Culture And Heritage

Aberdeen celebrates its cultural heritage throughout the year by entertaining both tourist and locals with excellent traditional entertainment. From galas and ceilidhs to world-renowned festivals and Highland Games.

If music is the food of love, then the Scots are true romantics with a wide and varied diet! Whatever the style - whether the orchestral swell of James McMillan's classical work, the lyrical fluency of Dougie McLean's ballads, Blazing Fiddles' irresistably foot-tapping reels and jigs, or the driving guitar and drum rhythms of Texas - music is a vital part of the nation's cultural life.

It's celebrated across the country and throughout the year in large-scale gatherings like the Gaelic Mod, T-in-the-Park or the Edinburgh International Festival, busy concerts at the Usher Hall or the Royal Concert Hall or more intimately in pubs, clubs and howffs in every town and village.

While the biggest platform for theatre in Scotland is the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe, all through the year in venues across Scotland that rank amongst both the largest and smallest in the UK (and every other size in between), you will find comedies, dramas, musicals, cabaret, opera and ballet of the highest quality, much of it home-grown.

Many events on Scotland's cultural calendar reflect the activities and interests of its varied regions. In spite of the country's small size, it plays host to the world's largest and most famous arts festival, the Edinburgh International Festival. Elsewhere, coastal communities have seafood or boat festivals or gala days, while farming towns and communities meet together for annual agricultural shows, as part of a thriving rural tradition.

Highland culture is acknowledged in the many Highland games and gatherings, which in spite of their name and northerly origins now take place throughout Scotland. And the country's Highland heritage takes many other forms, including the annual Highland Festival, a celebration of the arts in the north of Scotland. At the other end of the country, the colourful spectacle of the Common Ridings take place in several towns throughout the Border counties and serve as a focus for, and a celebration of, the area's sense of home and community.

And wherever you travel around the country, you should also grab any chance to sample the local delicacies - Arbroath smokies, Lochfyne kippers, Forfar Bridies, Selkirk bannocks, Orkney, Islay or Galloway cheeses, Dundee cake, Moffat toffee to name but a few.

Of course, amongst the gems in the national larder - or more accurately, the national drinks cabinet - is whisky, and when it comes to the water of life, Scotch is recognised the world over as being without equal.

Loch Lomond, Stirling and the Trossachs

Visited and enjoyed by many for its recreational value, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park encompasses around 720 square miles. For two centuries, people have come here to walk, climb, cycle and sail, to breathe fresh clean air and drink in the spectacular views.

Starting at the National Park Gateway Centre in Balloch on the shores of Loch Lomond, visit Loch Lomond Shores (1). Take the A82 to Luss and the Clan Colquhoun & Luss Visitor Centre or the Thistle Bagpipe Works (2). Continue on the A82 to Tarbet and Cruise Loch Lomond (3).