Things to do in Central Scotland
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Seafood Temple
Locally sourced seafood is the god that’s worshipped at this tiny temple – a former park pavilion with glorious views over the bay. Owned by a former fisherman who smokes his own salmon, what must be Oban’s smallest restaurant serves up whole lobster cooked to order, scallops in garlic butter, plump langoustines, and the ‘platter magnifique’ (£60 for two persons), which offers a taste of everything. Booking essential.
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Waterfront Restaurant
Housed on the top floor of a converted seamen’s mission, the Waterfront’s stylish, unfussy decor – dusky pink and carmine with pine tables and local art on the walls – does little to distract from the superb seafood freshly landed at the quay just a few metres away.
The menu ranges from crispy-battered haddock and chips to pan-fried scallops with lime, chilli and coriander pickle. There’s an early evening menu (5.30pm to 6.45pm) offering two courses for £11.50, or soup followed by fish and chips for £9.75. Best to book for dinner.
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Kerachers
This classic seafood restaurant keeps things simple, combining fresh seafood with ingredients that add hints of flavour to complement but not overpower the dishes − a recipe for success!
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British Golf Museum
The British Golf Museum has an extraordinarily comprehensive overview of the history and development of the game and the role of St Andrews in it. Favourite fact: bad players were formerly known as ‘foozlers’. Interactive panels allow you to relive former British Opens (watch Paul Azinger snapping his putter in frustration), and there’s a large collection of memorabilia from Open winners both male and female.
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Foyer
A light, airy space filled with blond wood and bold colours, Foyer is an art gallery as well as a restaurant and is run by a charity that works against youth homelessness and unemployment. The seasonal menu is a fusion of Scottish, Mediterranean and Asian influences, with lots of good vegetarian (and gluten- or dairy-free) options. A light lunch menu is available from 11am to 4pm.
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Doll’s House
With its high-backed chairs, bright colours and creaky wooden floor, the Doll’s House blends a Victorian child’s bedroom with modern stylings. The result is a surprising warmth and no pretensions. The menu makes the most of local fish and other Scottish produce, and the two-course lunch for £6.95 is unbeatable value. The early-evening two-course deal for £12.95 isn’t bad either.
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Shellfish Bar
If you want to savour superb Scottish seafood without the expense of an upmarket restaurant, head for Oban’s famous seafood stall – it’s the green shack on the quayside near the ferry terminal. Here you can buy fresh and cooked seafood to take away – excellent prawn sandwiches (£2.75), dressed crab (£4.75), and fresh oysters for only 65p each.
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Reading Rooms
Dundee’s hippest venue is an arty, bohemian hang-out in a run-down former library that hosts some of Scotland’s best indie club nights. Live gigs have ranged from island singer-songwriter Colin MacIntyre (aka Mull Historical Society) to Ayrshire rock band Biffy Clyro.
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Howie's
A chic bistro dishing up great-value 'modern Scottish' cuisine accompanied by very reasonably priced house wine. Two-/three-course dinner £18/20.
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Scone Palace
'So thanks to all at once and to each one, whom we invite to see us crowned at Scone.' This line from Macbeth indicates the importance of this place (pronounced 'skoon'), 2 miles north of Perth. The palace itself was built in 1580 on a site intrinsic to Scottish history. Here in 838, Kenneth MacAlpin became the first king of a united Scotland and brought the Stone of Destiny, on which Scottish kings were ceremonially invested, to Moot Hill. In 1296 Edward I of England carted the talisman off to Westminster Abbey, where it remained for 700 years before being returned to Scotland.
These days, however, Scone doesn't really conjure up ye olden days of bearded warrior-kings swe…
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Marischal College & Museum
Across Broad St from Provost Skene's House is Marischal College, founded in 1593 by the 5th Earl Marischal, and merged with King's College (founded 1495) in 1860 to create the modern University of Aberdeen. The huge and impressive facade in Perpendicular Gothic style – unusual in having such elaborate masonry hewn from notoriously hard-to-work granite – dates from 1906 and is the world's second-largest granite structure (after L'Escorial near Madrid). Recently the building was being converted into Aberdeen City Council's new headquarters.
Founded in 1786, the Marischal Museum houses a fascinating collection of material donated by graduates and friends of the university…
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St Andrews Old Course
Everyone knows that St Andrews is the home of golf, but few people realise that anyone can play on the Old Course. Although it lies beside the exclusive, all-male (female waiters are, unsurprisingly, allowed) Royal & Ancient Golf Club, it's a public course and not owned by the club. If you baulk at the green fees, stroll the Old Course in the evening instead.
The trust runs frequent guided walks of the Old Course; these take half an hour and will take you to famous landmarks like the Swilcan Bridge and the Road Hole bunker. If you play on a windy day, expect those scores to balloon: Nick Faldo famously stated that when it blows, 'even the seagulls walk'.
Advance bookings …
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Stirling Castle
Hold Stirling and you control Scotland. This maxim has ensured that a fortress of some kind has existed here since prehistoric times. Commanding superb views, you cannot help drawing parallels with Edinburgh castle – but many find Stirling's fortress more atmospheric; the location, architecture and historical significance combine to make it a grand and memorable sight. This means it draws plenty of visitors, so it's advisable to visit in the afternoon; many tourists come on day-trips from Edinburgh or Glasgow, so you may have the castle to yourself by about 4pm.
Admission costs for the castle will rise once the Royal Palace opens. The mooted price was £14 for adults, whi…
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Balmoral Castle
Eight miles west of Ballater lies Balmoral Castle, the Queen’s Highland holiday home, screened from the road by a thick curtain of trees. Built for Queen Victoria in 1855 as a private residence for the royal family, it kicked off the revival of the Scottish Baronial style of architecture that characterises so many of Scotland’s 19th-century country houses.
The admission fee includes an interesting and well thought-out audioguide, but the tour is very much an outdoor one through garden and grounds; as for the castle itself, only the ballroom, which displays a collection of Landseer paintings and royal silver, is open to the public. Don’t expect to see the Queen’s priva…
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National Wallace Monument
Towering over Scotland’s narrow waist, this nationalist memorial is so Victorian Gothic it deserves circling bats and ravens. It commemorates the bid for Scottish independence depicted in the film Braveheart. From the tourist office, walk or shuttle-bus up the hill to the building itself. Once there, break the climb up the narrow staircase inside to admire Wallace’s 66 inches of broadsword and see the man himself re-created in a 3-D audiovisual display. More staid is the marble pantheon of lugubrious Scottish heroes, but the view from the top over the flat, green gorgeousness of the Forth Valley, including the site of Wallace’s 1297 victory over the English at Stirling …
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Falkland Palace
Rising majestically out of the town centre and dominating the skyline is the outstanding 16th-century Falkland Palace, a country residence of the Stuart monarchs. Mary, Queen of Scots is said to have spent the happiest days of her life ‘playing the country girl in the woods and parks’ at Falkland. The palace was built between 1501 and 1541 to replace a castle dating from the 12th century; French and Scottish craftspeople were employed to create a masterpiece of Scottish Gothic architecture. The King’s bedchamber and the chapel, with its beautiful painted ceiling, have both been restored. Don’t miss the prodigious 17th-century Flemish hunting tapestries in the hall. One fe…
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HM Frigate Unicorn
One of Dundee’s floating tourist attractions retains the authentic atmosphere of a salty old sailing ship. Built in 1824, the 46-gun Unicorn is the oldest British-built ship still afloat – she was mothballed soon after launching and never saw action. By the mid-19th century sailing ships were outclassed by steam and the Unicorn served as a gunpowder store, then later as a training vessel. When it was proposed to break up the ship for scrap in the 1960s, a preservation society was formed. Wandering around the four decks gives you an excellent impression of what it must have been like for the crew forced to live in such cramped conditions. The Unicorn is berthed in Vict…
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Aberdeen Art Gallery
Behind the grand facade of Aberdeen Art Gallery is a cool, marble-lined space exhibiting the work of contemporary Scottish and English painters, such as Gwen Hardie, Stephen Conroy, Trevor Sutton and Tim Ollivier. There are also several landscapes by Joan Eardley, who lived in a cottage on the cliffs near Stonehaven in the 1950s and '60s and painted tempestuous oils of the North Sea and poignant portraits of slum children. Among the Pre-Raphaelite works upstairs, look out for the paintings of Aberdeen artist William Dyce (1806–64), ranging from religious works to rural scenes.
Downstairs is a large, empty, circular white room, with fish-scaled balustrades evoking the bri…
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Findhorn Foundation
Hippies old and new should check out the Findhorn Foundation, an international spiritual community founded in 1962. There’s a small permanent population of around 150, but the community receives thousands of visitors each year. With no formal creed, the community is dedicated to cooperation with nature, ‘dealing with work, relationships and our environment in new and more fulfilling ways’, and fostering ‘a deeper sense of the sacred in everyday life’. Projects include an eco-village, a biological sewage-treatment plant and a wind-powered generator. Guided tours (£5) start from the visitor centre at 2pm on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from April to November, and …
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Old Course
Golf has been played at St Andrews since the 15th century, and by 1457 it was apparently so popular that James II had to ban it because it was interfering with his troops' archery practice. Few people realise that anyone can play the Old Course, the world's most famous golf course. Although it lies beside the exclusive, all-male Royal & Ancient Golf Club, the Old Course is a public course and is not owned by the club.
Getting a tee-off time is - literally - something of a lottery. Unless you book months in advance, the only chance you have of playing here is by entering a ballot before 14:00 on the day before you wish to play. Be warned that applications by ballot are nor…
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Aberdeen Beach
Aberdeen Beach is 800m east of the city centre. A spectacular 2-mile sweep of clean, golden sand stretching between the mouths of the Rivers Dee and Don. At one time Aberdeen Beach was a good, old-fashioned British seaside resort, but the availability of cheap package holidays has lured Scottish holidaymakers away from its somewhat chilly delights. On a warm summer's day, though, it's still an excellent beach.
You can get away from the fun fair atmosphere by walking north towards the more secluded part of the beach. There is a bird-watching hide on the south bank of the River Don, between the beach and King St, which leads back south towards Old Aberdeen.
Buses 14 and 15 (…
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Castle Menzies
About 1½ miles west of town by the B846, Castle Menzies is the impressive restored 16th-century seat of the chief of the clan Menzies (ming-iss). The Z-plan tower house is magnificently located against a backdrop of Scottish forest. And inside it doesn’t disappoint: the place smells just like a castle should – musty and lived in. It reeks of authenticity despite extensive restoration work and is a highly recommended ramble. Check out the fireplace in the dungeon-like kitchens and the gaudy great hall upstairs, with windows unfurling a ribbon of lush, green countryside extending into wooded hills beyond the estate. You’ll get in for free if you share a surname with the ca…
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Scottish Lighthouse Museum
The excellent Scottish Lighthouse Museum provides a fascinating insight into the network of lights that have safeguarded the Scottish coast for over 100 years, and the men and women who built and maintained them (plus a sobering fact – that all the world’s lighthouses are to be decommissioned by 1 January 2080). A guided tour takes you to the top of the old Kinnaird Head lighthouse, built on top of a converted 16th-century castle; the engineering is so precise that the 4.5-ton light assembly can be rotated by pushing with a single finger. The anemometer here measured the strongest wind speed ever recorded in the UK, with a gust of 123 knots (142mph) on 13 February 1989.…
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RRS Discovery
The three masts of Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s famous polar expedition vessel the RRS Discovery dominate the riverside to the south of the city centre. The ship was built in Dundee in 1900, with a wooden hull at least half a metre thick to survive the pack ice, and sailed for the Antarctic in 1901 where she spent two winters trapped in the ice. From 1931 on she was laid up in London where her condition steadily deteriorated, until she was rescued by the efforts of Peter Scott (son of Robert) and the Maritime Trust, and restored to her 1925 condition. In 1986 she was given a berth in her home port of Dundee, where she became a symbol of the city’s regeneration.
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Scotland’s Secret Bunker
Three miles north of Anstruther, off the B9131 to St Andrews, is Scotland’s Secret Bunker. This fascinating Cold War relic was to be one of Britain’s underground command centres and a home for Scots leaders in the event of nuclear war. Hidden 30m underground and surrounded by nearly 5m of reinforced concrete are the austere operation rooms, communication centre and dormitories. It’s very authentic and uses artefacts from the period, which make for an absorbing exploration. The Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) has an exhibit, bringing home the realities of Britain’s current nuclear Trident policy. The bunker is a gripping experience and highly recommended.…
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