209 Best Sights in Scotland

The small but excellent Inverness Museum and Art Gallery covers archaeology, art, local history, and the natural environment in its lively displays. The museum is also home to the Highland Photographic Archive.

Gorgeous tweed, plaid, and tartan clothing, wraps, and throws---woven at this historic mill and dyed in subtle, traditional tones---are sold here.

This building might look like a castle, but it's actually a prison that sits where a castle once stood. Named for the prison reformer John Howard, who campaigned for improved prison conditions, today you can inspect prison cells, rooms with period furnishings, and costumed figures. The audio guide, which recounts the history of the prison and the town, is useful. In what was once the prison governor's house, you'll now find an exhibition about the town of Jedburgh. While admission is free, tickets for entry are timed so booking ahead is essential.

Set on the estuary of the River Tyne, winding down from the Moorfoot Hills, the John Muir Country Park encompasses varied coastal scenery: rocky shoreline, golden sands, and the mixed woodlands of Tyninghame, teeming with wildlife. Dunbar-born conservationist John Muir (1838–1914), whose family moved to the United States when he was a child, helped found Yosemite and Sequoia national parks in California.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Six ancient circles of boulders and head-high sandstone pillars are scattered across Machrie Moor. These relics of a prehistoric culture are as old as Egypt's pyramids, if not quite as impressive, and the site evokes a dim and distant past.

Founded in 1593 by George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal (the titular keeper of the king's mares), Marischal College was a Protestant alternative to the Catholic King's College in Old Aberdeen. The two joined to form the University of Aberdeen in 1860. The spectacularly ornate work of the main university building is set off by the gilded flags, and this turn-of-the-20th-century creation is still one of the world's largest granite buildings.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds tends the remote Marwick Head Nature Reserve, where in spring and summer the cliffs are draped in wildflowers such as campion and thrift, and resound with thousands of nesting seabirds including cormorants, kittiwakes, and guillemots. The Kitchener Memorial, recalling the 1916 sinking of the cruiser HMS Hampshire with Lord Kitchener aboard, sits atop a cliff. Access to the reserve, which is unstaffed, is along a path north from Marwick Bay, around 4 miles southwest of Birsay.

This bastel (from the French bastille) was the fortified town house in which, as the story goes, Mary Queen of Scots (1542–1587) stayed before embarking on her famous 20-mile ride to Hermitage Castle to visit her wounded lover, the Earl of Bothwell (circa 1535–78) in 1566. Displays relate the tale and other episodes in her life, including her questionable choices of lovers and husbands and her own reflections on her life. The Catholic Mary´s claim to the crown eventually led to her execution on the orders of Queen Elizabeth I in 1587. There are tapestries and furniture of the period, and the house's ornamental garden has pear trees leading down to the river.

The high point of a visit to Fofar is the Meffan Museum and Art Gallery, which displays an interesting collection of Pictish carved stones, a recreation of Forfar's cobbled street The Vennel, and artifacts from the dark days of burning witches. Two galleries host frequently changing exhibitions by leading local and Scottish artists. The museum also houses a tourist information desk.

Built in 1686 and restored in 1820, the Mercat Cross (the name stems from "marketplace"), always the symbolic center of a Scottish medieval burgh, stands just beyond King Street. Along its parapet are 12 portrait panels of the Stewart monarchs.

This converted mill is a reminder that this tranquil town was for more than a hundred years the center of the region's cotton industry. You can learn more inside, where arts and crafts are also on display. The tearoom serves light lunches and delicious home-baked goods. The building also houses the town's tourist information center.

The largest public reference library in Europe houses more than a million items, including what is claimed to be the world's largest collection about Robert Burns. The Mitchell also houses the remarkable private collection of outstanding puppeteer John Blundell. Minerva, goddess of wisdom, looks down from the library's dome, encouraging the library's users and frowning at the drivers thundering along the nearby motorway. This is a genuinely public library with open access to all its materials, nearly 100 computers for public use, and a comfortable on-site café. A bust in the entrance hall commemorates the library's founder, Stephen Mitchell, who died in 1874. The Aye Write Literature Festival takes place here every March, as do many other events celebrating Glasgow's history.

The town's museum—housed in a neoclassical building that also contains the tourist information center—exhibits some fascinating bequests by the local gentry, including an early-19th-century ship carved from bone by French prisoners in the Napoleonic Wars.

If you wish to visit the southern tip of the Rhinns of Galloway, called the Mull of Galloway, follow the B7065/B7041 until you run out of land. The cliffs and seascapes here are rugged, and there's a lighthouse and the Mull of Galloway bird reserve.

Scotland's northernmost castle was built in 1598 by Laurence Bruce of Cultmalindie, uncle of "cruel" Patrick Stewart. Despite being a ruin it is rather fetching, with circular corner towers and a scale-and-platt (that is, not circular but straight-on) staircase.