Posts Tagged ‘Scotland’

Edinburgh Vacations

Written by MichaelZ on September 6, 2010 – 5:55 am -

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, and is the 7th most populated city in the uk. It is found in the southeast region of Scotland and lies along the East Coast of the Central Belt close to the North Sea.

Edinburgh has a wonderful and striking setting that is discussed between visitors. The city sits perched atop some extinct volcanoes and rocky spots which rise up from the typically flat landscape. The predominant characteristic of the area is unquestionably the striking Edinburgh Castle which takes over the city skyline. This historical architecture and beautiful medieval streets lures in men and women from all over the world every year.

The town is known for its amazing Medieval and Georgian structures as well as its stunning setting. Many individuals find the city to be one of the most attractive in almost all of Europe.

Edinburgh is very popular for the Edinburgh Festival which is a variety of various independent and official festivals which are organised annually spanning about four weeks commencing in early August. The multitude of men and women attracted to the city during this time is approximately equal to the populace.

The town is additionally home to several stone tenements that attracts countless tourists from all over the world annually. Besides the incredible architecture, the town is filled with heritage. Literary buffs find Edinburgh to be a destination of great history as it has long been regarded for its literary history dating back to the Scottish Enlightenment. In fact, many well-known writers originate from this area including Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and James Boswell. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is a resident of Edinburgh.

For those who enjoy the nightlife and shopping, Edinburgh has many eating places, clubs and pubs available for tourists and local people. Areas like George Street in the New Town have become popular with more nightclubs and up market public houses opening. The festivals held in this region attract all kinds of well known performers. The night life is rich with bars and eateries while art enthusiasts will be drawn to the cutting-edge displays offered by art galleries in the region.

Edinburgh really offers a little something for everybody as it can provide entertainment for those who decide to have a calm getaway looking at historical sites as well as those who would like more boisterous fun in the nightclubs and eating places in and around the region.

I really do hope that you will soon be thinking about taking a short break in this fantastic city and you will be pleased to find that there are a few first class Edinburgh hotels and guest houses offering not too expensive rooms. Even though hotels in Edinburgh city centre can be expensive guest houses situated just a bit further out can be much less expensive.

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Introducing Stornoway Vacations

Written by MichaelZ on May 18, 2010 – 7:53 am -

Many people like to take unusual vacations and more travelers are finding common seaside vacations rather tedious. The need to find is ever and vacation planners are incessantly looking for new vacation destinations or that offer something of interest. In the following article I introduce the small town of Stornoway in the Western Isles and describe the factors which make this such a superb destination for a vacation.

The Isle of Lewis

Lewis, and Harris, is the biggest island in the Outer Hebrides.  The islands is situated far from the west coast of Scotland further out from the island of Skye, requiring a ferry journey or flight to reach it. Due to the extreme remoteness it was only since the middle to late 20th century that ordinary people have been able to access to the islands for a vacation, before then it was only those with enormous funds who could afford the enormous cost of the trip. The only other option to get to the  Western Isles was to arrive to seek employment.

Stornoway

A great many years ago Stornoway was an extremely busy fishing port. The main quarry of the fishermen was herring and during the season Stornoway’s population increased from about six thousand to more than 30,000. A huge  number of Stornoway Hotels, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts were established to satisfy the needs for lodging the enormous influx of temporary workers created. Nowadays the population of the town remains at just more than six thousand (not including tourists).

Sadly the herring industry fell into sharp decline following WWI with the utter collapse of the the markets in Russia and Germany. The town of Stornoway still has a tiny fishing fleet but there are few buildings remaining from that time and the town lost a great deal of its charm during the extensive redevelopment of the 1970’s.

Recently the Western Isles Council has sympathetically enhanced the town with a few sculptures heavily focused upon past associations with the herring industry as well as also adding fountains and flower beds. New architecture are also more sympathetic to the environment, such as the An Lanntair building on the seafront.

Despite the fact that there are far fewer Stornoway hotels existing today, just the Royal Hotel existed during the heyday of the Herring industry, you will still find a massive number of Stornoway bed and breakfasts, as well as guest houses, inns and hostels. You will even find a caravan park on the outskirts of the town centre.

If you are currently planning a vacation in the Outer Hebrides please take a look at our extensive listings of Stornoway hotels.

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Useful Info About Vacations In Loch Ness

Written by MichaelZ on April 22, 2010 – 2:15 pm -

Scotland is a terrific vacation destination. It is enormously popular with hikers, hill-walkers, mountain climbers, ramblers and other tourists who enjoy this kind  of vacation. Virtually all tourists enjoy the mixed and lovely countryside which features a splendid selection of places to visit including some famous,  and astonishing, areas of outstanding beauty. One of these places which is, probably the most well-known is Loch Ness and the famous Nessie. In the article below I examine this most interesting Loch Ness as a vacation destination.

Unfathomably deep, Loch Ness is a huge area of water found in the jaw-dropping Highlands of Scotland pretty close to Inverness (see below for more info). Surrounded by the most exquisite countryside, which features mysterious areas of ancient woodland, huge heather clad mountains, the loch is much more well known for being the home of the Loch Ness Monster known as Nessie.

Nessie first appears in history in the story of the life of Saint Columba. Supposedly Saint Columba charmed a sea monster back into the waters after it had been frightening one of the monks.

During the third decade of the twentieth century a new road was constructed which ran along the banks of Loch Ness. After only a couple of years in nineteen thirty four stories concerning monster sightings started to appear in the media.

Inverness, frequently referred to as being the capital of the Highlands of Scotland, was ceremoniously granted city status in the year 2001 and at this time is the only city in the Highlands. Uniquely (in the UK) the city has no statutory boundaries which can create problems with population assessments. The situation is exaggerated because of the fact that the population of Inverness is sharply increasing, the city has the highest growth rate in Britain. One fact we know for certain is that the population of the city is rather content , in 2008 the Telegraph took a survey of the quality of life in 189 cities in Britain and the city came fifth. Following on we can state that Inverness is a pretty alright city in which to spend time and this is probably one of the facts which make Inverness incredibly popular with tourists. Crucially there is plenty of hotel in Inverness with the majority being bookable online.

One of the most important things to remember is that Inverness’s airport is, roughly, 7 miles east of the city at Dalcross. You can hail a cab or catch a bus to the small and busy airport which is quite cheap. If you require a map of the area then you should get one of the free ones at the tourist office, which is on Castle Wynd. While you are in the city you should make a mental note to visit Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, Inverness Castle, the Mercat Cross and ’stone of tubs’ especially the Castle Garrison Encounter, a fun interactive experience.

If you are thinking about having a Scottish vacation based in Loch Ness and Inverness then you can discover Inverness bed and breakfast online by by placing “Inverness hotel accommodation” or “Inverness bed and breakfast” into your favorite search engine (the inverted commas can help a great deal).

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