Scotland

South West

Edinburgh & Glasgow

Central Scotland

North East

Highlands

Scottish Islands

Central Scotland Accommodation

St Andrews, The History of Golf at the British Golf Museum, St Andrews

Robert the Bruce Statue, Bannockburn near Stirling

Scone Palace near Perth, the Crowning Place of Scottish Kings

The Forth Road Bridge across the Firth of Forth, Opened in 1964

Dunkeld Cathedral

Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park

Loch Shores near Balloch Loch Lomond is excellent for all the family

Central Scotland Tourist Information

Central Scotland is a vast expanse of diverse Scottish territory containing several counties - Stirlingshire, Perthshire, Fife, Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park and to the west Argyll, Bute and the Mull of Kintyre. Central Scotland contains some of Scotland's most stunning Lochs, forests and woodland gorges located within Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. You're in Rob Roy Country here - the famous Scots hero Rob Roy MacGregor was born near Loch Katrine in 1671 and is buried at Balquhidder.

Move into Stirlingshire for the site of probably Scotland's most important battle on Scottish soil - The Battle of Bannockburn. Here in 1314 Robert the Bruce led the Scots to victory against huge odds - the English army by far outnumbered the Scots. More important Scottish historical sites are in the centre including Stirling Castle and Scone Palace near Perth - the Crowning Place of Scottish Kings. For golf in Scotland, any championship golfer will tell you that to win the Open at St Andrews is to be remembered! The British Golf Museum is aptly placed in St Andrews, with more championship golf in the Central region at Gleneagles. Finally, Perth is fast becoming an important centre for Scottish art alongside Aberdeen. In Perth see the largest collection of work by Scottish Colourist JD Fergusson at the Fergusson Gallery, and move to the Perth Museum & Art Gallery to view more Scottish Art including paintings by Henry Raeburn and Glasgow Boy Edward Hornel.

St Andrews Golf & Golf History British Golf Museum

St Andrews on the Fife Coast of Scotland is a pilgrimage for golf fans looking to play golf in the footsteps of golf champions. The famous six golf links St Andrews courses are open to the public so you can touch golf history on the Old Course (Handicaps required). The British Golf Museum is well placed here at St Andrews, a location at the heart of British Golf. Winning the Open Championships on the St Andrews Links is to be remembered indeed.

Two glorious blue flag beaches and a host of holiday attractions including an aquarium at St Andrews make it a superb choice for family golf holidays.

Fife - Dunfermline, East Neuk, North Queensferry & the Forth Bridges

The stunning East Neuk coast pushing south from St Andrews is a hub for Scottish Fishing history. Today you'll find some of Scotland's finest seafood restaurants along this stretch of the Fife coast. A selection of historic Scottish castles dot the coastline, and at Anstruther and Crail the list of attractions includes a superb Scottish Fisheries Museum, a pottery centre, more quality Fife golf and boat trips across to wildlife haven, the Isle of May just 6 miles off-shore from Anstruther.

Dunfermline is an important historic centre in Scotland, and was once the country's capitals. Scottish Kings and Queens are buried here in Dunfermline Abbey Church. Push down to the Firth of Forth to North Queensferry and stop to view the iconic Forth Road and Forth Rail Bridges.

Perth Scotland & Gleneagles Golf

Perth is a real centre for Scottish Art. Discover some real gems here at both the Fergusson Gallery housed now in Perth's historic waterworks and at the Perth Museum & Art Gallery.

Perth town feels half bustle, half rural and is beautifully set alongside the River Tay. The largely pedestrianised centre offers a host of superb shops, restaurants, pubs and accommodation and is framed by two large parks - North Inch and South Inch. Alongside the now two acclaimed art galleries, the Black Watch Regiment Museum to the north of the centre at Balhousie Castle traces the history of this regiment with fascinating oral history accounts from the soldiers themselves. Perth makes a superb base for exploring wider Perthshire, with easy access into the Angus Glens and the lower Highland gateways around Pitlochry and Aberfeldy.

Pushing into the surrounding areas of Perth there's both Scottish History and Championship golf afoot. Scone Palace just to the north of Perth is the site of the Crowning of Scottish Kings, including that of Robert the Bruce in March 1306. For the best of Perthshire golf head to luxury golf resort locations Gleneagles and Auchterarder. Three first class Championship golf courses are at Gleneagles, alongside luxury golf hotels and a golf academy.

Pretty Kinross-shire contain the stunning Loch Leven, the largest of the Lowland Lochs. Here on Castle Island within the Loch Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned for a time. Loch Leven is also home to a huge wildfowl colony and became a National Nature Reserve in the mid 1960s.

Crieff Perthshire, The Famous Grouse Experience

Crieff Antiques, arts and crafts shopping in its pretty centre is a highlight in the town. Visit the Crieff Visitor Centre for more shopping, particularly of fine Buchan Pottery.

Numerous attractions are in and around the Crieff and Comrie area including Drummond Castle Gardens, with its fine formal gardens considered one of the best in Europe. Visit Scotland's oldest library between Crieff and Auchterarder. The Innerpeffray Library dates from 1680 and is open to the public. Crieff's biggest attraction however is Scotland's most visited whisky distillery Glenturret, home to the Famous Grouse Experience. Tour the distillery and see close up how fine single malt Scotch whisky is produced.

Stirling & the Battle of Bannockburn

Stirling's central Scotland position, combined with its natural hills and rocks providing a strategic location for Stirling Castle have seen it at the centre of Scottish history for centuries.

Two of Scotland's most famous battles took place in the area - the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 when William Wallace defeated the English, and perhaps Scotland's most important battle on Scottish soil - the Battle of Bannockburn. Here at Bannockburn, with strategic Stirling Castle in view, Robert the Bruce led the Scots to victory in 1314 against the English force under Edward II. At Bannockburn the Scots were considerably outnumbered by the English, and the victory was testament to the skilled command of Bruce. The Declaration of Arbroath followed some years later, and the English were forced to accept Scottish Independence. The two key sites of particular historic interest are Stirling Castle high above Stirling town, and the Battle of Bannockburn Heritage Centre just outside Stirling. Superb views of the William Wallace Monument in Stirling dating from 1804 can be seen from Stirling Castle.

Blairgowrie & Dunkeld, Highland Perthshire

The Highland Perthshire towns of Blairgowrie and Dunkeld offer perfect bases from which to access the huge choice of outdoor activities in this Active Perthshire area. North of Blairgowrie towards Braemar, the Glenshee Ski Centre pulls in the skiing crowds during the winter season. Checkout the choice of outdoor activities offered by Nae Limits off the A9. Everything from White Water rafting on the Tay River to family kayaking, abseilling, mountain biking, hillwalking and more is on offer around Balirgowrie and Dunkeld.

Historic Dunkeld's cathedral ruins hint at its ancient history as first ecclesiastical capital of Scotland. For some of the best specialist arts and craft shopping in Perthshire head to Dunkeld. Take time to visit the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Visitor centre at the sublime Loch of the Lowes where you can view magnificent ospreys from the hideaway.

Pitlochry, Gateway to the Highlands

Pitlochry gets busy, particularly in the summer season. It's not just the fact that flower adorned Pitlochry sits just off the main A9 route north towards the Hightlands, making it a popular stop-off location, but also its superb choice of fine restaurants, pubs, specialist shops, outdoor activities in the area, and surrounding wild Highland Perthshire landscapes.

Pitlochry makes a fine base for exploring Highland Perthshire. The wild Blair Atholl estate with castle and pony trekking on-site is just to the north as is the rugged gorge Pass of Killiecrankie, site of the famous Jacobite uprising at the Battle of Killiecrankie. Killiecrankie visitors centre has exhibits on this famous battle and on the natural hisotry and wildlife in this stunning area. Two fine Scotch whisky distilleries are in the Pitlochry area - the Blair Athol Distillery and Scotland's smallest whisky distillery Eradour. More hillwalking territory can be found nearby at the Craigower Nature Reserve. A favourite walk from the town is to Black Spout Wood just to the south which contains the impressive Black Spout waterfall.

Aberfeldy

Sitting alongside Scotland's longest river, the River Tay, Aberfeldy sits in the heart of Highland Perthshire with easy access to numerous outdoor activities, stunning woodland walks, waterfalls and gardens and a selection of superb attractions including the famous Castle Menzies where Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed on his way upto Culloden, and the Dewars Whisky Distillery Tour.

Aberfeldy is a centre for arts and crafts shopping, with numerous galleries, gift shops and bookshops in the centre. White water rafting is particularly good around Aberfeldy on the River Tay, and a choice of outdoor activity centres in the area provide equipment.

Loch Lomond & The Trossachs

Loch Lomond truly is a gateway from the Scottish Lowlands opening up to the Scottish Highlands. Everything about it and the towns and villages around it like Balloch, Alexandria, Luss, Tarbet & Balmaha, is a cross-between the two. To help you acclimatise to Scottish country life the Loch Shores Complex provides plenty of family attractions, shopping and eateries.

Loch Lomond itself is the largest freshwater lake in Britain. It makes for a scenic trip round or even from a boat cruise on the loch itself. There are also woodland walks, the West Highland Way or hill walks all around the Loch Lomond area.

The Trossachs National Park, with two main centre Aberfoyle and Callendar, are a positive playground for outdoor activies. Here in the stunning 'Mini Highlands', the divider between the Scottish lowlands and highlands, the Trossachs contains numerous lochs including the popular Loch Earn and Loch Katrine. Water ski, windsurf, fish, canoe and take boat trips on these two Trossachs lochs. Loch Katrine offers a choice of boat trips via the Sir Walter Scott Steamboat, whilst Loch Earn is particularly popular for salmon and trout fishing.

Beautiful forests with woodland trails and dramatic gorges fill the area, offering superb walking/ hillwalking territory, and outdoor adventure sports. Aberfoyle Golf Club is widely regarded as one of the most scenic in Scotland. The Trossachs is Rob Roy country - he was born near Loch Katrine. Rob Roy MacGregor (1671-1734) managed to avoid capture by the Redcoats in his homeground the Trossachs and he's buried at the small village of Balquhidder near the Braes of Balquhidder and Loch Voil. His gravestone reads 'MacGregor Despite Them'.

Oban

Oban flourished as a Victorian seaside resort and many of the buildings still have that feel as you walk around the town. It's small stature belies its visitor numbers that throng the town throughout the summer on their to and from the islands off the west coast of Scotland.

It is an important town for ferry links to Hebridean Islands and is the largest port in the north west of Scotland. There is also a good range of boat trips that depart from Oban for wildlife trips or for exploring the smaller islands as morning or day trips. It has good rail links and makes a good base for exploring this part of the country.

Kintyre & the Mull of Kintyre

Kintyre is often billed as the only mainland island in Scotland and it does have a strong identify of its own. It is connected to the Scottish mainland by a thin isthmus at Tarbert.

It's a mixed landscape of moorland, farmland, rocky coast and beaches lined with sand dunes. It's good walking country and you can follow the Kintyre Way throughout the peninsula or do shorter walks to explore the countryside. Ferries run from several locations on Kintyre to the Isles of Arran, Islay and Gigha.

Argyll & Bute

Argyll and Bute lies to the north and west of Glasgow and is an area of peninsulas, lochs and offshore islands which form the Inner Hebrides archipelago. It is well visited being so close to links with Glasgow but also as having the interesting mix of Lowlands and Highlands Scotland. Historically it was an area hit hard by The Clearances through the 18th and 19th centuries where the increase in sheep farming - "white plague" - meant that lairds and landlords evicted thousands from their traditional crofts and by so doing their way of life. This was also the stronghold for the Irish Celts who settled here in the fifth century from which Scotland got it's name originating from "Scotti". Today that culture is noticeable from the bilingual road signs but it's really the islands of Islay, Coll and Tiree that are the stronghold for the Gaelic speakers today.

With such a long and varied history there are a wealth of historic sights and castles in Argyll & Bute, particularly around Kilmartin Glen north of Lochgilphead. The area is sparsely populated with the countryside being dotted with small settlements and villages. Canals and marinas are popular for leisure craft and there are plenty of walking opportunities.

Click Search

Internet Links

Home Top