August has to be a prime month, especially in Edinburgh. There’s the fabulous Military Tattoo and the outstanding Fringe Festival, featuring up to 50,000 performances! Skara Brae, on the Bay of Skaill in Orkney, provides a glimpse of the most complete stone-built Neolithic village from 3180 BC and 2500 BC. Scotland’s stately castles include Edinburgh Castle, Eilean Donan Castle perched atop of an island, Kelburn Castle, and the chateau-style Dunrobin Castle, which is Britain’s oldest inhabited house. Craigievar Castle may have inspired Walt Disney’s Cinderella Castle. Harry Potter fans will enjoy the Jacobite Steam Train from Fort William which goes over the Glenfinnan Viaduct and passes through some other famous Harry Potter filming locations.

Scotland fresh cuisine includes Scottish salmon and hand dived scallop to local organic beef and home-grown veggies. Let’s not forget scones and clotted cream, along with Walker’s shortbread biscuits. There’s also minced meat Scottish pies, neeps and tatties (mashed turnips and potatoes), and the national dish, Haggis, a savory pudding of sheep’s innards, oatmeal, suet and spices.For the Scots, whisky might be considered part of their cuisine! In addition to over 100 distilleries in the five different whisky regions, Scotland produces half of the UK’s gin, and has over 100 craft breweries.

Trainspotting (I. Welsh), The Thirty-Nine Steps (J. Buchnan), The Missing (A. O’Hagan), 44 Scotland Street (A. McCall Smith), Outlander (D. Gabaldon), How the Scots Invented the Modern World (A.L. Herman), Knots and Crosses (I. Rankin).

Well, there’s Outlander, of course…and Braveheart, Skyfall, Local Hero, What We Did on Our Holiday. Outlaw King, Macbeth.