New Rough Guide to Scotland
Travel Guide to Scottish Highlands, Islands, Glasgow, Edinburgh
They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but the cover of this new Scotland travel guide from Rough Guides is stunning – and you can certainly judge Scotland by it. The cover photo shows the appropriately-named Loch Awe in Argyll and Bute, with Kilchurn Castle reflected in the still waters of the loch, and snow-capped mountain peaks beyond. It makes you want to there at once... or at the very least, read the guidebook.
This May 2008 edition is the 8th edition of the Rough Guide to Scotland, and now runs to almost 800 pages. Even so, it isn't comprehensive: the lovely little Dumfries village of Moniaive, which has a successful Folk Festival, a Beer Festival, and has been used as a film set in at least two movies, doesn't get a mention. That's probably because it is, as one newspaper obviously accurately described it, one of Scotland's best-kept secrets.
The authors do seem to have kept up well with other changes in the two years since the previous edition came out. That was 2006, the year Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum re-opened, and the changes have been covered in this new edition. A quick look at the island of Islay shows the authors are up-to-date here too, as there are now eight whisky distilleries, not seven, though they'll have to watch as there's a ninth one on the way!
As with the recent Rough Guide to England, this is a book for people planning to travel extensively through Scotland. It's thorough, and so at almost 800 pages it won't tuck neatly into your sporran. If you're only going to Glasgow or Edinburgh, say, or even to both, you'd be better off buying the appropriate city guides, or the Rough Guide to the Scottish Highlands and Islands, if that's where you're headed.
But if you're planning a visit to several places around Scotland, this new Rough Guide will be worth its weight in whisky. Well, almost. The Contexts section at the back of the book is always a welcome bonus, with eight pages on Scottish music, nine on Scottish writing, and a whole 16 pages telling Scotland's history. There's a Language section too, with some basic Gaelic phrases, a few Norn and Norse terms, and a glossary of Scottish words and phrases, like shinty, thane, trews and howff.
There are the usual useful regional and city maps, showing where the hotels, cafés and restaurants, pubs and bars are located. There's a broad range of accommodation suggestions, from hostels and cheap b&bs at under £40 a night, to the luxury end of the market where you'll pay over £200 a night.
Whether you're going puffin spotting in Shetland or pub crawling in Glasgow (or anywhere else – they're good on pubs), the Rough Guide to Scotland probably covers it. Except for Moniaive. Next edition, maybe?
Practical Information
The Rough Guide to Scotland costs $23.99 in the USA, $26.50 in Canada, and £13.99 in the UK. For more information on all Rough Guides, visit their website.
