Travel

Fort William is a small town on the banks of Loch Linnhe in the Western Highlands of Scotland, and at Fort William Station, a train known as The Jacobite, a fine steam locomotive, travels from Fort William to Mallaig. The West Highland Railway was one of the last lines to have been built in Scotland and was once used for commercial traffic. Today, the splendid Jacobite continues to be a sight to behold as it steams its way along one of the most beautiful rail roads in the world.  

In the centre of the old town, Edinburgh Castle sits atop the basalt cone of a long-extinct volcano. It is the most visited castle in Scotland and still guarded by soldiers but it is now mainly tourists who storm the defiant rock. The Royal Mile leads from the mighty fortress, downwards, a sloping road from which narrow streets branch off. Just off the upper Royal Mile is the church and cemetery of Greyfriars with its many historical and atmospheric tombs. The Royal Mile eventually narrows and ends at the Palace Of Holyrood House, official Scottish residence of the British Queen. [More]

In this video we visit Glencoe, and try tossing a caber (log) at a Scottish clan gathering in Culloden. Play hide-and-seek with the Loch Ness Monster, tour a whiskey distillery in Oban, and take a ferry to sacred Iona.

Head to the Cairngorms National Park and enjoy excellent food, local ales and malt whiskies in the Rowan Tree Country Hotel, three miles from Aviemore. Work off dinner and breakfast the next day at the Rothiemurchus estate: have a Segway adventure, try gorge walking, or go canoeing on Loch an Eilein, as the birch leaves fall and the rowan berries glow red. Or just put on your walking boots and trek into the hinterland. Enjoy the glorious views over the Cairngorms from Braeriach (1,296m), before the first snows of winter sweep in.