The Kintyre Peninsula is home to a long stretch of deserted coastline, perfect for an escape from reality. In a country famous for stunning scenery, the Isle of Skye takes the top prize. From the craggy peaks of the Cuillins and the bizarre pinnacles of the Old Man of Storr and the Quiraing to the spectacular sea cliffs of Neist Point, there's a photo opportunity awaiting you at almost every turn.

The Glencoe Mountain Ski Resort has excellent snow runs that often remain open into April each year. Things to do:the V&A Dundeeturns 5 featuring new stylish exhibitions! Discover the history behind Scotland’s most iconic fabric at the Tartanexhibition. Learn more about how this textile revolutionised the fashion, film and art industries around the world up to the present day. Next door, climb aboard the RRS Discoveryat Discovery Point and follow in the footsteps of Captain Scott and his crew on their remarkable journey in the Antarctic. The attraction has recently undergone a major refurbishment, creating a new public art gallery with a 360° panoramic view over the city and the River Tay, which also features the brand-new art installation, Gaia. Things to do:Head to Floors Castleand marvel at its incredible interior and exterior design work. Just a short walk away, you’ll find the Victorian Walled Gardens and plenty of waymarked woodland and riverside walks to enjoy. Meet some new four-legged friends at Beirhope Alpacas. Choose between a leisurely stroll or if your legs are feeling up to the challenge, take on the Alpaca Trek where you’ll climb the hills of Beirhope and be treated to the stunning views of The Cheviots and Eildon Hills. Remember to bring your camera and smile with your new trekking buddy too! A ferry from Wemyss Bay delivers you to the Art Deco seaside resort of Rothesay with its kitsch ice cream parlours, palm trees and promenade. Bute is a small island in the Firth of Clyde full of character and dotted with heather-clad moorlands, beaches, and coves. It has reinvented itself as a popular location for outdoor holidays, offering hiking, cycling, and fishing spots. Leave the pranksters taking selfies by the Butt of Lewis sign to their fun; the real magic of the largest island in the Western Isles can be found on its beaches.About as far north as you can go in Scotland without hitting Norway, the island of Unst is a sparsely inhabited bump of land perched at the edge of the world. The landscape has been worn low and smooth by endless centuries of scouring winds, but where humans struggle to survive, seabirds thrive, and the place to encounter them is the legendary Hermaness National Nature Reserve.

Travel:Catch the train from Edinburgh Waverley to Galashiels/Tweedbank station. When you hop off the train, get the bus to Kelso from the main bus terminal.Loch Fyne is, "a combination of the incredible scenery, the seafood and the beer plus the lovely people in the community - it' s a really special place." Local tip: Shetland is one of the best places in the UK to spot orcas (and the Northern Lights). 13. Follow the River Spey on a Speyside whisky tour Best place for whisky tasting Through the lenses of inspired photographers, meticulous in their craft and immersed in their subjects, we may see the Scottish islands afresh: their rare beauty, atmosphere and essence.’ Featured art will include Luke Jerram's 'Gaia' and 'Museum of the Moon', and Lucid Creates will bring 'Together', an immersive large-scale light and sound experience - featuring stories and memories from the community. To celebrate the Year of Stories, 'Writ Large' will project prose and poetry from Scotland' s best storytellers across the city.

Dark and moody, Jura broods off the west coast of Scotland, reached by a summertime ferry from Tayvallich on the mainland, or year-round boats from nearby Islay. Amongst left-leaning folks and literature buffs, the island is best known as the spot where George Orwell came in 1948 to write the manuscript of 1984.Take the wee ferry to the Isle of Gighafrom Tayinloan, which takes just 20 minutes and spend a day wandering across the tiny island. Despite being less than an hour's drive from the bustle and sprawl of Glasgow, the bonnie braes (banks) of Loch Lomond – immortalized in the words of one of Scotland's best-known songs – comprise one of the most scenic parts of the country.

Hoyis a unique part of the archipelago. It might remind you more of the north Highlands than the other Orkney isles, with tall cliffs, sandy bays and heathery hills all around. This, the 13 th edition, has the unique code system (with a new one for the incredibly successful North Coast 500 route) that helps readers to find exactly what they need in a destination. This is not a usual guide book – he writes the same amount of text about anything which is included in it. Even Gleneagles gets the same few lines. Peter is very industrious and exacting in his work, encouraging independent, artisan and sometimes quirky enterprises across Scotland. Not convinced? "You have to see it for yourself," says Smith. " There' s a lot of beautiful places in Scotland but Glen Fyne is really special. It's been home to our founders for six generations, we think we're one of the most beautifully situated breweries in the world, surrounded by these peat-rich hills, at the top of the longest sea loch in Scotland. St Kilda is a small group of islands some 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides off the northwest coast of Scotland (Photo: Jim Richardson)

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At the heart of Scotland's first national park, the loch begins as a broad, island-peppered lake in the south, its shores clothed in bluebell-sprinkled woods, before narrowing in the north to a fjord-like trench ringed by mountains.