The Rough Guide to the Scottish Highlands & Islands

The Highlands and Islands of Scotland comprise some of the most beautiful mountains, glens, and rugged seascapes in the British Isles. The unique flavor of the iconic Highland culture makes it all the more special for the informed visitor. The 2008 version of "The Rough Guide to the Scottish Highlands and Islands" aims at the demanding traveler, someone who has already decided to visit and wants honest and substantive travel narrative and practical details about accomodations and sightseeing. This Rough Guide is densely packed with the kind of information one gets from the locals. It favors maps, graphics, and written description over bumper sticker descriptions and photographs, although a nice selection is included. The guide provides a narrative oriented along the major travel routes, with enough description to allow travelers to make their own choices about what might be worth visiting and what should be avoided for overcrowding. A useful amount of historical background is presented about many points of interest, without drowning the reader in details. The included information about hiking, biking, and other outdoor fun is sufficient for advance planning, while pointing the enthusiast toward additional resources once on the ground in Scotland. Discussions about accomodations and dining center on mid-range facilities while including some inexpensive hostels and bunkhouses. Information on planes, trains, and rental automobiles will allow the reader to figure out his or her own itinerary across some rugged country, where the travel infrastructure can be fairly limited. The highlands and islands of Scotland are very highly recommended as a travel destination for those looking to mix stunning landscape with a bit of history and local culture. From the Great Glen to Ben Nevis to the rugged Isle of Skye to the many castles hidden around the landscape, Scotland is worth the trip. "The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands" is a terrific resource to get would-be visitors started on their planning.

I used an earlier edition of this guide three years ago on a trip to the Orkneys and found it very useful then. Now I am using it to plan a trip to the Outer Hebrides next summer.

Most travel guides to Scotland consist of lots of photographs taken on the best weather days, bumper sticker location descriptions, a few travel hints, and listings for high-end accomodations. The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands aims at a somewhat more demanding audience, those readers who have already decided to visit Scotland and want honest and substantive travel narrative, along with practical details about a range of accomodations and travel possibilities. This rough guide is densely packed with the kind of information one gets from the locals. It favors maps, graphics, and written description over photographs, although a nice selection is included. The guide provides a narrative oriented along the major travel routes, with enough description to allow travelers to make their own choices about what might be worth visiting and what should be avoided for overcrowding. A useful amount of historical detail is provided about many points of interest without overwhelming the reader. The information about hiking, biking, and other outdoor fun is enough to permit advance planning, while pointing the enthusiast toward additional details once on the ground in Scotland. Discussions about accomodation and dining center on mid-range facilities, and includes some inexpensive hostels and bunkhouses. The information on trains, planes, and automobiles will allow the traveler to figure out his or her own itinerary in Scotland, where the travel infrastructure can be fairly limited. This book is highly recommended to those planning a vacation in the Scottish Highlands or Islands.

.If we had relied solely on our standby Scotland Blue Guide this August, we would have had a very difficult time. IN retrospect, we could have dispensed with the Blue Guide, and soloed with the Rough Guide. Rough Guide's Highland volume provided us with a basic reality check early on: we would not be able to see as much as we wanted, and would have to make trade offs. Rough Guide made those trade offs far easier. In each geographically based section, they provided a list of the area's key points to hit. (Blue Guide has a hierarchy also, but it's not nearly so easy to tap into.) And while some of Rough Guide's advice on accommodations and restaurants may go out of date, it was nice to have that information (Blue Guide chooses not to cover these aspects).We knew little or nothing about the Highlands a few weeks ago... Rough Guide helped us have a very good time.