Two dramatic national parks in northern England are practically neighbours,yet worlds apart in their appeal.
With its good looks and epic festivals,Edinburgh gets most of the love – but Scotland has alternatives if you’ve already been to its glorious capital.
With nearly 1000 years of siege-riddled history,Edinburgh Castle stands proud on the remnants of an old volcano – with big guns,prisons and precious crowns inside.
Don’t expect amusements and sunbathers at this super-remote Scottish outpost. Its dramatic terrain and ghostly ruins tell a bleak saga.
A small-ship cruise takes in the UK’s most northerly islands,which are closer to Norway’s Bergen than they are to Scotland’s Edinburgh.
W Edinburgh looks like nothing else in the city. And the views from this swirling newcomer are out of this world.
Butterflies,birdsong,azaleas and rhododendrons,Californian redwood and even Wollemi pines flourish in this “impossible garden”.
Scottish migrants have given this small nation a big worldwide presence,but turn up in Scotland and prepare to be baffled by its cultural quirks.
What if we can’t find a place to stay? Will we sleep in the car? These worries gnawed at the edges of my mind.
Banks once advertised their wealth by way of grandiose architecture and opulent interiors. And boy,does this Edinburgh property make for a jaw-dropping canvas.