Here at VisitScotland we want you to reassure you that your privacy is respected and safe in our hands. We only ever collect information from you that helps us to help you get the most out of your visit to our sites.

For more details, please read VisitScotland's full privacy policy. 

What is a cookie?

A cookie is simply a small text file. It isn't a program and doesn't actively do anything on your computer.

Why do we use cookies?

As with many other websites, we use cookies for several reasons, the main ones being:

• to make your visit to our site smoother. So, for example, it remembers what you add to your itinerary or allows you to share content with friends on social networks. It also remembers your preferences and so allows us to customise our site according to your individual interests.
• to monitor and measure what visitors do on our website. This allows us to know what areas of the site are popular, how often visitors come back, where they come from, whether they are using a PC or a mobile device and so on. Knowing how our site is being used means we can enhance users' experience in future.

For an up-to-date list of the cookies we use plus details of the information they provide, please read our detailed cookies page.

Because of the way our site operates, cookies are needed to allow some of its functionality to work and therefore we recommend that you accept them.

However, if you choose to opt out of receiving our cookies, please understand that although you can still use our site, some functions may not work and your experience may not be as smooth or as enjoyable as we aim to deliver for all our users.

If you still decide to opt out, you have two options:

• You can adjust the settings on your internet browser to prevent cookies being downloaded. How this is done varies according to which browser you are using and we recommend you refer to the appropriate online help guides.
• You can opt out of receiving specifically those cookies we use to track how people are using our site. Details of how to disable the Google Analytics and ClickTale cookies can be found in our privacy policy.