Hidden Scotland
Sign in
Issue 13, the walk to the cabin

Join us on a journey
through Scotland.

It’s 07:51 in Scotland.
Join now

The roads less travelled that take you to places that matter. The adventures that gather you up and sweep you away. The blend of the wild and the artistic that makes Scotland what it is. We'd love for you to join us.

Live from ScotlandStirling Clear in Stirlingshire, and the sun sets at 17:58.Watch Scotland live
  1. The Caledonian SleeperCaledonian SleeperThe Caledonian Sleeper, the overnight train from London, was due into Aberdeen at 7.50am.
  2. The rutWatch Scotland liveIt is first light in the Highlands, and the stags are roaring.
  3. NewsOrkneyThe Pickaquoy Centre in Kirkwall is due to open its new mountain bike trails at the end of October or the start of November.
  4. WildlifeCaithnessWhooper swans were seen in Wick on Friday.
  5. Just openedCaithnessCastletown Mill in Caithness, built in 1818, is a whisky distillery now.
Hidden Scotland

The places worth the journey, and the help to get there.

Twice a year, in printMagazine What to see, do and eatPlaces Cottages, bothies and hotelsAccommodation Ready-made daysDays out Region by regionDestinations From £30 a yearJoin
Did you know

On the island of Barra, in the Outer Hebrides, scheduled passenger planes land on a beach, and the flight times move with the tide.

Barra Airport's three runways are marked out on the sand of Tràigh Mhòr, the beach known in English as the Cockle Strand, with wooden poles at each end. At high tide all three are under the sea, so the times of the flights to Glasgow change with the tide. Because the runways point three different ways, the little Twin Otter planes can almost always land into the wind. The first official service touched down on the sands in August 1936, and Barra is still the only scheduled beach runway in the world.

See Barra Airport · Outer Hebrides
61 views
Just addedAdded yesterday

We've just added Mountain Momo to the website.

A plant-based Nepali restaurant on Dundee Terrace, at the west end of Fountainbridge, serving momos, dal bhat and thalis.

Find out more about Mountain Momo
Did you know

Skara Brae, a stone village on the Bay of Skaill in Orkney, was a thriving community before Stonehenge or the Egyptian pyramids were built.

People lived in the village from roughly 3180 BC to about 2500 BC. That is earlier than the Great Pyramid, built around 2560 BC, and earlier than the main building at Stonehenge, begun around 3000 BC. Once its people had gone, the village was lost from sight until a storm uncovered it in 1850. The houses still have their stone dressers and box-beds, and Historic Environment Scotland calls it the best-preserved Neolithic, or New Stone Age, settlement in Western Europe. Today you can walk among ten of its buildings and four of its passageways, five thousand years after they were built.

See Skara Brae · Orkney
PubsFor today's weatherLothianChampany InnRestaurantGlasgowInn DeepRestaurantAberdeenshireThe Creel InnRestaurantPlocktonPlockton InnRestaurantDumfries and GallowayThe Globe Inn, DumfriesRestaurantDumfries and GallowayThe Steamboat Inn, CarsethornRestaurant

A pint by the fire.

Pubs with good food, and the fire lit by October.

See all the pubs
Did you know

Elaine Campbell, who runs Camella Crafts in Craighouse on Jura, makes her gifts from what the island gives her, from deer antler to old whisky barrels.

Her little shop is at the Pier Garage in Craighouse, the island's only village, next to Deer Island Rum and the Whisky Island Gallery. Inspired by the colours, shapes and textures of her island home, Elaine works with materials found on Jura: deer antler, old whisky barrels, pebbles, sea pottery, wool and wood. Antlers hang on the walls of the shop above tartan, tweed and wooden shelves of island-made gifts, from whisky-barrel keepsakes to knitted pieces. Antler is a fitting thing to work with on Jura, whose Gaelic name, Diùra, means Deer Island. The shop opens by appointment in winter, so get in touch before you go for its summer hours.

See Camella Crafts · Argyll and Bute
In Issue 13The magazine

A Weekend Exploring the Isle of Mull

Photographer, painter and now magazine founder, Shelley Richmond wears a few hats on the Isle of Mull. She shares her insider's guide to the island, revealing the beaches, creative corners and much-loved local spots that shape her life in Dervaig.

Read it in Issue 13
WildlifeThis weekSeen 7 times · Ruchazie, GlasgowWhooper swanSeen 6 times · Hamilton GardensDipperSeen 5 times · East LothianPink-footed gooseSeen 3 times · DriftwoodGolden eagleSeen 3 timesGrey sealSeen 3 timesBeaverSeen twice · North BerwickGannetSeen twiceBarnacle gooseSeen twice · Argyll and Bute CouncilRed deerSeen oncePtarmiganSeen once · Dunain CottageRed kiteSeen onceMinke whaleSeen onceCommon sealSeen once · Highland CouncilPine martenSeen onceOtterSeen onceRed squirrelSeen onceMountain hareSeen once · HighlandBadgerSeen onceRed grouse

The wildlife people spotted in Scotland this week.

Whooper swans are big wild swans with lemon-yellow bills that come to Scotland's lochs and fields each autumn for the winter, and this week they were the animal reported most often in Scotland: 7 sightings, the latest near Ruchazie, Glasgow. These are the animals people have reported most in the last seven days, the most seen first. Every sighting is logged with a photograph or a recording on iNaturalist, the wildlife recording site, and each card opens them on its map.

Where to see wildlife in Scotland
Did you know

Scotland's national animal is the unicorn, and on the old Scottish royal arms two crowned unicorns hold up the shield, bound in golden chains.

The oldest surviving version of the arms with unicorns is a weather-worn carving above the gateway of Rothesay Castle, on the Isle of Bute, made no later than the reign of Robert III, which ended in 1406. In about 1484 James III went further and issued gold coins called the unicorn and the half-unicorn. The chain is usually read as a sign of royal strength: the unicorn was thought too wild for anyone to tame, and only a Scottish king was strong enough to hold it. You can still spot unicorns across the country, from the top of the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh to the gate of the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Just addedAdded yesterday

We've just added Polentoni to the website.

An Italian bakery and kitchen on Easter Road, making takeaway sandwiches, small pizzas and cakes, open from breakfast until two.

Find out more about Polentoni
Did you know

Loch Ness, in the Highlands near Inverness, holds more water than all the lakes of England and Wales put together.

Loch Ness isn't the biggest loch in Scotland by area: that is Loch Lomond, at 71 square kilometres. What Loch Ness has is depth. It runs for about 37 kilometres and reaches around 230 metres at its deepest, so it holds 7,452 million cubic metres of water, more than any other loch in Scotland. The water is murky too, because of the peat in the soil around it. And for all that depth, it is not the deepest loch in the country: that is Loch Morar, further west, at 310 metres.

See Loch Ness · Inverness-shire
7.50amJust now

The Caledonian Sleeper, the overnight train from London, was due into Aberdeen at 7.50am.

It left London Euston at 9.15pm last night as the Highlander and was divided at Edinburgh while its passengers slept; the Aberdeen part keeps to the east coast, by Dundee, Arbroath, Montrose and Stonehaven.

See Caledonian Sleeper
From the magazineThe printed copy of Issue 11Issue 11Autumn / Winter 2025–26

Stewart Christie & Co in Edinburgh's New Town, the oldest bespoke tailor in Scotland, has customer ledgers going back to 1720.

That is the year Bonnie Prince Charlie was born, and more than three centuries later its handmade coats, kilts and tweeds are as prized as ever. Its advocates include the actors Saoirse Ronan and Ewan McGregor, and the writer Sir Walter Scott, though the records show Sir Walter has yet to settle his bill. Bespoke here still means each garment is measured, cut and sewn for one customer, usually after three fittings. And tucked behind the main mirror in the gentleman's fitting room is an oak cabinet of premium single malts, with crystal tumblers beside it.

Read the full story in Issue 11
8.07amThis morning

It is first light in the Highlands, and the stags are roaring.

For a few weeks each autumn the red deer stags come down off the high ground and bellow at one another across the glens, loudest at dawn and at dusk. Glen Etive, Torridon and Jura are known for it, and it carries a long way, so it is best heard from the road and from a good distance. There are about 3 days of it left.

Watch Scotland live