Loch Ken Eco Bothies - The Osprey Bothy
© VisitScotland / Luigi Di Pasquale
1. Cycle the Highlands of the Lowlands
Galloway Forest Park
Dumfries & Galloway is full of beautiful landscapes, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the Galloway Forest Park. It's home to 250 lochs, expansive forests, undulating hills and tranquil glens. It also boasts the award-winning 7stanes mountain biking trails at Glentrool.
Take your time exploring this microcosm of Scotland on trails like the Big Country Route, a 36-mile route filled with exhilarating descents and breathtaking views. With so much to see and do, you can easily spend a week or longer in this often bypassed wilderness. Stay in one of the five bothies located within the park on the shores of Loch Ken, or opt for one of the three off-grid eco bothies which come with their own kayak and a timber hot tub.
Winter solstice at Ring of Brodgar
© Orkney.com
2. Take a twilight walk on Orkney
Mainland Orkney
Midsummer in the Northern Isles is a period of never-ending days - known as the white nights in Orkney and the simmer dim in Shetland -which gives visitors the chance to explore more of the islands than any other time of the year, without being pressured for time.
The Orkney Mainland, where the Atlantic and North seas intersect, is renowned for its spectacular sunsets - particularly during the white night season. Watch the sun as it almost dips below the horizon at a dramatic spot like Longagleeb, where the sea slices a cleft through the coastline, before embarking on a twilight walk as you continue onwards to the causeway at the Brough of Birsay. Here, you can cross over to an empty tidal island to see Pictish and Norse ruins illuminated by the light of one of the famous Stevenson lighthouses. Continue further afield and pick a spot to watch the sunrise.
The Royal Scotsman, a Belmond Train
© Belmond Management Ltd
3. Have a spa experience on wheels
Scottish Highlands
Rail journeys are a great way to relax, de-stress and reflect upon the passing countryside. Take this classic slow travel experience to the next level on-board the Belmond Royal Scotsman, a luxury train that snakes across the Scottish Highlands, and book an appointment at its unique spa.
Experience the kinds of treatments you would find at any luxury spa, including facials, massages and manicures during this smoothest and most leisurely of rail journeys. Constructed from sustainable wood, the twin treatment rooms also offer spellbinding views of the beautiful Scottish landscapes unfolding outside your window whilst you're cocooned in luxury.
The Caledonian Canal
© VisitScotland / Airborne Lens
4. Cruise the Caledonian Canal
The Great Glen
Slow travel is all about doing as much or a little as you like on holiday. Sound appealing? A gentle cruise aboard a traditional barge as it flows down the serene waters of the Caledonian Canal might be the perfect choice for your next Scottish break. As your vessel slowly makes its way through Scotland's majestic Great Glen, you can choose whether to simply lay back and admire the shimmering lochs and magnificent mountains floating by, or disembark and explore the landscape on walks, bike rides, or even kayak excursions.
Wild camping at Glentrool
© Forestry and Land Scotland
5. Forage for your supper in the Highlands
Roshven, Lochailort
Slow travel means taking everything at a slower pace. This also applies to sampling the local food and drink. Embrace your inner hunter-gatherer with Wildwood Bushcraft and go foraging for wild ingredients at unspoiled Highland destinations to create your own naturally sourced, nutritious and sustainable feast cooked over a campfire.
Similar courses are available from Coeur Sauvage, where you'll learn how to forage for incredible Scottish ingredients. Discover fantastic new flavours along the way, whilst you forge a deeper connection with the natural world.
Top tip: The 150-acre Lynbreck Croft in the Highlands provides courses in foraging, woodcraft and low-intensive farming.
Shetland Golf Club is based at the 18-hole Dale Golf Course.
© VisitScotland / Paul Tomkins
6. Play midnight golf on Shetland
Lerwick
You won't experience a more leisurely and relaxed game of golf at any other time or place than at Shetland Golf Club during midsummer or da simmer dim. Make the most of up to 19 hours of daylight during June and July and head to the second most northerly 18-hole course in Britain. Located just north of Lerwick, you can take part in golf competitions that tee off at midnight surrounded by some of the most breathtaking coastal scenery imaginable. Other courses such as Asta Golf Club and Whalsay Golf Club also offer extended opening hours throughout the summer period.
Top tip: Try the Shetland Late Summer Experience. This seven-day trip led by local naturalists explores the archipelago's remarkable wildlife. It starts on the Mainland at Sumburgh Head before continuing to St Ninian's Isle and onwards to Unst, the most northerly island in the UK.
Feeding lambs at Old Leckie Farm
7. Live the rural life
Various locations
Wake up on a real Scottish working farm and discover a new way of living. From modern purpose-built accommodation to beautifully appointed rooms in centuries-old farmhouses, your stay on a farm can be as luxurious or basic as you desire. Spend your days learning about the day-to-day reality of farm life while getting your hands dirty working with crops or livestock, and discover how fine local produce is grown from scratch. Enjoy home-cooked meals prepared using those same ingredients, and take your pick from an array of courses, family-friendly activities and other unique offerings.
Loch Affric
© VisitScotland / Paul Tomkins
8. Follow the Affric Kintail Way
Highlands
Follow a route less travelled on the Affric Kintail Way. Launched in 2015, it offers an equally beautiful but much less crowded alternative to the famous West Highland Way. What's more, it can easily be tackled in four bitesize chunks, helpfully outlined on Affric Kintail Way.
This 44-mile route stretches from Loch Ness to Loch Duich on the west coast, passing through one of Scotland's most dramatic glens, Glen Affric. Take the time to explore the many detours scattered along the route which encompasses old drovers' roads, and tracks through fragrant pine forests, past serene lochs and lush glens.
Once you reach the head of Glen Affric, you continue onwards toward the peaks of Beinn Fhada and the Five Sisters of Kintail until reaching the sea.
St Kilda
9. Cruise around St Kilda
Go with the flow on a sailing holiday to St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides. This cluster of four islands is famed for its flourishing birdlife and immense sheer cliffs which jut up to 1,000ft out of the Atlantic.
It is also among the most inaccessible of Scotland's islands, with just a few small cruise companies that set sail to this UNESCO World Heritage Site during the summer months - weather conditions permitting.
Join Island Cruising aboard the MV Cuma, a former marine research ship, for a six-day cruise. While waiting for just the right weather conditions to chart a course to St Kilda, the skipper will sail to other islands, allowing passengers the opportunity to explore Scarp, Taransay, and the Monarch and Flannan isles. With no set itinerary, savour the freedom of the open sea as you drop anchor in empty bays, and catch sightings of whales, dolphins and seals, and discover the beauty of the Hebrides.
