Following up from yesterdays top 5 things to see in Wales, I thought I should share the love with my whisky-loving friends further north. Scotland’s weather might keep a lot of the backpackers away, but those of us who make the extra effort get to experience a country full of history, amazing landscapes and grade A booze, something for everyone! Let check out 5 cracking things to do in Scotland:

The Welsh coastline. Image by Wales-Cottages.info
The Welsh coastline. Image by Wales-Cottages.info

1) Drum roll…. The Northern Lights. No need to go all the way to the north of scandanavia to check out aurora borealis, the north of Scotland can play host to them too. Your chances may not be as great as northern Norway but is is still possible to view the northern lights in Scotland, particularly around the Isle of Skye, the Northern Highlands and Dunnet Head. Your best chances of spotting aurora borealis lies between November and February. The helpful winds blowing in off the Atlantic can disperse any clouds and clear the skies for viewings at night. Check out Aurora watch UK, they’ll tell you if your lucks in on your trip.

Northern Lights Scotland

2) Loch Ness Monster hunting: The world’s most famous monster was first spotted in 1871, so see if you can make the most recent sighting of ‘Nessie’. Head up to the Scottish highlands from Glasgow or from your Edinburgh cottages  and get to Inverness and from there it’s easily accessible. There’s even a youth hostel for about $15 per night and endless highland Cottages to choose from, extending your chance to lay eyes on the Loch Ness Monste for an extra day or two. No photoshopping those pics though.

Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle

3) The World’s Oldest Golf Course: Scotland gave the world its first golf course at St Andrews so when you’re in the country you should pop on over and have a look. St Andrews town itself is a nice quaint, Scottish town which you could easily kill a couple of days in.

To play the course you need a handicap of 24 or under, and enter your name into the random daily draw for the following day. It then costs about $200 to pay the course. Ouch!

St Andres Golf Course

4) Attend the Highland games: Pure, unadulterated Scotland! The games run throughout the country all summer and consist of every stereotype imaginable with caber tossing, haggis tasting, throwing the hammer. The biggest event is at the Cowal Highland Gathering, and it’s held towards the end of August each year so if it’s size you’re after, that’s your destination.

The highland games

5) Check out Scotland’s Viking Island – Unst: Wanna feel like you’re really traveling? I have just the token for you! Unst is Scotland’s most northerly island found at the top of the Shetland Islands, closer to Norway than England. You can get there without flying, with boats, buses etc it might take a while but it’s beautiful once you get there. There’s a very Nordic, Viking-esque feel to the place but English is very much still the first language. Think of it as a massive nature reserve with an added bonus of the local ‘Valhalla Brewery’!

Unst Scotland

So going on Scotland tours will uncover a few hidden gems here, I hope this has persuaded you guys to make the journey north next time you hit up the British isles. Happy travels!

Remember, never travel without travel insurance! And never overpay for travel insurance!

I use HeyMondo. You get INSTANT quotes. Super cheap, they actually pay out, AND they cover almost everywhere, where most insurance companies don't (even places like Central African Republic etc!). You can sign-up here. PS You even get 5% off if you use MY LINK! You can even sign up if you're already overseas and traveling, pretty cool.

Also, if you want to start a blog...I CAN HELP YOU!

Also, if you want to start a blog, and start to change your life, I'd love to help you! Email me on johnny@onestep4ward.com. In the meantime, check out my super easy blog post on how to start a travel blog in under 30 minutes, here! And if you just want to get cracking, use BlueHost at a discount, through me.

Also, (if you're like me, and awful with tech-stuff) email me and my team can get a blog up and running for you, designed and everything, for $699 - email johnny@onestep4ward.com to get started.

Do you work remotely? Are you a digital nomad/blogger etc? You need to be insured too.

I use SafetyWing for my digital nomad insurance. It covers me while I live overseas. It's just $10 a week, and it's amazing! No upfront fees, you just pay week by week, and you can sign up just for a week if you want, then switch it off and on whenever. You can read my review here, and you can sign-up here!

sep-icons
teach-blog

So if you’re ready to…..

1) Change your life
2) Travel the world
3) Get paid to travel
4) Create a positive influence on others
5) Be free of offices and ‘real world’ rubbish

Then Sign Up Below and Let’s Get Started!

Follow me on Instagram @onestep4ward