Travel: think Year of Natural Scotland

Fashionable Shetlands

Scotland’s outstanding natural beauty is set to be celebrated as part of the Year of Natural Scotland 2013.

Highlights include Up Helly Aa, Europe’s largest annual Viking fire festival in Shetland in January; illuminated woodland trails in Snowdrops by Starlight at Cambo Estate in Fife in February; and family treasure hunts on horseback during the Wild Spring Festival in Dumfries and Galloway in March and April.

On the foodie front, visitors can devour the best of Scotland’s natural larder at the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival in May, while the famous Royal Highland Show in June celebrates its 173rd birthday and showcases the very best of rural life. Later in the year, Scotland’s Food and Drink Fortnight sees harvest days, food and flower festivals as well as a host of markets taking place in September.

Other events include the Scots-born American conservationist John Muir Day on April 21; and the launch of The Helix, a sustainable new gateway in Central Scotland, in the summer.

For more information go to www.visitscotland.com/natural.