501 Best Sights in Scotland

Leaving from Dufftown three times a day on weekends then returning from Keith, this restored locomotive lets you return to the age when trains were exciting, chugging 11 miles through forests, fields, and across rivers. It passes Drummuir Castle on its way to Keith, home of the Strathisla Distillery. The Sidings Cafe at Dufftown Station serves breakfast, light lunches, snacks, and afternoon tea.

Dating from the 16th to 17th century and restored in Victorian times, Kellie Castle stands among the grain fields and woodlands of northeastern Fife. Four acres of pretty gardens surround the castle, which is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. In summer you can buy berries grown in the walled garden, and baked goods are sold in the tearoom. The garden and estate are open year-round, even when the castle itself is closed.

The least intact ruin of the four great abbeys, Kelso Abbey is just a bleak fragment of what was once the largest of the group. It was here in 1460 that the nine-year-old James III was crowned king of Scotland. On a main invasion route, the abbey was burned three times in the 1540s alone, on the last occasion by the English Earl of Hertford's forces in 1545, when the 100 men and 12 monks of the garrison were butchered and the structure all but destroyed. The abbey itself is currently not considered structurally sound enough for visitors, but you can admire it from afar.

Both a peaceful retreat and a well-used playground, the park was purchased by the city in 1852. The River Kelvin flows through its green spaces. The park's numerous statues of prominent Glaswegians include one of Lord Kelvin (1824–1907), the Scottish mathematician and physicist remembered for his pioneering work in electricity. The shady park has a massive fountain commemorating a lord provost of Glasgow from the 1870s, a duck pond, two children's playgrounds, and a skateboard park. The An Clachan café beside the children's play area is an excellent daytime eatery and a boon to parents looking for a refuge. Public bowling and croquet greens are free, as are the tennis courts. The Bandstand, a 2,300-seat open-air theater, hosts major concerts in summer.

This is one of Argyll's most evocative ruins, with its crumbling lochside towers and high ramparts. Built by the Campbells in the 15th century, Kilchurn was rebuilt as a government garrison after the troubles of the late 17th century. The castle was abandoned after peace came to the Highlands following the final defeat of the Jacobite cause in 1746.

Of interest only to anyone fascinated by Celtic heritage, this rock slab, engraved with elaborate 8th-century designs that meld pagan and early Christian motifs, stands in the kirkyard of a ruined medieval chapel.

This small museum has a number of interesting artifacts related to the Uists and their people. The small details, like how locals filled their mattresses or the names for the tools they used in their houses, are what make this place interesting. There is also a craft shop and an excellent café renowned for its filled baked potatoes and house-made cakes.

To see a little of the region's prehistoric past, start at this museum 8 miles north of Crinan and then explore some of the more than 300 ancient remnants within a 6-mile radius. Exhibits provide information about stone circles, burial mounds, and carved stones dating from the Bronze Age and earlier. After a £6.7 million expansion, the museum now displays many more of the 22,000 ancient artifacts in its care than was previously possible, spanning some 7,000 years of the region's history, including quarts blades used to carve local symbol stones, Bronze Age jewelry, and intricately carved Celtic crosses. A (free but often muddy) walk leads to a weird, sprawling cairn that marks the site of an ancient tomb, rediscovered in the 19th century.

No drive between Portree and Staffin is complete without a sojourn to Skye's most famous sea cliff. Named for the shape of its sheer rock face, which is ridged like a pleated kilt and swoops out to sea at the "hem," soaring Kilt Rock (and its gushing waterfall) can be seen from a specially built viewing platform.

Founded in 1494, King's College is now part of the University of Aberdeen. Its chapel, built around 1500, has an unmistakable flying (or crown) spire. That it has survived at all was because of the zeal of the principal, who defended his church against the destructive fanaticism that swept through Scotland during the Reformation, when the building was less than a century old. Today the renovated chapel plays an important role in university life. Don't miss the tall oak screen that separates the nave from the choir, the ribbed wooden ceiling, and the stalls, as these constitute the finest medieval wood carvings found anywhere in Scotland.

In a 17th-century tolbooth (a combination town hall–courthouse–prison), this exhibition space and gallery describes how the beauty of the town and its harbor attracted famous artists, among them E. A. Hornel, Jessie King, and Charles Oppenheimer. Some of their paintings are on display, as are works by contemporary artists. There is also a shop on the ground floor.

As is the style in Angus, the local museum doubles as the visitor center, meaning you can get all the information you need while admiring a few stuffed birds and artifacts, including the Glasswell coin hoard. Rock fans will appreciate the exhibit celebrating a local lad made good (or rather bad), the late Bon Scott, original lead singer of the rock band AC/DC.

Many malt whisky connoisseurs say the Lagavulin is the strongest-nosed of all Islay's peaty malt whiskies. You can find out why, and how, with a distillery tour and tasting here.

Arran's newest distillery (the little sister of the Isle of Arran Distillery in Lochranza) started making its distinctive, peaty single malts in 2019 and released the first batches for sale in November 2022. Tours include sniffing and sampling (with taster bottles available for drivers to sip later).

Situated 4 miles northwest of Boat of Garten, this park has a host of attractions, including nature trails, a heart-stopping parachute jump simulator, raft rides with varying degrees of wetness, a fire tower you can climb, and, best of all, the Wonder Wood, a place where visual tricks like forced perspective are used to befuddle your senses. You could easily spend half a day here. The park is open year-round, but most attractions close in winter (so prices are significantly lower).

This fabulous arts center hosts exhibitions of contemporary and traditional art and frequent traditional musical and theatrical events in the impressive auditorium. There's also a cinema, a gift shop, and a café--bar serving coffee and snacks alongside fine international and Scottish fare.

Laphroiag (say la-froig) is Islay's most distinctive malt, redolent of peat, seaweed, and iodine. You can take a tour of the distillery, then settle in for a spell of sipping at the whisky bar.

For sweeping views of the city, the Angus Glens to the north, and Fife's coastline to the south, head up to Dundee's very own extinct volcano. This 1,640-feet-above-sea-level hill (law means hill in Scots) has a World War II memorial, parking lot, and seating area.

The second uppermost of the streets that make up the Royal Mile, this was formerly the site of the city's produce market, with a once-a-week special sale of wool and linen. Now it's home to historic Gladstone's Land and the Writers' Museum. At various times, the Lawnmarket Courts housed James Boswell, David Hume, and Robert Burns, while in the 1770s this area was home to the infamous Deacon Brodie, pillar of society by day and a murdering gang leader by night. Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) may well have used Brodie as the inspiration for his novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

A 17th-century bishop of Dunblane, and later an archbishop of Glasgow, Robert Leighton donated his collection of roughly 1,400 books for clergy to use, along with funds to build this library to store them. Today the library---which is no longer a lending library but operates like a museum of books---owns more than 4,500 books, and you can view an assortment of old and interesting maps and books here. Donations are encouraged.

Majestic Lennoxlove House has been the grand ancestral home of the very grand dukes of Hamilton since 1947 and the Baird family before them. This turreted country house, with parts dating from the 15th century, is a cheerful mix of family life and Scottish history. The beautifully decorated rooms house portraits, furniture, porcelain, and items associated with Mary, Queen of Scots, including her supposed death mask. Sporting activities from falconry to fishing take place on the stunning grounds. Guided tours are available Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday afternoons.

This grandiose neo-Gothic mansion was built for Sir James Matheson (1796-1878), whose enormous profits from peddling Indian-grown opium to China during the 19th century enabled him to buy the entire island of Lewis in 1844 for £500,000 (around $12 million in today's money). He was also able to "assist" around 2,000 islanders in migrating to Canada, making way for his paternalistic schemes to improve life on the island for those who stayed. Today, the castle houses the free Museum nan Eilean, with fascinating exhibitions on life in the Outer Hebrides, from the landscape to the language. It also displays six of the famous Lewis Chessmen, intricate 12th-century chess pieces carved from walrus ivory (the rest are in Edinburgh's National Museum of Scotland and London's British Museum). Take a stroll around the castle grounds, with its pleasant mix of woodland, parkland, and gardens overlooking Stornoway harbor.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed these former offices of the Glasgow Herald newspaper, with the emblematic Mackintosh Tower, in 1893. On the third floor, the Mackintosh Interpretation Centre is a great place to start exploring this groundbreaking architect's work, which is illustrated in a glass wall with alcoves containing models of his buildings. From here you can climb the more than 130 steps up the tower and, once you have caught your breath, look out over Glasgow. (Alternatively, a viewing platform on the sixth floor can be reached by elevator.) Today the Lighthouse serves as Scotland's Centre for Architecture, Design and the City, celebrating all facets of architecture and design. There are a number of popular bars at the foot of the lighthouse, which are pleasant spots to take a break from sightseeing.

On the edge of Linlithgow Loch stands the splendid ruin of Linlithgow Palace, the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots. Burned, perhaps accidentally, by Hanoverian troops during the last Jacobite rebellion in 1746, this impressive shell stands on a site of great antiquity, though an earlier fire in 1424 destroyed any hard evidence of medieval life here. The palace gatehouse was built in the early 16th century, and the central courtyard's elaborate fountain dates from around 1535. The halls and great rooms are cold, echoing stone husks now in the care of Historic Scotland.

Although the main A93 slinks off to the south from Braemar, a little unmarked road will take you farther west into the hilly heartland. The road offers views over the winding River Dee and the blue hills before passing through the tiny hamlet of Inverey and crossing a bridge at the Linn of Dee. Linn is a Scots word meaning "rocky narrows," and the river's gash here is deep and roaring. Park beyond the bridge and walk back to admire the sylvan setting.

Stretching west of the small community of Brig o' Turk, Loch Achray dutifully fulfills expectations of what a verdant Trossachs loch should be: small, green, reedy meadows backed by dark plantations, rhododendron thickets, and lumpy hills, thickly covered with heather.

This beautifully atmospheric loch, which starts 3½ miles southeast of Mallaig, is the deepest of all the Scottish lochs (more than 1,000 feet). In fact, the next deepest point is miles out into the Atlantic, beyond the continental shelf. Loch Morar is also said to have a resident monster, Morag, which undoubtedly gets less recognition than its famous cousin, Nessie. Whether that means you have more chance of getting her to appear for a photo, we can't say. You can drive partway along the northern edge of the loch on a small, unnamed side road; to get there, turn off the main A830 road onto the B8008 just south of Morar, then turn right again.

A three- or four-hour walk takes you around glorious Loch Muick (Gaelic for "pig") and past Glas-alt Shiel, a favorite retreat of Queen Victoria's that you might recognize from the film Mrs. Brown. From Ballater, take the B976 over the River Dee before turning off at the sign for Glen Muick. Park at the Spittal of Loch Muick car park. The path around the loch is well signposted, although good boots are necessary for the stony beach at the far side of the loch. The native red deer are quite common throughout the Scottish Highlands, but here is one of the best places to see them.

With a greater volume of water than any other British lake, a maximum depth of more than 800 feet, and (perhaps you've heard?) an elusive long-necked monster, Loch Ness is one of this region's biggest draws. Most visitors follow the busy A82 along the western shore to get here, which offers consistently spectacular views of the loch and some interesting sights along the way—most notably, Urquhart Castle and Drumnadrochit. However, a good alternative is the B852 on the eastern shore; the viewpoints are more intermittent but it's a lot quieter and has several worthwhile stops of its own, from the Falls of Foyers to the reedy Loch Tarff. Early travelers who passed this way included General Wade (1673–1748), who, prior to destroying much of Hadrian's Wall in England, came to dig a road up the loch's eastern shore; English lexicographer Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709–84), who remarked at the time about the poor condition of the population and the squalor of their homes; and travel writer and naturalist Thomas Pennant (1726–98), who noted that the loch kept the locality frost-free in winter. None of these observant early travelers ever made mention of a monster. Clearly, they hadn't read the local guidebooks.

If you're in search of the infamous monster, the Loch Ness Centre walks you through the fuzzy photographs, the unexplained sonar readings, and the sincere testimony of eyewitnesses. It's an entertaining way to spend an hour, even if the boasts of "high tech" and "state-of-the-art" feel overly generous. It's said that the loch's huge volume of water has a warming effect on the local weather, making the loch conducive to mirages in still, warm conditions—but you'll have to make up your own mind about that explanation. "Deepscan" cruises depart from the center on an hourly basis between April and October.