7 culture-filled city breaks in Scotland  

With both its Old and New Towns recognised on UNESCO’s World Heritage list, a stroll through the city of Mary Queen of Scots, Harry Potter and Dolly the Sheep feels like leafing through a giant, bewitching history tome. This is a city of legends and stories: Edinburgh was also UNESCO’s first City of Literature.

Start on the Royal Mile dropping down the cobbles through the centuries from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace. There is glorious modern architecture too in the sharp lines of the Scottish Parliament. Next door is the great green lung of Holyrood Park – ascend Arthur’s Seat for Edinburgh’s finest view, feeling like you’ve escaped to the Highlands. Edinburgh is a city peppered with green spaces – visit the famous Royal Botanic Garden (greenery, great food and castle views) and stroll the Union Canal towpath. Or follow the Water of Leith walkway down to burgeoning Leith and its Michelin-starred restaurants.

Edinburgh is a city buzzing these days so allow time for retail therapy in the swish new St James Quarter, with its many chic stores and the sublime Bonnie & Wild food hall. The Old Town is alive with smaller, independent shops, as is Leith Walk.

You’re spoilt for choice with world-class accommodation too, from the palatial old railway hotel The Balmoral, through to the plush apartments of The Edinburgh Grand; boutique boltholes too like the The Glasshouse. See the new face of Edinburgh as you learn more about Scotland’s ‘water of life’ at the striking new Johnnie Walker Princes Street whisky visitor attraction. Toast your trip with a dram in their rooftop bar overlooking a skyline that will linger long in your heart.

Glasgow translates from Gaelic literally as the ‘Dear Green Place’. It’s an apposite moniker as Scotland’s largest city refreshes mind and body with over 90 parks and gardens. Greenery is never far away in the ‘Second City of the Empire’, weaving bucolic tentacles into its cultural spaces, like parkland-shrouded Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (with its 22 themed galleries). The Burrell Collection (re-opening in March 2022 after a massive refurb) and Pollok House, both essential temples to art, share Pollok Country Park.

It’s unthinkable to talk culture in Glasgow and not mention seminal architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Join a local guide on a walking tour to take a deeper look at his life and influences with visits to his most famous buildings, his first married home and the Mackintosh at the Willow exhibition. Don’t miss the Contemporary Art Trail and the literally unmissable City Mural Trail, with its arresting scenes dazzling from buildings around Glasgow.

It’s impossible not to mention music either. No wonder Glasgow was proclaimed the first UNESCO City of Music – Simple Minds, Texas and Franz Ferdinand all hail from these melodic Georgian streets. Music electrifies the legendary King Tut’s, the Barrowlands and, of course, the SSE Hydro, Scotland’s busiest concert venue. Don’t miss a performance from the Scottish National Orchestra at the Glasgow City Halls. 

For a more intimate experience, head inside one of Glasgow’s many smaller venues or pubs to watch live bands take to the stage. Stereo, for example, is housed inside a Charles Rennie Mackintosh building and offers live music alongside vegan food. Slouch, meanwhile is a bar that offers live music every single night. Or simply walk down the streets to soak up the sounds of the buskers - music is truly everywhere in Glasgow and the scene is as eclectic as the city itself. 

There is a palpable energy to Glasgow’s bar scene – head to the West End or Merchant City to bathe in it. This buzz weaves into the superb shopping with the glitzier shops in the Merchant City and Buchanan Street; the more eclectic independent offerings thrive in the West End and Southside. Out west in and around Byres Road and in Finnieston a new wave of independent restaurants is mirroring the city’s energy, with everything from gastro pub The Finnieston, through to Michelin-starred Cail Bruich.

 Not many cities boast a sweeping sandy beach, dolphin spotting from the shore and a glorious granite-built core, but then no other city is Aberdeen. This elegant hub is bursting with new life...

There is the reborn Aberdeen Art Gallery where you can see exhibitions and also get hands-on at the workshops. Don’t miss Provost Skene’s House, offering a window into the city’s rich history alongside the similarly revamped Aberdeen Maritime Museum. The latter fittingly gazes over the lifeblood port and its new renewables upper floor explores the bright green future of Aberdeen. This sustainable and responsible focus is no surprise in a city that has won ‘Britain in Bloom’ awards multiple times and recently celebrated the launch of the world's first double decker hydrogen buses. The Aberdeen Science Centre is back too, after a £6m investment. Be sure to visit Andy Scott’s steel leopard which is poised in Marischal Square. The Glasgow School of Art graduate has created more than 80 sculptures across the world including The Kelpies. 

The sense of new life ripples through the burgeoning street art scene too, with murals bringing a splash of colour to granite streets already so impressive, local writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon hailed Aberdeen Scotland’s most beautiful city. The Nuart Mural Trail takes in the most eye-catching murals with guided tours the best way to appreciate them. Look out too for the Nuart Festival, returning in April 2022. Aberdeen is a city of connections between old and new worlds, a place that makes you think about what cities are and can be. You can ponder in comfort at the seriously stylish Malmaison Aberdeen, Sandman Signature Aberdeen and The Chester.

 Few cities in Europe can match the energy and ambition of 21^st-century Dundee. Scotland’s sunniest city was already bubbling up as a centre of design and software engineering but the UK's first UNESCO City of Design hit global headlines in 2018 with the opening of the landmark V&A Dundee (alongside Captain Scott’s RSS Discovery on the riverside), the only V&A outside London.

Check out Dundee’s cultural quarter too – the Dundee Rep theatre and arts company, DCA (Dundee Contemporary Arts) and the glorious old dame, the McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum, which is back to its best. Verdant Works delves into the old jute industry, while this year Dundee University Botanic Gardens celebrated their 50th anniversary, and DC Thomson Comics (publishers of the Beano and Dandy amongst other titles) celebrated their 100th anniversary. It’s just been announced Dundee has been selected for a Dundee Eden Project so this is a city going places.

Dundee knows how to relax too. Hike up Dundee Law to appreciate its sublime setting between the River Tay and North Sea, and the recently opened Waterfront Place development, which includes an Urban Beach next to the V&A, is just part of the massive £1 billion Waterfront development. All ages can get wet and wild at the recently opened Wild Shore Dundee. Also new is e-bike hire from the Cycle Hub, with cycle routes along the waterfront and through urban green lanes. Dundee is serious about sustainability with numerous EV Charging Points and the Ember electric bus from Edinburgh. 

Stay over at swish boutique hotels Malmaison Dundee and Hotel Indigo Dundee. The restaurant scene is booming too with Gallery 48 the current fave of the local cognoscenti with its creative tapas. As you wander look out for street art, such as the Open/Close Doors Trails, the Union Street artwork, and the whale mural at the V&A Plaza.

 Yes Inverness is the ‘Gateway to the Highlands’ and a brilliant base, but these days the fastest growing city in Scotland is an urban star in its own right. It’s an oasis that is gloriously green too – you get the best of both worlds with city and nature – try wandering beneath Inverness Castle towards the trickling waters and trails of the green lung of the Ness Islands.

Bountiful air and rail routes make Inverness more accessible than ever, and a network of walking and cycling trails help you explore the outskirts and delve deeper into the Great Glen, including the 127km Great Glen Way. You can hunt for Nessie on a cruise here in Loch Ness, but there is probably more chance of spotting dolphins, the world’s most northerly bottlenose pod, with Dolphin Spirit in the deeply scenic Moray Firth. You can hurl yourself into watersports, or get active on the Loch Ness 360° Trail, a spellbinding walking, cycling, running and outdoor activity trail around the world-famous loch.

Inverness offers a beguiling route into the history of the Highlands. Delve back through time at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery and walk the emotive moor at the Culloden battlefield, stand on the ramparts conjuring up the Highlands clans at Urquhart Castle and evoke Outlander at the mystical Clava Cairns. Further afield, the less explored southern shores of Loch Ness, Nairn and Beauly await close to a city that makes for a great base. Back in the city, take it easy at Inverness Botanic Gardens, enjoy live music and cultural events at Eden Court, or peruse Leakey’s Bookshop, Scotland’s largest second hand bookstore.

 Stand high on the ramparts of Stirling Castle and you are peering out at Scotland’s historic heart, at some of the nation’s pivotal sites. Stirling is a small city with a seriously big story to tell. Stirling Castle itself sets the scene with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum within the castle just re-opening after a multi-million pound investment.

The vaulting National Wallace Monument pays tribute to William ‘Braveheart’ Wallace, whilst further afield postcard-perfect Doune Castle is Outlander’s Castle Leoch. And, of course, there is Bannockburn, site of Scotland’s famous triumph over English forces in 1314. The ‘battle immersion theatre’ lets you have a go at changing the course of history. It’s interactive time at Stirling Old Town Jail too with their new Escape Room ‘Jail Break' – you need to solve clues, codes and complete unique puzzles to escape.

Stirling is no slouch either when it comes to shopping with its compact core brimming with options – everyone loves the cosy The Book Nook bookshop. For dining don’t miss Forth Valley College’s Gallery Restaurant, an award-winning fine-dining student run restaurant. For a more hands-on experience how about The Haggis Experience at Glenside Farm? Or enjoy an agritourism experience at the 300-acre Old Leckie Farm. In the shadow of the castle also look out for Stirling Distillery, where the gin is infused with Stirlingshire nettles. If you love the night sky stay at Stirling Highland Hotel – they offer tours of their Victorian observatory. For trips further afield the UK’s first cross-regional electric bike sharing scheme has stations across the city and out into the Forth Valley.

 It’s easy to see why Perth, the ancient capital of Scotland, was recently voted one of the happiest cities in the UK. Take a stroll on the old quayside along the mighty River Tay – where beavers have come back to live this year – or enjoy a kayak tour with the Willowgate Activity Centre and you’ll instantly appreciate the 'Fair City’s’ enviable location. This is Perthshire, Big Tree Country – hike up Kinnoull Hill and savour a spirit-soaring autumnal display.

Perth was the first Cittaslow hub in Scotland, recognising both its existing determination to offer its citizens a high quality of life, and also committing to a more sustainable and responsible future. You’ll find George Street offers some superb craft shops. The supremely walkable (try the Riverside Trail, the River Tay Public Art Trail, or the Medieval Trail) compact centre is alive with cafés, bars and restaurants where you can sample Perthshire’s renowned produce - Graeme Pallister’s 63 Tay Street never disappoints.

There are two superb eating venues at Murrayshall, a grand hotel in the hills above Perth that is an ideal base not just for city sightseeing, but for visiting Scone Palace, where Scotland’s monarchs were once crowned on the Stone of Destiny.

Back in Perth pick up the cultural trail again at its museums and art galleries – chief among them the Perth Museum and Art Gallery and the Black Watch Museum, with Perth Concert Hall a cultural oasis that helps put a smile on the face of those happy citizens.