Holiday Cottages In Scotland

Scotland has around 5,500 self-catering cottages on selfcatering.co.uk, from lochside lodges in the Highlands to island cottages in the Hebrides and quiet boltholes in the Borders. Pick a region to match the trip, whether you are after the big mountains of the north, a sea-loch sailing week or a city base near Edinburgh.

Best places to stay in Scotland

Most of Scotland's cottages sit in the Highlands and the south-west, with a scattering across the islands and the central belt. The region you choose tends to set the scenery, from high mountains to sea lochs and island beaches.

• the Highlands: the largest region, with Ben Nevis, Loch Ness, Skye and the wild far north
• Dumfries and Galloway: the mild south-west, with forest, sandy bays and the country's first Dark Sky Park
• Argyll and Bute: a coast of sea lochs and islands, from Oban out to Mull and Islay
• Perth and Kinross: Highland Perthshire, big rivers and some of the finest autumn woodland in the country
• Aberdeenshire: castle country and whisky distilleries along the Dee and the Spey
• the Scottish Borders: rolling hills, abbey towns and the salmon rivers of the Tweed
• Fife: the old fishing villages of the East Neuk and the golf links of St Andrews
• Moray: a sunny coast of dolphins and fishing towns, at the heart of Speyside
• North Ayrshire: the Clyde coast and the island of Arran, often called Scotland in miniature
• Angus: red-cliff coast and the quiet glens that run up into the Grampians
• Stirling: castle, battlefields and the gateway to the Trossachs and Loch Lomond
• the Outer Hebrides: the long island chain of white shell beaches and Gaelic culture
• Orkney: northern islands rich in Neolithic sites such as Skara Brae
• Shetland: Britain's northernmost isles, with seabird cliffs and Viking heritage

Closer to the central belt, South Ayrshire has Burns country and Culzean Castle, East Lothian a golden coast of golf and beaches, and Edinburgh puts the capital's castle and festivals on the doorstep.

Coast, countryside and national parks in Scotland

Scotland has two national parks and some of the wildest country in Britain. The Cairngorms National Park is the largest in the United Kingdom, a high plateau of mountains, ancient pinewoods and ski grounds straddling the Highlands, Moray, Aberdeenshire, Angus and Perth and Kinross. Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park sits within easy reach of Glasgow and Stirling, where the Highlands meet the Lowlands at Scotland's largest loch. Beyond the parks, the North West Highlands rise in dramatic peaks such as Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain, and the coast breaks into countless sea lochs and headlands threaded by the North Coast 500 driving route. Offshore, the Inner Hebrides include Skye, Mull and Islay, the Outer Hebrides run from Lewis to Barra with their shell-sand beaches, and the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland carry deep prehistoric and Norse heritage. Galloway Forest Park in the south-west holds a Dark Sky Park, among the best places in the country for stargazing.

Things to do in Scotland

Scotland packs in history, culture and the outdoors. Edinburgh has its castle, the Royal Mile and the world's biggest arts festival each August, while Glasgow brings galleries, music and Victorian architecture. Castles stand across the country, from Stirling and Edinburgh to Eilean Donan and Dunnottar on its sea cliff, and the whisky trail of Speyside links some of the most famous distilleries in the world. Outdoors, walkers tackle Munros and long routes such as the West Highland Way, drivers follow the North Coast 500 around the far north, and the lochs and coast offer sailing, kayaking and wildlife trips for dolphins, seals, otters and eagles. Skiing runs in the Cairngorms and at Glencoe in winter, and the islands reward slow travel by ferry, from the beaches of the Hebrides to the Neolithic sites of Orkney.

When to visit Scotland

Late spring and early autumn, in May, June and September, are the finest months for many visitors, with long daylight, the hills at their best and fewer midges than high summer. July and August bring the warmest weather, the island ferries at their busiest and Edinburgh in full festival flow, so book cottages early. Autumn lights up the Perthshire and Highland woodlands, and winter offers snow on the Cairngorms, the chance of the Northern Lights in the far north and long cosy evenings, though upland roads and ferries can be disrupted by weather. The far north enjoys remarkably long summer days, with light lingering well into the evening in June.

Dog-friendly and hot-tub cottages in Scotland

Scotland is superb for a holiday with the dog, with open hills, forest tracks and empty beaches almost everywhere, and more than 3,700 of the cottages here welcome dogs. Over 1,100 properties come with a hot tub, perfect for soaking under big skies after a day on the hills. Once you have settled on a region you can filter within it for dog-friendly cottages or for places with a hot tub, which makes it easy to find the right base. Scotland's responsible access rights give walkers and dogs wide freedom to roam, though it is good practice to keep dogs close around livestock and ground-nesting birds.

Getting to Scotland

Scotland is well connected by road, rail, air and sea. The M74 and A1 carry traffic north from England, with the M8 linking Glasgow and Edinburgh and the A9 running up through the Highlands to Inverness. Trains reach Edinburgh and Glasgow from London in under five hours, and sleeper services run overnight from the south to the central belt and on to the Highlands. The main airports are Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness, with island connections from Glasgow. CalMac ferries serve the Hebrides from ports such as Oban and Mallaig, while NorthLink sails to Orkney and Shetland from Aberdeen and the north coast.

Useful links

• VisitScotland
• VisitBritain
• National Parks UK

Scotland is the northernmost nation of the United Kingdom, occupying the upper third of the island of Great Britain together with nearly eight hundred surrounding islands. It shares its only land border with England to the south, along a line running between the Solway Firth and the River Tweed, and is otherwise ringed by water: the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the Irish Sea to the south-west.

The country falls into three broad bands. The Southern Uplands are a belt of rounded hills and sheep country along the border. The Central Lowlands, a rift valley between the firths of Clyde and Forth, hold most of the population and the two largest cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh, the capital. North and west of the Highland Boundary Fault rise the Highlands, a region of mountains, glens and sea lochs that includes Ben Nevis, the highest peak in Britain, and some of the emptiest land in Europe.

The islands fall into four main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides off the west coast, and the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland, which lie closer to Norway than to London and carry a strong Norse legacy. Scotland's long, broken coastline, its lochs both freshwater and sea, and its high, weathered mountains give it a landscape of great variety and drama, shaped by ice, ocean and a cool, changeable maritime climate.