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Scotland was first populated by hunter-gatherers who arrived from England, Ireland and Europe around 6000 years ago. They brought the Neolithic Age with them, introducing agriculture, stockbreeding, trade, an organised society and a thriving culture. The remains of elaborate passage tombs, stone monuments and domestic architecture, such as those found on the Orkneys, reveal that this was indeed a vigorous civilisation. Later arrivals included Europe's Beaker people, who introduced bronze and weapons, while the Celts brought iron. The Romans were unable to subdue the region's fierce inhabitants, their failure symbolised by the construction of Hadrian's Wall. Christianity arrived in the guise of St Ninian, who established a religious centre in 397. Later, St Columba founded a centre on Iona in 563, still a place of pilgrimage and retreat today.
Around the 7th century, Scotland's population comprised a constantly warring mix of matrilineal Picts and Gaelic-speaking Scots in the north, Norse invaders in the island territories, and Britons and Anglo-Saxons in the Lowlands. By the 9th century, the Scots had gained ascendancy over the Picts, whose only visible legacy today is the scattering of symbol stones found in many parts of eastern Scotland. In the south, Anglo-Norman feudalism was slowly introduced, and by the early 13th century an English commentator, Walter of Coventry, could remark that the Scottish court was 'French in race and manner of life, in speech and in culture'. Despite some bloody reactions, the Lowlanders' tribal-based society melded well with feudalism, creating enormously powerful family-based clans.
The Highlanders, however, were another matter entirely. In 1297 William Wallace's forces thrashed the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, but after a few more skirmishes Wallace was betrayed and finally executed by the English in London in 1305. He's still remembered as the epitome of patriotism and a great hero of the resistance movement.
Robert the Bruce threw a punch for Scottish independence next, when, a year after Wallace came to his very sticky end, he murdered a rival and had himself crowned King of Scotland. In the same year, he faced off the English, but they defeated his forces at Methven and Dalry. He had to wait until 1314, when at the Battle of Bannockburn he finally defeated the English. This was a turning point in Scotland's fight for independence, and the Scots remained a law unto themselves for another 600 years. A distinct barrier developed between Highlander and Lowlander, marked symbolically by the Great Glen - the fault line running between Fort William and Inverness. Highlanders were regarded as Gaelic-speaking pillagers by the Lowlanders, who spoke Lallans and led a less rigorous and more urban existence.
 Eilean Donan Castle (11K)
In the 16th century, Scottish royal lineage was blurred by opposing matrilineal and patrilineal lines of descent and the jockeying of English and French interests. Fierce resistance to the English and persistent monarchic squabbles led to a virtual civil war, and very few monarchs managed to die a natural death. The 17th century was also coloured by civil war, spurred by the thorny issue of the religious Reformation. Despite all the anti-English sentiment, the Act of Union of 1707 saw the Scots persuaded - by means both fair and foul - to disband parliament, in exchange for preservation of the Scottish church and legal system.
Inveraray Castle, Strathclyde (13K)
Famous attempts were made to replace the Hanoverian kings of England with Catholic Stuarts, although the Jacobite cause lacked support outside of the Highlands due to the Lowland suspicion of Catholicism. James Edward Stuart, known as the Old Pretender and son of the exiled English king James VII, made several attempts to regain the throne, but fled to France in 1719. In 1745, his son, Bonnie Prince Charlie and known as the Young Pretender, landed in Scotland to claim the crown for his father. His disastrous defeat in 1745 at Culloden caused the government to ban private armies, the wearing of the kilt and the playing of the pipes. Coinciding with the inexorable changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution, the bans caused the disappearance of a whole way of life and the taming of the Highlanders.
Cottage near Durness (13K)
In the south, the Industrial Revolution brought flourishing towns and expanding populations, the creation of industries such as cotton and shipbuilding, and booming trade. The spread of urban life coincided with an intellectual flowering, the Scottish Enlightenment, as people fed the energy they'd previously spent on religious issues into their leisure and money-making activities. Literature in particular blossomed. Life for the privileged became increasingly bourgeois, while the poor got poorer, suffering typhoid epidemics and other side-effects of their overcrowded tenement life. Cities grew even bigger following one of the bleakest events in the north's already grim history: the Highland Clearances that began in the late 1700s and continued for more than a century. Overpopulation, the potato famine and the collapse of the kelp industry caused landlords to force or trick people from the land. Waves of Scots emigrated to North America, New Zealand and Australia, taking with them their reputation for thrift and hard work. The few who remained on the land were pushed onto tiny plots called crofts.
Lochinver, Highlands (20K)
Industrial prosperity lasted through WWI, but the world depression of the 1930s struck a mortal blow. Aberdeen was the only city to show marked prosperity in the 20th century, thanks to North Sea oil and gas discoveries in the 1970s. Continuing economic hardship, rampant unemployment, the depopulation of rural areas and lower standards of health, education and housing than those experienced in England have all led to a loss of confidence. However, dreams of seceding from the Union with England are stronger than they've been for many years. Strongly Labour, Scotland smarted through the 1980s and '90s under Britain's Conservative-led government, which showed scant regard for Scotland's desire for self-rule. The decisive Labour victory in the 1997 general election resulted in the loss of all Conservative seats in Scotland. The Labour government has already granted limited Scottish devolution so the birth of an independent Scotland some time in the 21st century isn't such a romantic idea after all.
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is one of the world's greatest cities. Its dramatic site, extraordinary architectural heritage and cultural vigour soon charm all visitors. The crowded tenements of the historic Old Town contrast with the orderly grid of the Georgian New Town, which in most cities would be a historic enclave by itself. Backdrops include glimpses of the Firth of Forth, the Pentland Hills and classically draped Calton Hill.
Edinburgh Castle (19K)
Edinburgh is best seen on foot, and the best place to start is Edinburgh Castle: beautiful, romantic and a reminder of the city's bloody past. Its foundations date back as far as 850 BC, and the oldest surviving section dates from 1130. From the 11th to 16th centuries, the castle was the symbolic seat of Scottish royalty, and today it's still home to the army's Scottish Division. It sits at the western end of the Royal Mile, which runs down to the more comfortable royal accommodation at Holyrood. This thoroughfare contains an extraordinarily intact streetscape which has survived from the 16th and 17th centuries. A walk down some of the alleys that run off it is to rediscover the vital city of that time. Several museums and restored town houses in this vicinity give fascinating insights into urban life of the 17th century.
Nearby Calton Hill is worth climbing for its superb views and romantic monuments dating from the Enlightenment, when the city was known as the 'Athens of the North'. Before you walk down into the New Town, have a look at Greyfriars Kirk, site of the signing of the National Covenant in 1638. The graveyard was the backdrop for one of Disney's most heart-rending films, Greyfriars Bobby, the story (based on legend) of a little Skye terrier which held vigil for 14 years over the grave of his master.
New Town lies to the north, separated by the sunken railway line and Princes St Gardens, which feature the supremely Gothic Sir Walter Scott Monument. Georgian order and elegance are reflected in New Town's beautiful squares, circuses and terraces. The National Gallery of Scotland has an impressive collection of European art, while the pageant of Scottish history can be seen at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
Edinburgh has a rich and varied cultural life, from the Tattoo to the International and Fringe festivals. These are times to be sure to book accommodation well in advance. B&B accommodation is one of the best ways to get an insight into the daily life of Edinburgh's residents. There is a handy concentration north of New Town and in the suburb of Newington, south of the city centre. Numerous youth hostels are sprinkled on the city's outskirts. Surprisingly, the Royal Mile has numerous good-value and enjoyable eateries, with everything from Singaporean satays to traditional Scottish cuisine.
Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh (17K)
Long overshadowed by Edinburgh, a mere 30 miles (48km) away, Glasgow actually has a lot to offer. It has left its reputation as a black hole of unemployment, economic depression and urban violence far behind. The 1980s and '90s have seen it reinvent itself culturally and socially. You're in no doubt that this is a Scottish city, brimming with vibrancy and energy. The city centre is built on a grid plan on the north bank of the shipbuilding river Clyde. Sights are spread over a wide area, with Sauchiehall St the place to go for shops, pubs and restaurants.
The oldest part of the city is to the east, around the intact Gothic masterpiece of Glasgow Cathedral, St Mungo's Museum of Religious Life & Art and the oldest house in Glasgow, 15th-century Provand's Lordship. Heading back west, an interesting walk takes you through the gracious houses and commercial structures of 18th-century Merchant City. Busy Sauchiehall St is home to the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Art Nouveau masterpieces of the Glasgow School of Art and the still-operational Willow Tearoom. The Tenement House is an extraordinary time capsule, providing vivid insight into middle-class city life at the turn of this century. Also not to be missed is Glasgow's top cultural attraction, the Burrell Collection, housed in the Pollok Country Park 3 miles (5km) south of the city. Its idiosyncratic collection includes Chinese porcelain, medieval furniture and impressionist paintings, housed in one of the world's few inspirational buildings to be built in recent times.
This beautiful and unusual town melds the heady concoction of medieval ruins, a golfing mecca, windy coastal scenery and a schizophrenic university. Once the ecclesiastical capital of Scotland, today golfing is the town's religion. It's home to the Royal & Ancient Golf Club and the world's most famous golf course, the Old Course. A ruined castle sits above the bay, around the ruins of what was once the country's largest cathedral: it was pillaged during the Reformation. In the town centre, medieval closes lead off the cobbled streets, with the city gate, chapels, a medieval cross and museums within easy walking distance. Like the contemporary universities of Cambridge and Oxford, the university has no campus and its buildings are scattered in the centre of town.
Inner Hebrides
The Inner Hebrides, off the western coast of Scotland, are the country's most accessible and bewitching islands.
Jura lies near the coast of Strathclyde, yet it is magnificently wild and lonely, with desolate walks, breast-shaped mountains (the Paps of Jura), a whisky distillery and a lethal offshore whirlpool its prime attractions. Islay is the most southerly of the Inner Hebridean islands, and is best known for its smoky, single-malt whisky. The Museum of Islay Life in Port Charlotte relates the island's long history, while the 8th-century Kildaton Cross is one of the finest surviving Celtic crosses. Castle ruins and over 250 species of birds add to its attractions.
 Whisky galore
Further north, Colonsay is one of the Inner Hebrides' most remote islands, an unspoilt place of cliffs, rocky coastlines and sandy bays. Grey seals and wild goats are the most commonly glimpsed inhabitants. Mull is one of the most popular islands, with superb mountain scenery, castles, a railway and small-town charm. The island's capital, Tobermory, is a particularly picturesque fishing port. The spiritual retreat of Iona, an early Christian centre founded by St Columba, lies off the south-western tip of Mull. Further north, Coll has a popular walking trail, good sunshine, lots of wind, few people, two castles and a bird sanctuary. Tiree, just south-west, is a low-lying island with beautiful, sandy beaches and one of the best sunshine records in Britain.
Skye attracts lots of visitors and has very changeable weather. However, the large, rugged and convoluted island is ringed by spectacularly scenic coastal walks, and inland the rocky Cuillins attract serious climbers.
Portree, Skye (19K)
Lighthouse at Stoer Head, Sutherland (11K)
An extraordinary symphony in grey, almost everything in Aberdeen is built of granite - even the roads. When drenched with sun and rain, the silvery stone has a fairy-tale shine; when suffocated by cloud it can be a wee bit depressing. A spotless place, brimming with civic pride, Aberdeen is the service port for one of the world's largest offshore oilfields. Its already large population is mixed with multinational oil workers and a vital student population - a heady mix! An evocative fish market and important maritime museum cluster around the busy harbour. In the vicinity of the city's main thoroughfare, Union St, there's historic Castlegate, late-medieval Provost Skene's House and the Aberdeen Art Gallery, which houses an important Pre-Raphaelite and modern art collection.
Aviemore Area
The Highland resort town of Aviemore is the stepping-off point for the hiking and skiing paradise of the Cairngorm Mountains. Lying on the only arctic plateau in Britain, the area attracts rare animals such as pine marten, wildcat, red squirrel, osprey (particularly around the Boat of Garten) and deer. Fishing for salmon is popular in the pure mountain water of the River Spey and surrounding lochs, while the Rothiemurchus Estate and Glenmore Forest Park preserve acres of pine and spruce, with guided walks and trails and a range of water sports.
Highland cattle (17K)
Melrose
A charming market town in the heart of the Borders, Melrose features a ruined abbey, a classic market square and some good walks in the surrounding countryside. The abbey ruins are pure Gothic, with particularly decorative stonework. Sir Walter Scott had a hand in their repair in the 19th century. Gardens and a motor museum round off the attractive town's sights.
Outer Hebrides
The bleak, remote and treeless islands of the Outer Hebrides run in a 130-mile (209km) arc, completely exposed to the gales that sweep in from the Atlantic. The horizon is wide, with white beaches, peat moors and long, low vistas of sky and water dominating. One of Scotland's largest centres for the crofting way of life and Gaelic culture, Protestantism makes it also one of the world's last refuges of the strictly held Sabbath.
Tiny Barra is just 12 miles (19km) around and ideal for exploring on foot. It encapsulates the Outer Hebridean experience, with its beautiful beaches, Neolithic remains and strong sense of community. Heading north, expansive South Uist is the second-largest island in the group. The west coast is low with an almost continuous sandy beach, while the hilly east coast is cut by four large sea lochs. You'll miss low-lying and soggy Benbecula if you blink and, since its dominated by the British armed forces' missile firing range, perhaps that would be a good thing. North Uist is half-drowned by lochs, with magnificent beaches on the western side. The chambered burial tomb of Bharpa Langas is the Uists' most spectacular Neolithic site.
Superlatives run out when you reach Harris, which boasts the islands' most spectacular scenery. The combined effect of mountains, beaches, dunes and weird rocky coastline and hills make the other islands in the group pale by comparison. Harris is also home to that cloth of professors, Harris Tweed: it is handwoven in the islanders' homes. The port of Tarbert is overshadowed by mountains on a narrow land bridge, sandwiched between two lochs and North and South Harris. North Harris is the most mountainous part of the Hebrides, while South Harris is known for its beaches, crofts and lunar landscape. The Outer Hebrides terminate at Lewis. The island's northern half is a low and flat moorland, dotted with numerous small lochs and crofts which end at the Butt of Lewis, home to a lighthouse and large colonies of nesting seabirds. The south of the island is mountainous and beautiful, with Carloway Broch a well-preserved, 2000-year-old defensive tower, and the Callanish Standing Stones' 54 stones arranged in the shape of a Celtic cross, predating the pyramids by 1000 years.
Just 6 miles (10km) off the north coast of Scotland, these magical islands are known for their dramatic coastal scenery, abundant marine bird life and Europe's greatest concentration of prehistoric sites. Twenty of the 70 islands are inhabited, and the climate is surprisingly mild. Virtually treeless, the land is lush and cultivated rather than rugged. The Norse ruled here from the 9th to 13th centuries, and Scandinavian hints remain.
The largest island is known as Mainland, home to the islands' main town, Kirkwall, and major port, Stromness. Kirkwall features one of Scotland's finest medieval cathedrals, St Magnus', and also has an interesting distillery tour. The ferry port of Stromness is smaller, with a working fishing village atmosphere. Eight miles (13km) north, Skara Brae is northern Europe's best preserved prehistoric village. Hidden under the sand until 1850, even the stone furniture has survived the 5000 years since its occupancy. Nearby, the enigmatic Ring of Brodgar is a wide circle of standing stones, some over 16ft (4.8m) tall.
St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall (10K)
Across the Scapa Flow from Mainland is Hoy, with the Orkneys' highest mountains, spectacular cliff scenery, a bird sanctuary and the Old Man of Hoy - a 450ft (135m) high rock stack. The bird-filled scattering of northern islands in the Orkneys include Rousay, known as 'the Egypt of the North' because of its numerous archaeological sites. Peaceful, timeless Shapinsay has seal-clogged waters and friendly locals, making it a perfect place to elope to. The island of Stronsay attracts seals, migratory birds, and tourists who enjoy good coastal walks. Eday has numerous chambered cairns and an impressive group of standing stones, the Stone of Setter. Sandy Sanday has dazzling white sand, more Caribbean than British, and ancient chambered tombs. The largest of the northern islands is Westray, a varied place with prehistoric sites, sandy beaches, impressive cliff scenery, castle ruins and a bird sanctuary. Tiny Papa Westray has Europe's oldest domestic building, the 8th-century St Bonieface's Church and Europe's largest colony of arctic terns.
Sixty miles (97km) north of Orkney, the Shetlands remained under Norse rule until 1469. Today, the remote, windswept and treeless islands are almost as much a part of Scandinavia as of Britain, and the nearest mainland town is Bergen in Norway. Birds play a large part in the islands' appeal, along with a 4000-year-old archaeological heritage and an indented coastline which is perfect for walking. Fifteen of the 100 islands are inhabited, and Mainland with its capital of Lerwick is the largest.
Lerwick, the only sizable place in Shetland, has a fort, museum, Viking exhibition and a fortified tower dating from the 7th century BC. The former Shetland capital, Scalloway, lies 7 miles (11km) to the west. It's a busy fishing village with castle ruins and an interesting museum on the Norwegian resistance movement of WWII. The Isle of Mousa contains the impressive double-walled fortified tower Mousa Broch, the best preserved structure of its type in Britain. Other surrounding islands include desolate and heath-covered Yell and Britain's northernmost point, Unst. Fair Isle is Britain's most remote island, and its attractive patterned knitwear is still produced in the island's cooperative. It's recommended wearing apparel for birdwatchers attracted to the island by its hordes of feathered friends.
Considering its breathtaking natural beauty and abundance of destinations for activity-based holidays, it's surprising that Scotland doesn't have a national parks system or a formal system of registered rights of way for walkers. This is because the country has always had a tradition of unrestricted access to open country. The 95-mile (153km) West Highland Way takes hikers through spectacular Highland scenery, leading all the way from Glasgow to Fort William - very handy for those aiming to climb Ben Nevis, Britain's highest peak. The Trossachs, in the heart of Rob Roy country, are also popular with walkers.
Munro bagging
Cyclists in search of the wild and remote will enjoy the Highlands and islands of the north-west. The Hebridean Islands in particular provide superb cycling opportunities. Less intrepid cyclists will favour the lochs and glens of the central and southern areas. Britain's biggest skiing centre is in Aviemore, but there are also skiing opportunities in Glencoe, Nevis, Glenshee, The Lecht, and Nevis Range. Golf is a major attraction in Scotland, where there are more courses per capita than in any other country in the world. Britain's best surf can be found in the north, particularly around Thurso.
Fishing is expensive and heavily regulated; the Spey and surrounding lochs in the Cairngorm area present good opportunities to catch a couple of trout or salmon. On the west coast and in the islands, birdwatchers will find the marine-bird-spotting opportunities of their dreams. Finally, many trips to Scotland are complete without a visit to Loch Ness for a bit of Nessie-spotting, but, hey, if you've got the time, why not? It's a lovely, eerie place, and the perfect lair for a monster.
Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness (14K)
- Michael Lynch's Scotland: A New History provides a reasonably up-to-date historical background to the country. A Concise History of Scotland by Fitzroy Maclean is also recommended. The Highland Clearances and the nation's bloody massacres are passionately described in the numerous books of historian John Prebble.
- The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson by James Boswell includes visits to Skye, Coll and Mull, and is one of the greatest Scottish travelogues.
- Perhaps the best known of Sir Walter Scott's prodigious patriotic outpourings is Rob Roy, now popularly held to bear a striking resemblance to Liam Neeson.
- Several of Robert Louis Stevenson's novels have Scottish settings. Locations in Kidnapped include Mull and Edinburgh.
- An incomparable but often incomprehensible insight into Scotland and Scottishness can be found in any collected edition of the national poet Robert Burns.
- Compton Mackenzie's Whisky Galore is the humorous tale of what transpires when a cargo of whisky runs aground on one of the Hebridean islands during WWII.
- Life amongst Highland wildlife is described by Gavin Maxwell, whose works include Ring of Bright Water.
- Visitors to Orkney will enjoy reading George Mackay Brown's work, such as the novel Greenvoe or the short-story collection A Calendar of Love.
- The Silver Darlings is Neil Gunn's story of the great fishing communities of the north-east in the days before EU quotas.
- Muriel Spark's novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a shrewd portrayal of 1930s Edinburgh. More recent works include Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, which takes the reader on a guided tour of modern Edinburgh's underworld of drugs, drink and despair. Contemporary Glasgow is described in James Kelman's collection of short stories, Not Not While the Giro. Kelman won the 1994 Booker Prize with How Late It Was, How Late. Duncan McLean's short-story collection Bucket of Tongues is set in a number of depressed urban locations, while Alasdair Gray's acclaimed novel Lanark is set in a not-too-heavily-disguised Glasgow.
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