8 Best Sights in Scotland

You can almost hear the trotting of horses' hooves and the zip of arrows in this 21st-century re-creation of the battle that changed the course of Scotland's history in 1314. Robert the Bruce's defeat of the armies of the English king, despite a 2-to-1 disadvantage, is the stuff of legend. Using 3D technology, the visitor center allows you to see a battle raging across screens that ring the central hall. Participants on both sides speak directly to you, courtesy of holograms. Later you can play a role in a Bannockburn battle game (reservations essential; age seven and older only). Bruce pursued the Scottish crown, ruthlessly sweeping aside enemies; but his victory here was masterful, as he drew the English horses into marshy land (now the area around the new center), where they sank in the mud. A circular monument commemorates the battlefield. Book ahead; tickets are for timed entry.

Located 6 miles northeast of Fort William, this fantastic outdoor center offers a range of activities in all seasons, from winter skiing and snowboarding to exhilarating downhill biking trails and mountaintop paragliding, with all the gear you'll need available to rent. Visitors can also take a gondola to the 2,000-foot summit of Aonach Mor, from which you can hike and explore more of the range (and enjoy stunning views of Ben Nevis). Elsewhere on the complex are two good casual dining options—the Pinemarten Café and Bar at the foot of the gondola, and the Snowgoose Restaurant at the top, each serving hearty breakfasts, soups, and sandwiches—and a 22-room hotel. Check the website for upcoming events, from sporting competitions to music festivals.

In the former Drumlanrig Tower, this museum includes a good exhibition about the textile industry, once the lifeblood of the Borders. Plenty of interactive elements make it interesting for children as well. One room commemorates the demonstrations by textile workers who were demanding the right to vote in the 1880s. On the upper floor are up-to-the-minute fabrics that define the 21st century. Check out the shop, too.

Owing its dwindling fame to Ring of Bright Water, Gavin Maxwell's much-loved 1960 account of his work with semi-wild otters on the island (also a lighthearted 1969 rom-com starring Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna), Eilean Ban is a six-acre nature reserve, home to otters, seals, and seabirds. Once very scenic, it is now sadly literally overshadowed by the Skye Bridge. The Eilean Ban Trust operates twice-daily guided visits to Eilean Ban and its historic lighthouse from Kyleakin, 6 miles east of Broadford.

This impressive visitor center, a mile south of Glencoe village, tells the life story of the region, from its volcanic origins to the MacDonald massacre to its current wildlife maintenance projects. There are fascinating exhibitions on Glencoe's landscape and people, as well as great hiking trails leaving from the center (you can get expert advice on longer hikes, too). There's also an excellent café and shop.

Learn more about life in the Western Isles and trace your Hebridean ancestry at this informative visitor center. Photographs and interpretive signs reveal the long and turbulent history of Harris and its residents, with the owners organizing guided walks and cultural evenings every week between May and September.

This rich museum (formerly known as Caithness Horizons) is set within the beautiful Old Town Hall and displays multiple facets of the region's past from the dawn of time to the present day; that's everything from Picts and Vikings to the highly controversial Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment, dating from the 1950s and now gradually being decommissioned. There is also a pleasant café and shop.

Set among the oak woods and above a rocky river just north of Pilochry, the Pass of Killiecrankie was the site of a famous battle won by the Jacobites in 1689. The battle was notable for the death of the central Jacobite leader, John Graham of Claverhouse (1649–89), also known as Bonnie Dundee, who was hit by a stray bullet. One English soldier is reputed to have escaped the Jacobite troops by jumping into the river at a point still known as "Soldier's Leap." After Dundee's death the rebellion petered out. The National Trust for Scotland's visitor center at Killiecrankie explains the significance of this battle, which was the first attempt to restore the Stewart monarchy. Its Jacobite Café offers French pastries in addition to a good lunch menu of quiches, soups, and sandwiches.