Place of interest Archive

Staffa and Fingal’s Cave

An artist couldn’t have created this island any better. Staffa displays a bizarre columnar structure, within which the wonderful Fingal’s Cave opens up. We set off on a trip there. A narrow staircase leads up the cliffs from the sea, its lower steps washed over by blue-green water. This is our landing stage. Our skipper […]

Stornoway – how the king wanted to civilise the islands

Stornoway is the capital of the Outer Hebrides. Its founding began with a contested expedition in 1598. What happened back then – and what the town has to offer today. The promised land was cold. Ludovic looked out at high cliffs with sparse vegetation as his ship sailed into the bay of Stornoway. This certainly […]

Falkirk Wheel – the rotating boat lift

A gigantic steel wheel lifts whole ships into the sky. The Falkirk Wheel is the largest and only rotating boat lift in the world. And it looks good too. Down at the Forth and Clyde Canal everything seems a little antique: narrow, long wooden boats, elaborately decorated and in eye-catching colours, line an overgrown bank. […]

Forth Bridge and the art of throwing red-hot rivets

The Forth Bridge spans the Firth of Forth as a red landmark. Its history, and the best spots to see it from, are covered here. It borders on a miracle that the Scots still trust railway bridges at all. Unlike today, it was by no means guaranteed in 19th-century Britain that passengers would always arrive […]

Oban – a touch of Rome in the Highlands

Oban is the gateway to the western isles, home to one of the oldest distilleries, and boasts a very special landmark in the style of antiquity. What’s a Roman colosseum doing in the Highlands? Well, it went like this… Oh, Rome. If only a mere hint of the flair of that eternal city could drift […]

The Kelpies near Falkirk – two working horses guard the canal lock

One rears up wildly, the other gazes resolutely ahead. The Kelpies near Falkirk are two steel horse giants that tell a story. The idea that Scotland isn’t just about crumbling castles or wild landscapes is one story the Kelpies are meant to tell. And they do so impressively. They fuse organic art with angular steel […]

Dean Village Walk – a stroll along the Water of Leith in Edinburgh

Just a few minutes from Edinburgh’s city centre lies Dean Village. Walking past picturesque houses along the Water of Leith, you can forget all about the hustle and bustle of the city centre. Before the “Water of Leith” flows into the North Sea at the harbour of the same name, it passes close to the centre […]

Stirling Castle – Scotland’s Castle of Destiny

Its location in the heart of Scotland made this castle strategically vital. That is why Stirling Castle was constantly fought over — and even the reason for Scotland’s most important battle. Stirling Castle sits in the heart of Scotland – roughly halfway between Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Highlands, it guards the River Forth, which later widens […]

Neptune’s Staircase – Poseidon’s Staircase near Fort William

A boat must pass eight gates at Banavie before it’s allowed into the Caledonian Canal. A tough test, especially for the skippers. At the locks of Neptune’s Staircase, it’s all hands on deck. The boats have to be pulled by hand along a path beside the basins, and the engine may only be started again […]

Glen Etive – Where James Bond Looked Out Over Skyfall

A road winds into a deep valley, a man stands by his car and stares into the distance – the scene is from James Bond’s Skyfall. The setting, though, is Scotland. It’s Glen Etive. We almost missed the turn-off from the road through Glen Coe – it’s just a single track road. It leads us […]