from there. The city is one of the most popular tourist destinations and in the past has even been the capital of Scotland. Stirling was established as a royal city in 1130, although people have inhabited in this area for about four…
Harry Potter After spending several days on the Isle of Skye, our next destination was the Scottish Highlands. On the way from Mallaig to Fort William we were observing exciting scenery of an old railway. Its track starts at Britain's highest mountain, Ben Nevis, passes through the westernmost railway station Arisaig, then passes the deepest freshwater lake Loch Morar, and finally stops near Loch Nevis, Europe's deepest seawater lake. The total length of the railway track is 135 kilometres (84…
The first morning on Isle of Skye On the next morning after arrival on Isle of Skye we had an early walk towards coast (not to mention that the coast is almost all around). The path led us to the nearest bay, discovering beautiful view to small local harbour where many fishing boats were parked. Such an amazing and quiet early morning scenery for our first day of holidays! The biggest surprise upon arrival to Skye late evening and also…
Scotland and amazing beauty of its islands While living in London, I had many conversations with Brits about Scottish islands, especially about Isle of Skye. Almost all of them new about Isle of Skye, although not many of them had visited this beautiful island located in the north west of Scotland. Perhaps, because it is so far away from the UK - more than one thousand kilometres. Although, the nature of the Isle of Skye is so unpredictable that you…