To wonder why Scotland isn’t more popular as a holiday destination

[N0rdicStar]

Just been watching that hidden Scotland programme. I promise you I don’t work for the tourist board.

I lived there as a forces child for a few years and was born there previously. Loved it but my mother hated it and refused to ever go back so we never did. Know nobody else who has ever holidayed there but oh my goodness it’s beautiful and seems to have everything- history, beaches, mountains, wildlife.....

Why do we all flock to Cornwall and the Lake District?

Is it the weather? Can’t just be the distance as the above are long distances for many.

On the back of that can you give me the best bits.

My parents went to Scotland in the 70s with my Nan, to meet my dads sisters

Really? An anecdote from 40 years ago is stopping you from exploring a whole country??

I am English and lived in Scotland for years. Never experienced any anti English sentiment.

I must say, if we have another summer like last year's, the thought of visiting somewhere within relatively easy reach and 6 degrees cooler is incredibly attractive.

@onestepsideways
Edinburgh is a concrete jungle?! Did you go on a trip round a housing estate?

The US has a lot more space than the UK and I do know people there who don't ever drive anywhere outside their state. I also know some Americans who have never had a passport because thy never needed it. It's difficult to do much exploring when you only have 10 days holidays per year.
People have different priorities, some just prefer to hang out at a beach where it is warm, others like exploring. I don't think British people on a whole are different to others.

An American in Glasgow

@azulmariposa

Really! I am done!

Honestly I'm beginning to form the opinion that the notion of us Scots hating the English is actually encouraged and enjoyed by some members of our British society. I'm going to stop protesting and trying to change that view, there is actually no point in arguing with that mindset

Come visit or don't come to visit, we won't notice.

Astonished to see the old 'Scots hate the English' stuff still going strong on here. We haven't met a single person who has been like that. In fact it's been incredibly friendly. As for cafes, despite it being February, we have found plenty open, driving great food. We've travelled all over Scotland in the last few weeks, so that has given us a good idea of what people are like.

Just to ask again, a number of people have mentioned Dumfries and Galloway, where would you suggest visiting? We're off there today!

serving great food

Good choice Winds, the weather is lovely today and for the next few days. Was 14 degrees and sunny yesterday.

I don’t think it’s just Scotland that people from other parts of the UK don’t visit though. The OP commented on everyone heading to Cornwall and The Lake District, but how many other English counties do people from England visit?

Well, I’m going up to Mull in August, with all my family; rented a big house (t’was vair, vair reasonable too). Travelling from Yorkshire (dead hard folks). This is for mum’s 80th birthday. A return after many decades when we holidayed with another family as children. I can’t bloody wait. Sure, there could be midges, rain etc, BUT it’s so beautiful and the people I’m with will love just as much.
I would love to hear of any gems of information about things to do that maybe out of the ordinary by the way! I 💕 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I'm Scottish and for childhood holidays we never came further south than the lake district. 4 kids in a car to Cornwall would be too much so I assume its the same vice versa.

Also for most people in the UK if they only have one holiday a year they'd prefer it to be warmer or at least no colder than they'd get at home. 6 of you stuck in a caravan on a rainy day is of limited fun.

I was lucky enough to spend part of my childhood in Scotland due to being a forces child, near Kinloss.

Wonderful memories and we"d love to take DS up there at some point. We have just watched the Grand Tour episode (on mute ) and Spanish DH was gobsmacked at how lovely it is. We'll fly over and hire a car within the next couple of years.

As a sidenote, I often look at properties in my old town on Rightmove and think wistfully of moving back...

Good destination if you want to avoid potential Brexit related problems of holidaying in an EU country. I’m going this summer partly because of this but mainly because I’ve realised I hardly know Scotland at all and that’s a shame. If I encounter any anti-English sentiment, I’ll let Mumsnet know!

I remember a biker show of motorcycle rides and there was one in Scotland and it was lovely. Charlie Boorman (?)

I live in Scotland, have done for the whole of my 56 years. I have never had a run in with a midge. We don't really have them in droves where i live on the east coast. They are not a sort of tiny insect version of a plague of locusts covering every inch of Scotland in the summer!

@FredMerc lucky you didn't meet my grandmother! She would always say how much she hated the English, so you can't tell me that all Scots love us. Just look at any sporting events, they'd rather anyone else to win!
And the things that I posted really happened. It was a long time ago, and in places that tourists would not usually go. But it still happened.

Cuts both ways. Everywhere has the ‘boogie man’.

@azulmariposa your grandmother you say... so that would make you (one of us, one of us). Was it one one of her children who married the foreigner?

For those who don’t belive any Scots hate the English haven’t met DHs family then.

It's the stories of horrendous amounts of midges that put me off

Dear Lord the constant references to midgies on here is ridiculous. Youd think They were everywhere. I honestly dont ever remember seeing any ever and ive been here all my life & visited numerous parts of the country

If that's genuinely whats putting people off its a ridiculous reason. I bet most visitors wont encounter any

For those who don’t belive any Scots hate the English haven’t met DHs family then.

You can find xenophobes everywhere, it's no reason to assume the entire population is like that.

Lol! My dad considers himself English as he was born here, despite the ancestry dna test that proves otherwise! so really he didn't marry a foreigner, my Nan was the foreigner in London!

Hmm, if English people only holiday in countries in the world where England (the country) is loved and respected, won’t that narrow the options a touch?

The average temperature of Lake Louise in Alberta is 0 degrees. It's stunningly beautiful. You'd have to be a bit of a cock to say "nah... not for me, too cold brrr". Personally I appreciate beauty over temperature, open skies over concrete jungle and wildlife over sun-burn. But we're all different.

I'm also a Scot with a "cut glass English accent". I'm still waiting for the racism and xenophobia.