The Best of Scotland: Nine Places Worth the Detour

Scotland has had a good few years. Rough Guides once named it the most beautiful country in the world, and the result is that Edinburgh, Glasgow, Skye and Glen Coe now fill up every summer, quite rightly. The side effect is that plenty of equally good places get driven past without a second look.

Graham, the guest author of this piece, has been travelling Scotland for more than 26 years: first as a child in a caravan with his parents, later with an obsession for climbing Munros. His selection below is aimed at short breaks and outdoor trips, and it assumes a car and a tolerance for single-track roads.

Nine places in Scotland that reward the detour

Ullapool

Ullapool is one of the most underrated places in the country, largely because of where it sits. Glasgow, the nearest major airport, is four hours away by road; Inverness is closer, but few airlines fly there. The drive is part of the appeal, and it slots neatly into the North Coast 500. The village has been a favourite staycation base for decades: a working fishing port on Loch Broom, an hour north of Inverness, with Sutherland and Wester Ross on the doorstep.

Boat trips, local music festivals and hill walking fill the days, and the folk music in the pubs is genuinely good. The finest thing to do, though, may be to take a seat in one of those pubs, order a drink and watch the fishing boats come and go.

More things to do in Ullapool.

Ullapool. Image: Geograph

Pitlochry

Pitlochry is the hill walker's alternative, an hour and a half from both Glasgow and Edinburgh airports. The village sits on the River Tummel among the Perthshire hills and makes a practical base for Glen Lyon, Loch Tay, the southern Cairngorms, Drumochter and the rest of Perthshire.

Within the village, the Blair Atholl Distillery is the headline act, confusingly located in Pitlochry rather than in Blair Atholl, the smaller village five miles north. Add the salmon ladder and Ben Vrackie, and you have a full day without moving the car.

More things to do in Pitlochry.

Pitlochry. Image: Wikimedia

Oban

Most visitors treat Oban as a ferry terminal and nothing more, passing through on the way to Mull, Tiree and the other Hebridean islands. That is a mistake. Oban is the seafood capital of Britain, and the daily catch turns up in restaurants and bars all over town. Glen Coe and Castle Stalker are both within driving distance, so there is no reason to treat it as a stopover.

Arran

Skye gets the attention when people think of Scottish islands, and it deserves it, but it is not the best island to visit. That, in this author's very humble opinion, is Arran. The island has long been a rite of passage for Glaswegians and is now a firm favourite among staycationers.

Getting there takes an hour and a half from Glasgow plus an hour on the boat, and the night ferry is worth planning around: sailing into Brodick Bay with Goatfell outlined against a red sky is unlike anything else.

On the island, the Auchrannie Spa, Goat Fell and Brodick Castle are the obvious draws. Simply driving around it, stopping at Lochranza, Black Waterfoot, Lamlash and the other villages, is a day well spent. There is a rumour that Arran has its own micro-climate. True or not, five of the author's six visits have brought clear skies and warmer-than-usual temperatures, while every trip to Skye has been overcast, cloudy and wet, including one camping trip with gale-force winds.

Arran. Image: Wikimedia

Torridon

Torridon is what Glen Coe would be like without the coaches. Castle-like mountains that look impossible to climb stand alone, with Skye in the background. The village itself holds very little, but the landscape does the work.

Anyone doing the Wester Ross Coastal Trail or the North Coast 500 should detour into Torridon, and anyone staying in Ullapool is close enough to make a day of it.

Torridon. Image: Flickr

Aviemore

Aviemore sits inside Cairngorms National Park, the largest national park in Britain. The village is the natural base for the plateau, which holds half of the ten highest peaks in the British Isles.

Hill walking is not compulsory. The CairnGorm ski centre opens whenever there is snow, and Loch Morlich is a fine place for a swim or a barbecue with mountains behind you. The village even has its own nightclub, and it is surprisingly good.

Aviemore. Image: Geograph

Callander

Callander is the gateway to the Highlands: anyone driving up to Loch Tay will likely pass through it, and should stop. The town sits at the edge of the Trossachs National Park, a good base for Stirling, Loch Lomond, the Tay Valley and Perthshire.

The main street is busy in the way small towns are busy, with cafes and bookshops, and the walks to Bracklinn Falls and along the River Keltie are close by.

Callander. Image: Pixabay

Ballater

Ballater is a strong contender for the most overlooked village in Scotland. It sits in the foothills of the Cairngorms and has a royal connection, which explains some of its polish. Lochnagar and Mount Keen are on the doorstep for walkers, and there are distillery tours, walks past geological curiosities and the annual Highland games.

Ballater. Image: Geograph

Harris

Harris is last on the list out of greed. Its isolation is the point, and the author would rather keep it quiet. Still, a piece about beautiful places in Scotland cannot leave it out; the hope is that the nine-hour journey from Glasgow or Edinburgh keeps the crowds away.

The beaches are the reason. Luskentyre, with the sun on clear, turquoise-tinted water, could pass for the Caribbean. Add good walks, Gaelic culture and complete quiet, and you have Harris.

Harris. Image: Flickr

Practical notes

• Ullapool: four hours from Glasgow by road, one hour north of Inverness, on Loch Broom.
• Pitlochry: about 90 minutes from Glasgow and Edinburgh airports.
• Arran: 90 minutes from Glasgow plus an hour by ferry; the night sailing is the one to book.
• Callander: the natural stop on the road to Loch Tay.
• Harris: roughly nine hours from Glasgow or Edinburgh.

About the author

Graham was born and raised in Scotland and has spent more than 25 years travelling it: hillwalking, wild camping, road trips and random getaways.

Keep up with him at My Voyage Scotland, or follow him on Facebook and Instagram.