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A guide to the ultimate Outlander road trip
Ad: This trip was sponsored by VisitScotland. Even before Outlander first hit our screens back in 2014, one thing was crystal clear. Scotland is magical. Okay, the likelihood of travelling back in time through standing stones or meeting an entrantress in the pub is slim, but you just have to look at our country to […]
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Away with the birds: A trip to Bass Rock
Ad: This was a complimentary trip but all views are my own. The sea holds something special for me. Growing up a stone’s throw from the River Clyde and holidaying on Highland shores meant that the tide and its creatures were backdrops to my childhood. Since moving to Scotland’s capital Edinburgh in my mid-twenties, the […]
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5 historic hidden gems in Scotland’s central belt
AD: This trip was sponsored by Dig It! to promote their Hidden Gems campaign, giving some love to some of Scotland’s lesser-known historic jewels. One of my favourite phrases — which I fire at friends and visitors alike — is, ‘there’s history everywhere you go in Scotland.’ But in some parts of our dear green country, […]
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A spring day trip to North Berwick
Since the start of May, the weather on Scotland’s east coast has been stunning. Even if the days have dawned with the greyness of sea mist, by lunchtime it’s burnt off and the sky is a marvellous blue. We’ve been getting out as much as possible to enjoy it (because you never know how long […]
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A blossom walking tour of Edinburgh
When spring explodes in Edinburgh — in a patchwork blanket of bright colour, little leaves unfurling like party poppers — it always feels brand new (to me, at least). I can never recall this season in Scotland’s capital as vivid as it appears to my tired, winter-dulled eyes. When you have an afternoon to yourself […]
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Sunday afternoons at Söderberg
Ever since B’s car broke down a few weekends ago, we’ve been like birds with clipped wings. No more weekend migrations to the coast or the Highlands; no last-minute road trips back west to see my family; we’ve even started getting our shopping delivered (this feels a little lazy and too twenty-first century to me). […]
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The start of spring at Dr Neil’s Garden, Edinburgh
It feels like spring has truly arrived. The streets are buzzing with cosmopolitans sporting denim jackets (myself included). Cliques sit outside hipster cafés and bars in the mild heat. The brave souls among us even have their pale legs out in the sunshine (myself not included). This is the kind of weather I’d forgotten I loved, […]
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A view of Edinburgh Castle from The Vennel
It was the first time I’d been up this street. Or should I say up the stairs? My stomach stuffed with Lovecrumbs coffee and cake, I weaved back down to the Grassmarket and saw the sign. The Vennel. My camera bag was over my shoulder; the first time it had escaped my office drawer since Monday […]
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The first day of spring at Aberdour Castle
We took today off work in anticipation of another adventure but — as predicted in Scotland — the weather was being classically… well, unpredictable. Instead, our spring equinox became a day of dodging hefty rain showers, apocalyptic clouds and rush hour traffic en route to Aberdour. A seaside village on the south coast of Fife, Aberdour is […]