One of our most popular posts last year was our pick of Scotland’s most picturesque villages. This time we take a look at larger centres, highlighting 15 Scottish towns which make great bases for outdoors activities. All of the links below give access to places to stay as well as routes to walk. Aberfeldy, Perthshire The attractive grey stone buildings of Aberfeldy cluster on the south side of Scotland’s mightiest river, the Tay, and serve as a gateway to the lower end of Loch Tay and to beautiful Glen Lyon. The town is a great base for countless family walks…

In our latest gallery we feature urban walking routes taking in the best of Scotland’s seven cities – or was that eight? Edinburgh Scotland’s capital has recently been voted one of the world’s most beautiful cities, and with its combination of stunning architecture spanning the centuries and its dramatic landscape, it’s the perfect city to explore on foot. We feature routes that explore the wonders of both the medieval Old Town and the Georgian New Town, but be sure not to miss areas like Dean Village, or the Botanic Gardens. The Water of Leith provides a cross-section through the whole…

Many of you will have watched the Adventure Show Special programmes, Roads Less Travelled: The West Highlands, presented by Cameron McNeish. The programmes are currently still available on the BBC iplayer. This second of our galleries for the programmes features locations seen in the second episode. You can see the locations for the first episode on this link. Aird of Sleat, Isle of Skye The second episode began on the Isle of Skye, with Cameron travelling to the Aird of Sleat and cycling the track down towards the Point of Sleat – before wildcamping nearby. Kylerhea – Glenelg ferry Cameron…

Many of you will have watched the Adventure Show Special programmes, Roads Less Travelled: The West Highlands, presented by Cameron McNeish. The programmes are currently still available on the BBC iplayer. If you wanted to explore some of the locations in the programmes yourself, then have a look at the gallery below. Isle of Luing Cameron’s journey started at the picturesque former quarrying village of Cullipool on the Isle of Luing. He followed a walk around the coastline of the island past the quarries – this route is featured on Walkhighlands as our Isle of Luing and the Slate Quarries…

With Christmas upon us, here’s our pick of Boxing Day walks that may help you digest all that over indulgence – or perhaps escape your least favourite relative! Allermuir Hill and Swanson, Pentland Hills, Edinburgh At the time of writing a white Christmas doesn’t look very likely, but whatever the temperature Allermuir Hill offers the most stunning views over Edinburgh. The nearest of the Pentland Hills to the city, Allermuir is within easy reach for a great many people for their Boxing Day jaunt. Benarty Hill, Fife Though it may be smaller than its neighbours amongst the Lomonds, Benarty Hill…

Earlier in the year we featured our pick from Scotland’s best wee hills. But apart from the promise of a view, little attracts people more to climb a smaller hill than the chance to visit a hilltop monument. Built to become local landmarks, these follies, memorials and towers appear in many forms, and scattered all around the country. They form the subject of our latest gallery. Fyrish Monument, Easter Ross The striking monument on Cnoc Fyrish above the Cromarty Firth is a familiar sight to travellers on this part of the A9. Close up it is even more impressive than…

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond, its bonnie banks famously celebrated in song, is Britain’s largest freshwater lake by area, stretching over 71 square kilometres. The loch is at the heart of Scotland’s busiest National Park, and has many islands, including Inchmurrin – the largest on any loch – and beautiful Inchcailloch. The Highland fault line runs right through the loch and ensures a great variety of scenery, ranging from the placid Lomond Shores at Balloch, to the foot of towering Ben Lomond. The West Highland Way path follows much of the eastern shores of the loch. Loch Ness Loch Ness may…

Scotland’s first settlers arrived over 10,000 years ago, and even today there are incredible monuments to the peoples of long ago. Burial cairns, brochs, hut circles and other remains are abundant across much of the mainland and islands, but it is standing stones that perhaps draw the strongest reactions from visitors. For standing stones and circles the mystery is often around their purpose – something that has been subject to speculation by archaeologists for many years. Here’s a few of Scotland’s finest: Callanish, Isle of Lewis One of the most spectacular and celebrated monuments in the country, Callanish – set…

For our latest gallery we’ve picked out some of Scotland’s most dramatic mountain landscapes that can be seen from the roadside. Inevitably this means many of these mountains rank amongst the country’s best known… but we’ve hopefully included a few surprises too! An Teallach, Dundonnell near Ullapool Many hillwalkers rank mighty An Teallach as Scotland’s finest mountain. Its two Munros and the Corrag Bhuidhe pinnacles are well seen from several roadside viewpoints; one classic view is a distant one from Loch Droma on the A835 Ullapool road, but the photo above is more up close and imtimate, from the ‘Destitution…

In Scotland, Bothies are a remarkable part of our outdoors’ culture. The word bothy can really mean any form of very basic accommodation, but to hillwalkers the term is usually applied to ‘open’ bothies – buildings which are left unlocked for anyone to use. This year is the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Mountain Bothy Association, which was set up by outdoor enthusiasts Bernard and Betty Heath to try to save from ruin many of the uninhabited buildings in the wilder parts of Scotland, which had traditionally been used as dosses. Today the association maintains – entirely through…