7 Places In Scotland To Visit In 2023
Photo by Alex Azabache on Unsplash
With 2023 having just begun, you may be already thinking of goals and plans for this next year. If you’re like me, travel ideas will appear among those plans fairly frequently. If so, I want to convince you that Scotland deserves the top place in your list of dream destinations!
I have lived in Scotland for over 15 years now, so I have seen many magical places that are either bursting with history, exhilaratingly full of breathtaking views, or mystically elusive with a strong premonition that a faerie will suddenly appear and pull you into the mist.
I have had the privilege of welcoming many international friends and showing them all sorts of both famous and little-known spots, and in those 15 years, I have compiled a little list of the best places to visit. Since public transport is fairly dependable in Scotland, with buses, trains, trams, and ferries running regularly, you should be able to get to all these places without any issue, but a car makes it easier to get to some of the less well-known places.
Let me introduce you to some of the most beautiful and fascinating places you should go to when you visit. Let me tell you about my top 7 must-visit destinations:
01 | Edinburgh Royal Mile
If you’ve done any research at all into touring Scotland, I’m sure one of the first things you read about was Edinburgh, our capital. Start at the top of the Royal Mile, at the Esplanade, and make your way down, stopping in at the Tartan factory, where, if you have Scottish ancestry, you can find little souvenirs with your Clan’s name on them.
Make sure you explore a few of the Closes, the tight lanes which connect courtyards to the Mile, stop in at St Giles, where the famous Reformer, John Knox, preached and where he is buried, and finally, you will get to Holyrood Palace, the Scottish residence of our Monarchs. It’s only a little walk to Arthur’s Seat, the small mountain right in the middle of the city, or if you don’t want to hike far, you can walk up Calton Hill and view marvelous panoramas and explore old cemeteries.
I share the following opinion with many other locals ─ if you are at all short on time, skip Edinburgh Castle. It has expensive entry and is always overflowing with tourists to the point it is hard to enjoy. Of course, you need to visit a castle while in Scotland, and Stirling Castle is only a short train ride away, and is always less crowded.
02 | Stirling Castle
Once the main residence of the Scottish kings, Stirling Castle used to be the stronghold of Scotland that essentially determined who governed the country. Therefore, the Stirling area was a place of frequent conflicts between the Scots and the English, including the famous Battle of Stirling Bridge.
You can tour the Chapel, the Great Hall where many feasts were held, and where the intricate wooden ceiling was built without any nails, the kitchens, and my favourite part, the Palace rooms. They have been repainted and refurbished carefully to look just like the original, and always have several reenactors who act the parts of famous nobles and tell stories and historical facts about the Castle. The Castle also includes seasonal displays, lovely gardens, and a military museum worth visiting as well.
03 | Loch Lomond
The bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond are an absolute must, and while you can drive there easily, there are also frequent buses you can take. If you’re wanting to spend a relaxing summer day swimming in and enjoying the views (this remains one of my favourite day trips in the past with my fiancé!), it’s easy to find a little nook of your own on the edges of the loch. If you fancy a day full of hiking, go ahead and climb Ben Lomond ─ this takes about four hours.
04 | St. Andrews
St. Andrews is a city full of medieval buildings and streets, and the home of the historic university and the famous Home of Golf. It also includes St. Andrews Castle, the site of religious wars between the Reformers and Catholics.
If you have seen Chariots of Fire, you need to visit West Sands Beach, where the well-known opening scene of Eric Liddell running was filmed. I visited it for the first time with a friend last August, and even on a warm summer day, the beach was not overcrowded at all.
05 | Inveraray Castle
Inveraray Castle was the home of the Argylls, one of the most powerful noble families in Scotland over several centuries. In fact, it remains the main residence of the current Duke and Duchess of Argyll and includes the tallest room in any private home in Scotland, which is filled with antique weapons and armour.
The gardens and views are spectacular. I only visited here for the first time this year, with one of my best friends and our guys. We’re both great lovers of the Downton Abbey show, so we were delighted to find out that the final two episodes of Season 3 were filmed here!
06 | Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye
I think the Isle of Skye remains my favourite place in Scotland. Accessible by bridge and very popular with tourists, my favourite thing about Skye is the proximity of the Cuillin mountains and the beaches and the sea.
While serious hiking in the Cuillins should be done with a guide unless you are experienced, there is a short hike to a natural phenomenon called the Fairy Pools, which is a series of waterfalls and rock pools filled with clear water that appears turquoise due to the rock colours.
The little pools seem magically enchanted, as the cold water sparkles in them, and are named thus because of a legend that a local clan chief married a fairy princess.
07 | Oban and Easdale Island
Our final destination is another one that I also visited for the first time this year, and as it is such a little-known but unique and historical place, I knew I had to include it in this list. Oban is a small port town that is surrounded by islands off the coast that make amazing day visits, and particularly Easdale has an incredible history.
You take a tiny ferry boat across to the island, as no cars are allowed. For hundreds of years, Easdale was a slate quarry, until a terrible storm in 1881 flooded the more than 200-feet deep quarries, ruining the livelihood of hundreds of people. You can walk among the leftover slate, peer into the flooded quarries (you can even swim in them!) and visit the tiny museum, finishing the day with fish & chips in Oban.
In short…
I do hope that, after reading this, you’ll put Scotland on your list of places to visit in 2023 if it wasn’t there before. When you do come, I hope you’ll go beyond just the big cities and that you’ll enjoy the magic and peacefulness of our beautiful little country, and I know you won’t be disappointed.
