Previous issue: Last chance to buy Issue 110

There’s no doubt about it: we are living in strange, uncertain times. Many of you will have had to cancel your travel plans to Scotland for this year, or cut them short, and while this is incredibly frustrating (for both you, our readers, and the travel industry as a whole), it is absolutely necessary in the current climate.

In light of COVID-19, our health and safety are paramount and it’s simply not safe to travel. The situation is changing by the day and we don’t know how long it will last, but it won’t be forever.

Scotland’s landscapes, castles and country estates will still be here when you return. In the meantime, Scotland is on hand to entertain you with tales of our enigmatic country, past and present, and our beautiful features will hopefully evoke memories of previous trips as well as inspire future holidays. 

Vision in white

Blair Castle. Credit: Paul Tomkins/Visit Scotland

Discover Blair Castle, the ancestral seat of the Dukes of Atholl, and though you can’t visit in person for a while, you can do the next best thing and take a virtual tour – it even allows you to stand on the castle’s roof.

More than a Highland fling

The annual Braemar Highland Games in Braemar. Credit: WENN Rights Ltd/Alamy

Though uncertainty hangs over this year’s events, the Highland Games have been around in one form or another for centuries, and they will be here for many, many more. We pick out the best of a good bunch, providing potted histories and dates for your diaries.

Time to shrine

The Whithorn Way passes near Turnberry. Credit: Martin Bonnar

Experience the Whithorn Way, an ancient pilgrim route in Dumfries and Galloway that Scotland’s monarchs followed to pay their respects to its first saint. You might be adding it to that Scotland-based bucket list!

Valley of loss

Glen Coe. Credit: Stephen Whitehorne/National Trust for Scotland

We look at the build-up to one of the most shocking betrayals in Scottish history, in which the rivalry between the Macdonalds and Campbells took a dark turn at the Glencoe Massacre.

Also inside the issue:

• We look beyond Loch Ness and explore its surrounding villages
• Take a virtual wander along the wildlife-rich Berwickshire Coastal Path
• The story behind royal tartan tailors, Kinloch Anderson
• Enter Maxwell’s world to mark the 60th anniversary of the publication of his most famous work, Ring of Bright Water
• An interview with Brigadier David Allfrey, producer of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
• How Mary, Queen of Scots, escaped the clutches of Henry VIII
• Win a Great British holiday that will take you from London to Edinburgh and the Cotswolds via gorgeous places to stay. You will have until May 2021 to claim the prize. You can enter online here
• Plus all our regular columns, including how to trace your ancestry and more traditional Scottish folk song lyric analysis

Buy your copy here or subscribe online to have every issue delivered direct to you door six times a year.