Sights in Scotland
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Scapa Flow Visitor Centre
Lyness, on the eastern side of Hoy, was an important naval base during both world wars, when the British Grand Fleet was based in Scapa Flow. This fascinating museum and photographic display, located in an old pumphouse that once fed fuel to the ships, is a must-see for anyone interested in Orkney's military history.
Take your time to browse the exhibits about WWI and WWII, and have a look at the folders of supplementary information: the letters home from a seaman lost when the HMS Royal Oak was torpedoed are particularly moving.
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Thurso Heritage Museum
Thurso Heritage Museum, in the old Town Hall, displays Pictish and Christian fossils and carved stones, and a reconstruction of a croft interior. It was closed at the time of research for a major renovation and will reopen as Caithness Horizons in late 2008, featuring a museum, tourist office, visitor displays and a café.
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Kilchoman Distillery
Kilchoman Distillery is Islay’s newest, going into production in 2005. The distillery grows its own barley on Islay, and the visitor centre explores the history of farmhouse distilling on the island. Its first single-malt was released in 2010, and was so popular it sold out within days.
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Bishop's Palace
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Gladstone's Land
One of Edinburgh's most prominent 17th-century merchants was Thomas Gledstanes, who in 1617 purchased the tenement later known as Gladstone's Land. It contains fine painted ceilings, walls and beams, and some splendid furniture from the 17th and 18th centuries. The volunteer guides provide a wealth of anecdotes and a detailed history.
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Logan Botanic Garden
The mild climate in Scotland is demonstrated at Logan Botanic Garden, a mile north of Port Logan, where an array of subtropical flora includes tree ferns and cabbage palms. The garden is an outpost of the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. Port Logan itself is a sleepy place with a decent pub and excellent sandy beach.
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Old Man of Storr
The 50m-high, pot-bellied pinnacle of crumbling basalt known as the Old Man of Storr is prominent above the road 6 miles north of Portree. Walk up to its foot from the car park in the woods at the northern end of Loch Leathan (round trip 2 miles). This seemingly unclimbable pinnacle was first scaled in 1955 by English mountaineer Don Whillans, a feat that has been repeated only a handful of times since.
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Fyvie Castle
Though a magnificent example of Scottish Baronial architecture, Fyvie Castle is probably more famous for its ghosts, which include a phantom trumpeter and the mysterious Green Lady. The castle's art collection includes portraits by Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Henry Raeburn. The grounds are open all year (9am to dusk).
The castle is 25 miles north of Aberdeen on the A947 towards Turriff. A bus runs hourly every day from Aberdeen to Banff and Elgin via Fyvie village, a mile from the castle.
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Crathes Castle
The atmospheric, 16th-century Crathes Castle is famous for its Jacobean painted ceilings, magnificently carved canopied beds, and the ‘Horn of Leys’, presented to the Burnett family by Robert the Bruce in the 14th century. The beautiful formal gardens include 300-year-old yew hedges and colourful herbaceous borders.
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Gallery of Modern Art
Scotland's most popular contemporary art gallery features modern works from international artists, housed in a graceful neoclassical building. The original interior is used to make a daring, inventive art display. Social issues are a focal point of the museum but it's not all heavy going: there's a big effort made to keep the kids entertained.
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Inverness Castle
The hill above the city centre is topped by the picturesque Baronial turrets of Inverness Castle, a pink-sandstone confection dating from 1847 that replaced a medieval castle blown up by the Jacobites in 1746; it serves today as the Sheriff's Court. It’s not open to the public, but there are good views from the surrounding gardens.
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Seallam! Visitor Centre
The culture and landscape of the Hebrides are celebrated in the fascinating exhibition at Seallam! Visitor Centre. Seallam is Gaelic for ‘Let me show you’. The centre, which is in Northton, just south of Scarasta, also has a genealogical research centre for people who want to trace their Hebridean ancestry.
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St Nicholas Church
On the northern side of Union St, 300m west of Castlegate, is St Nicholas Church, the so-called 'Mither Kirk' (Mother Church) of Aberdeen. The granite spire dates from the 19th century, but there has been a church on this site since the 12th century; the early 15th-century St Mary's Chapel survives in the eastern part of the church.
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Queen’s View Visitor Centre
Queen’s View Visitor Centre, at the eastern end of Loch Tummel, has a magnificent outlook towards Schiehallion (1083m). There are displays and audiovisual programmes about the area. The centre highlights the brilliant forward thinking of the replanting of Tay Forest 300 years ago. The results are all around.
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Balfour Castle
Completed in 1848 in the turreted Scottish Baronial style, Balfour Castle dominates the southern end of the island. It's only open for guided tours; these run on Sundays in August and must be booked in advance. The price includes admission to the castle and afternoon tea.
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St Monans Heritage Collection
St Monans Heritage Collection, on the harbour, is a wonderful small gallery devoted to the history of the St Monans’ fishing industry through a collection of 20th-century black-and-white photos and several artefacts. Most of the photos were taken by a local photographer and the collection changes regularly.
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Mine Howe
On a farm at Tankerness, the mysterious Iron Age site of Mine Howe is an eerie underground chamber, about 1.5m in diameter and 4m high. Its function is unknown; archaeologists from the TV series Time Team carried out a dig here and concluded that it may have had some ritual significance, perhaps as an oracle or shrine.
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Tantallon Castle
Perched on a cliff 3 miles east of North Berwick is the spectacular ruin of Tantallon Castle. Built around 1350, it was the fortress residence of the Douglas earls of Angus (the ‘Red Douglases’), defended on one side by a series of ditches and on the other by an almost sheer drop into the sea.
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3D Loch Ness Experience
The centrepiece of this exhibition dedicated to Scotland's most famous mythical beastie is a 3D documentary film (in five languages) exploring the various theories, eyewitness accounts and hoaxes surrounding the Loch Ness Monster. Plus, of course, a gift shop crammed with cheekily priced cuddly toys in the form of Nessie…
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St John's Castle
Worth a quick visit, St John's Castle is a tower built in 1510 by the Adairs of Kihilt, a powerful local family. The old stone cells carry a distinctly musty smell. There are displays and a couple of videos that trace its history and, from the top of the castle, superb views of Loch Ryan.
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Perth Museum
The city's main museum is worth wandering through for the elegant neoclassical interior alone. There's a varied shower of exhibits, ranging from portraits of dour lairds to interesting local social history. A geological room provides more entertainment for the young, while there are often excellent temporary exhibitions.
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Newhaven Harbour
Newhaven was once a distinctive fishing community whose fishwives tramped the streets of Edinburgh’s New Town selling caller herrin (fresh herring) from wicker creels on their backs. Modern development has dispelled the fishing-village atmosphere, but the little harbour still boasts its picturesque lighthouse.
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Stromness Museum
A superb museum full of knick-knacks from maritime and natural-history exhibitions covering whaling, the Hudsons Bay Company and the sunk German fleet. You can happily nose around for a couple of hours. Across the street is the house where local poet and novelist George Mackay Brown lived.
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Deep Sea World
Situated at North Queensferry, just by the Forth bridges, it’s a blockbuster aquarium with all those ‘respect’ species like sharks and piranhas, as well as seals and touch pools with rays and other sea creatures. You can even arrange guided dives with sharks. It’s a little cheaper if you pre-purchase tickets online.
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Church of the Holy Rude
The Church of the Holy Rude has been the town’s parish church for 600 years and James VI was crowned here in 1567. The nave and tower date from 1456, and the church has one of the few surviving medieval open-timber roofs. Stunning stained-glass windows and huge stone pillars create a powerful effect.
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