7 Best Sights in Scotland

Step a few centuries back in time at this open-air museum, a rare surviving example of an 18th-century communal-tenancy farm. About 250 years ago, there were several thousand working communities like Auchindrain, but this was the last of them, with its final tenant leaving in 1963. Today the bracken-thatch and iron-roof buildings, about 20 in all, give you a feel for early farming life in the Highland communities. Several houses are furnished and tell the story of their occupants. A tearoom is open morning to afternoon.

In the small community of Arnol, the Blackhouse is a well-preserved example of a type of traditional Hebridean home that is no longer in regular usage. Common throughout the islands as recently as the mid-20th century, these snug but somewhat squalid dwellings were built without mortar and thatched on a dry-stone timber framework without eaves. Other characteristic features include an open central peat hearth and the absence of a chimney (hence "blackhouse," from all the soot). Inside, you'll find half the house designated for family life, complete with many original furnishings, and the other half a stable for animals. Opposite is the White House, built later when houses were no longer allowed to accommodate humans and animals together.

Don't let the name fool you: this 16th-century merchant's house was never a royal residence, and lacks the ostentatious grandeur of a palace. It is, however, a fascinating slice of social history—the owner was a pioneer in local coal mining and salt production—and its interiors of Baltic pine, Dutch floor tiles, and Staffordshire pottery was pretty flashy for its time. It was also visited by King James VI in 1617. Today it retains its period charms, including a garden that grows herbs and vegetables typical of the period.

Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, New Lanark was home to a social experiment at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Robert Owen (1771–1858), together with his father-in-law, David Dale (1739–1806), set out to create a model industrial community with well-designed worker homes, a school, and public buildings. Owen went on to establish other communities on similar principles, both in Britain and in the United States. Robert Owen's son, Robert Dale Owen (1801–77), went on to help found the Smithsonian Institution. 

After many changes of fortune, the mills eventually closed. One of the buildings has been converted into a visitor center that tells the story of this brave social experiment. You can also explore Robert Owen's house, the school, and a mill worker's house, and enjoy the Annie McLeod Experience, a fairground ride that takes you through the story of one mill worker's life. Other restored structures hold various shops and eateries; one has a rooftop garden with impressive views of the entire site. Another now houses the New Lanark Mill Hotel. It's a good idea to book your ticket ahead in summer to avoid lines.

The River Clyde powers its way through a beautiful wooded gorge here, and its waters were once harnessed to drive textile-mill machinery. Upstream it flows through some of the finest river scenery anywhere in Lowland Scotland, with woods and waterfalls.

Situated at the end of a side road north from Carloway, Gearrannan is an old coastal crofting village that has been brought back to life as a living museum with excellent guided tours evoking its past. You can stay in one of the restored blackhouses here if you want a unique (if no-frills) stay; it's £30 a night for a hostel bunk or £85 for a family room. There is also a small gift shop and café.

Located in Newtongrange, once Scotland's largest mining village, the National Mining Museum Scotland provides a good introduction to the history of the country's coal industry. The main walkaround exhibition is a little dry—expect more on the chemical composition of coal than the social history of Scottish mining—but the guided tours dig (ahem) a little deeper. You'll get to explore a replica coalface, see the colossal mining machinery up close, and hear tales about life deep under ground from the ex-miner guides. In particular, you'll learn about the mining company (and its abusive general manager Mungo Mackay), whose power over workers extended to owning all the houses, shops, and even the local pub.

Billed as "a museum without walls," this collection of 13 open-air, geological and social exhibits dots the landscape of the peninsula. Follow the map along the coastal route, and you will discover dinosaur footprints, a healing well, a deserted village, and more.