Open all seasons

Sally Toms suggests Scotland's summer visitors are missing out

The majority of Scotland's visitors arrive between May and September. They experience the country's mildest weather and possibly 50 different kinds of rain, but what about the rest of the year? Are the hotels and visitor attractions boarded up and borders closed?

Most winter visitors make a beeline for Edinburgh or Glasgow for a spot of retail therapy, or for Hogmanay, Scotland's end of year celebrations that begin on December 29 and end with a hangover at some point in January.

Edinburgh's celebrations are world renowned. There are torchlight processions, music, big-name concerts, fireworks, street parties, a few drinks and of course the celebratory kissing of strangers. But it's a crowded, busy affair and city visitors, elbowing each other to get to the sale at Harvey Nic's, are missing out on something special.

Winter in rural Scotland is wild and beautiful. When the trees are stripped bare and their skeletons stand dark against the grey skies, and when a fine dusting of snow highlights the curves and gradients of the hill tops, the landscape presents itself in an entirely new way.

Yes, it's cold. Scotland's latitude is the same as Anchorage, Alaska. But whereas the wind off the cold North Sea can rattle your teeth, winds from the Atlantic which buffet the west are warmed by the Gulf Stream, and temperatures on the coast rarely drop below 0ºC.

It's dark, too – the antithesis of Scotland's long summer days. In midwinter it gets dark early, depending on how far north...

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• By : Sally Toms
• In : Editor's View
• Issue : 30
• Page : 3
• Words : 552